From Saving Country Music: Biggest Takeaways from Record-Breaking Bourbon & Beyond Fest

Editor’s Note: All photos and reporting is from Saving Country Music contributor Jason W. Ashcraft. The original story is published at SavingCountryMusic.com

– – – – – – – –

When the massive musical talent lineup of the Bourbon & Beyond Music, Food & Bourbon festival was announced in January—boasting over 100 top recording artists of the last several decades from various genres of country, Americana, alternative rock, roots, folk and bluegrass—the music industry and fans alike let out a gasp. The level of talent was incomparable to any other festival we’ve seen previously.

Now that it’s all in the books—and after four long days of humpin’ around from stage to stage in the middle of a late season Ohio River Valley heat wave—here are some of the things that were seen and heard at the festival that was just named as “Kentucky’s largest ever music festival in the state’s history.”

According to a press release, more than 210,000 people packed into the Highland Festival Grounds to see the sights, sounds, and to consume copious amounts of bourbon. 60,000 people showed up on Saturday alone when Zach Bryan headlined the evening. That shatter’s last year’s attendance of 120,000 people, and officially makes it the largest music festival in Kentucky history.

I did my best to seek out the most compelling country, Americana, bluegrass and roots music artists Bourbon & Beyond hosted, and which I could get to considering the intense heat, conflicting performance times, long walks in-between stages, and navigating the ever-present human traffic jam.

Oddly, there were some strict photo policies imposed by the festival’s management, which limited what we could or could not photograph within festival grounds. However, since having good visuals is an essential element to the essence of proper journalism, my improvise-adapt-overcome mentality led me to commissioning a sketch artist for this assignment for the additional visuals. The ink-slinging madman Clayton L. Luce tagged along for a day to provide some Gonzo-inspired illustrations.

This decision kept us in compliance with the imposed photo restrictions, while still giving a somewhat accurate abstract depiction into the well organized glutinous booze and food affair which transpired in front of all those magnificent musical stages.

Speaking to Oklahoma songwriter Wyatt Flores about his experience at Bourbon & Beyoond compared to other festivals, he said,

“I feel like there’s such a wide range of festivals that it kind of balances itself out. I like the Laurel Cove Music Festival (1,000 capacity). Those festivals, you want them to be heard and you want them to be known, and then there’s also the feeling like it kind of needs to be kept a secret. The big festivals are awesome because we also as artists get to go and see each other and then also network there and also play to bigger crowds. But today I’m only playing 30 minutes. I’d love to play longer but there’s so many artists, you’ve got to fit them all.”

Duane Betts had similar feeling of big vs. small festivals.

“My wife and I actually started our own boutique festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming,” Betts explains. “Horseshoe Music Festival is the name of our festival and so we have mixed feelings about giant music festivals. But if they’re done well I think they can benefit a lot of people and it’s really about getting music out to a lot of people to hopefully uplift them. That’s what music is about.”

210,000 is a lot of people, and Bourbon & Beyond 2024 stretched the limits and capacity that a single festival can draw. Though there were a lot of names beyond country and Americana composing the lineup, it was the rising appeal of independent country that helped make it all possible.

Here are the best musical performances witnessed from the country, Americana and Bluegrass artists…

---

The Red Clay Strays

Hands down, no questions asked, the Red Clay Strays brought the house down with the best live performance of the festival that I witnessed. Never mind the fact that it took place on one of the festival’s smaller stages. About 10-15 thousand heat-stricken, yet hardcore fans crammed into the Beyonder Stage area, which clearly wasn’t setup for a crowd that size. Some folks even passed out from heat exhaustion during the performance, either or perhaps from frontman Brandon Coleman’s irresistible, Elvis-the-pelvis-like magnetism and an undeniable stage presence which seemed to have his audience in somewhat of a trance.

