Take an Intimate Look Inside Kentucky’s Laurel Cove Music Competition

Deep in a secluded holler in Jap Kentucky lives the type of music pageant that the majority could be inclined to imagine doesn’t or couldn’t exist anymore within the modern-day.

Absent at this music pageant are the standard trimmings one would assume of 2025’s mega festivals: model activations, influencer tents, ranges of VIP entry and $15+ beers. As an alternative is an intimate testomony to the foundations of nation, bluegrass and people music that has served as a de facto incubator for some actually distinguished names to return out of the genres over the previous couple of years.

For 3 days spanning June 12-14 in Pineville, KY., a particular exhibition of music and artwork generally known as Laurel Cove Music Competition occupied a hemlock, mountain laurel and rhododendron-covered venue many have likened to Colorado’s well-known Purple Rocks Amphitheater as a consequence of its beautiful magnificence and pure acoustics. What lived in these woods for that point was a bustling neighborhood of musicians and music fanatics as desperate to strike up a dialog about their favourite Tyler Childers track as they’re to choose up an instrument and play it with you.

Laurel Cove Music Competition’s 2025 version was arguably its greatest and brightest so far when it comes to the quantity of expertise that signed up on the invoice. Although inopportune climate hindered performances on Friday night time, the pageant’s intimacy allowed for a novel continuation of the celebration that bigger rivals corresponding to Bonnaroo, which occurred the identical weekend and needed to be canceled solely as a consequence of flooding, wouldn’t have been in a position to accomplish logistically.

Performers tapped for this 12 months rounded out the perfect of who it is advisable to know developing within the business, in addition to some established names from Kentucky, higher Appalachia and past. The standout lineup included headliners Ole 60, Ian Noe and City Mountain and assist from Nicholas Jamerson, Kaitlin Butts, Evan Honer, Colby Acuff, Kashus Culpepper, Noeline Hofmann, The Droptines and Kindred Valley.

Additionally introduced on to participate in Laurel Cove 2025 have been Jack Browning, The Creekers, Invoice Taylor, Smilo + The Ghost, Hunter Flynn, The Hill Nation Satan, Bee Taylor, Zach Russell, Jordan Lee King, The Jenkins Twins, Dalton Mills, Chatham Rabbits, Emily Jamerson, Tori Forsyth, Bedford, Spooky Fox, Charlie Overman, Noah Freeman & The Cherry Daves and Brayden Mullins.

Solely about 1,500 tickets can be found to Laurel Cove, with the pageant promoting out earlier than a lineup is even launched annually. There aren’t any plans to increase at the moment, and people seeking to safe their place amongst among the most die-hard nation, bluegrass and people followers in America can solely hope to behave rapidly sufficient to get their palms on passes.

As beforehand hinted, rain was an unannounced headliner at Laurel Cove 2025, with changes having to be made, notably throughout Friday’s programming, that sadly noticed Noe unable to carry out. Nevertheless, for such an intimate crowd, it grew to become virtually a no brainer to relocate everything of the pageant to a big park picnic overhang, the place soaked-but-happy followers danced in mud puddles as fellow headliner Honer acoustically carried out “Jersey Large,” “idk s— about vehicles” and different hits.

However even when rain shut down conventional levels, Laurel Cove’s devoted fandom nonetheless discovered a strategy to make issues work. Take the band Bedford, who determined to carry out an impromptu present from inside their tour van to a gaggle of captivated followers who huddled within the rain on the facet of a dust highway for an opportunity to listen to just a few acoustic numbers from the Kentucky-based group with a picturesque backdrop of lightning bug flutters and frog croaks — pure magic that no stage manufacturing firm might ever replicate.

When it wasn’t raining, although, Laurel Cove’s magnificence shone by in wonderful rays of sunshine peeking by the encircling previous progress onto its shady levels. A spotlight of the weekend was a standout efficiency from rising Texas group The Droptines, who wowed followers with stay renditions of “Raining The place You Are,” “Snowed In,” “New Lady” and different tracks from their self-titled 2024 debut album.

Likewise, rising crooner Culpepper, recent off a efficiency on CBS Saturday Morning‘s Saturday Periods, introduced followers to their ft with every thing from his Marcus King collaboration “Southern Man” to his viral hit “After Me?” Equally, Butts additionally had the gang roaring as she carried out her TikTok staple “You Ain’t Gotta Die (to Be Lifeless to Me),” amongst different rousing variations of her fan-favorite tracks.

After all, it will be exhausting to debate Laurel Cove 2025 and never point out Hofmann’s ascension from driving 30 hours only a few years in the past to attend Kentucky’s Railbird Competition and Laurel Cove Music Competition as a fan to now taking part in each festivals almost back-to-back in 2025. The artist is at the moment experiencing large success as a consequence of her collaboration with Zach Bryan on “Purple Gasoline,” which she handled followers to throughout her Laurel Cove set, and prides herself in delivering a signature vocal styling knowledgeable by a true-grit perspective honed by a life engaged on the Canadian prairie. With a current Wynonna Judd cosign additionally underneath her belt, Hofmann is definitely poised to be the subsequent main Laurel Cove success story.

Rounding out the performers who managed to stay comparatively dry over the weekend was headliner Ole 60, the satisfaction of Kentucky’s homegrown nation rock scene, who succeeded throughout their Laurel Cove set each with performances of their hits, such because the platinum licensed jam “smoke & a lightweight,” and by paying critical homage to the greats by way of an electrifying cowl of Pink Floyd’s “Want You Have been Right here” that left everybody in attendance clamoring for extra.

What Laurel Cove Music Competition excels at is being an “anti” pageant, in the absolute best approach. Its founder, Jon Grace, and his band of shut buddies who assist throw the pageant yearly, scour the complete scope of the aforementioned relative genres to hand-pick a lineup that each enthralls followers and infrequently predicts who’s going to expertise large success within the coming months and years.

Take 2024’s headliners, The Purple Clay Strays, for example. That 12 months, they lit up the Cove, energizing followers to such a level that they started dancing within the small pond that graces the entrance of the principle stage. This 12 months, the identical group of musicians, taking part in the identical hits, received an ACM Award, headlined Nissan Stadium throughout CMA Fest and are embarking on a world tour.

Different situations of this supposed Laurel Cove spell are fellow pageant royalty Sierra Ferrell, Charles Wesley Godwin, Wyatt Flores and Hofmann, who all took to the stage on the occasion earlier than every of their respective careers ascended to whole stardom shortly thereafter, a placing testomony to Grace and fellow Cove founders’ capacity to foretell who’s about to go away a real mark on the music business.

“This 12 months will go down as one in every of our most rewarding but,” Grace tells ipromiseyoumedia of 2025’s occasion. “We’re a pageant constructed on the blood, sweat and tears of our volunteers … not cash.”

The proud organizer, who additionally serves because the Bell County Tourism Director, provides, “When it rains at different festivals … people go away. When it rains right here, we dance within the mud. That is why I say on a regular basis … there could also be higher festivals on the market, however there’s not a greater pageant household on the market.”

Grace notably thanks “the artists, volunteers, the media that helps us get the phrase out, the workers at Pine Mountain State Resort Park, JammNation and our different sponsors, all our neighborhood organizations that assist,” from “the underside of our hearts.”

Keep tuned to Laurel Cove Music Competition’s Fb and Instagram for particulars in regards to the 2026 version of the occasion.