Coleman and his bandmates seemed to have held that massive crowd in the palm of their hand as they belted out the emotional rollercoaster of songs off their new Dave Cobb produced album, Made By These Moments. Coleman even acknowledged that this very well may be the largest crowd that he and his bandmates had ever played to, as they gazed in awe of the massive raging congregation before them. Clearly, the Red Clay Strays made an overwhelming case for why they should have been performing on one of the main stages at Bourbon & Beyond. My guess is that is exactly where they’ll land if they’re invited back.

---

Tyler Childers

What is there not to say about Kentucky’s own Tyler Childers, the Eastern Kentucky Appalachian songwriting prodigy? Turning in one of the best performances of the entire festival in his home state, he closed out Bourbon & Beyond on the final night, delivering a massive grand finale on a stage he undoubtedly deserves to be on.

The audience reaction functioned as proof in the pudding as they also became his backing choir, hanging onto every word he sang. At one point Childers excitedly admitted that playing Bourbon & Beyond was “everything I expected,” while drinking a clear liquid from a mason jar. It’s conceivable to assume he’s still up on the wagon even though he’s performing at one of the largest alcohol-inspired events, where by this time, there weren’t too many sober people off stage to be found.

---

Zach Bryan

Massive. That’s the best way to describe both Zach Bryan’s fan base, and his stage presence. At this point, it’s no wonder how this guy can fill up stadiums, and why an equally-massive audience showed up for his debut performance at Bourbon & Beyond. Turning in a 20-song set from a catalog of music that only goes back to 2019, Bryan proved why he belonged as Bourbon & Beyond’s headline artist, with a legion of screaming fans who all showed up in full force. His best performance was “God Speed,” which is exactly how fast his music career has been moving in just five short years.

---

Cody Jinks

There is something truly magical about Cody Jinks, and anyone who has seen him play live can likely attest to that. Between his deep and thought-provoking soul evident by his songwriting, and his ability to captivate his audience with songs they all know how to sing just as well, Jinks is just one of those rare artists who can unify people no matter what their differences are. His songs hit like bricks, and he’s proven over and over that he can fit into just about any type of crowd you put him in.

His performance at Bourbon & Beyond spanned a legendary catalog of songs, with the crowd pleasing “Hippies & Cowboys” coming as the night’s climax, with literally a combination of exactly those types of people standing before him, all singing along. Jinks’ music will stand the test of time when music historians and fans look back on this period of music; that which we’re all lucky enough to witness first hand at events like this.

---

Sierra Ferrell 

Simply stated, Sierra Ferrell was a bit mesmerizing to both watch and hear perform live as you hypnotically fell under her musical spell. Also attracting a large and highly hooked audience—perhaps as a result of her recent wins at AmericanaFest in Nashville earlier in the week—Ferrell totally delivered at her Bourbon & Beyond debut performance wearing a trippy, hippie gypsy cowgirl outfit that worked well with her set.

A balanced blend of elements of honky-tonk, roots, Western, and maybe a dash of calypso jazz makes up the sound of this West Virginia native and fast rising star. Ferrell treated the audience to several of the new songs off her recent album, Trail of Flowers. Her spin on Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee” seemed to strike the right chord with crowd too as she paid musical homage to one of the surviving Highwaymen.

---

Wyatt Flores

Another fast riser in the last two years is 22 year old Americana and country troubadour Wyatt Flores, who proudly hails from the plains of Oklahoma. Flores also brought a small army of loyal fans for his set, who were clad in his T-shirts and cowboy hats. Flores proved that you can catch exceptionally great talent even on the smaller stages at Bourbon & Beyond.

Flores performed select cuts from his forthcoming new album, Welcome To The Plains. Plus, his performance of “Milwaukee”—the song which catapulted him onto basically every playlist and radio station—was met with massive crowd enthusiasm, along with his surprise collaboration with The Castellows on “Sober Sundays.” While Flores may still be considered young and still paying his dues by some, the stage presence he brings suggests that his dues may already have been met.

---

Additional Photos

For more live coverage of events, follow Saving Country Music on Instagram.