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All Photos © Steve Galli + Story : Chloe Catajan

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” MUSIC – BOURBON – EQUINE “

The stars aligned in more ways than one at last weekend’s Railbird Festival.

Hozier joined Noah Kahan onstage for a live duet of their song “Northern Attitude”. Counting Crows performed “Rain King”, which perfectly soundtracked a sudden downpour. And fans of Nolan Taylor slow danced in the rain as he sang “500”. From musical crossovers to silver linings in stormy skies, the festival weekend had a Southern charm of its very own that made each moment seem picture perfect.

The country music festival, ran by C3 Presents, took place at The Infield at Red Mile—home of Lexington, Kentucky’s renowned horse racing track. Across the red clay grounds were three stages, Limestone, Elkhorn, and Buck, that hosted 32 artists and more than 40,000 fans for the weekend of June 1 and 2. Headliners included Chris Stapleton, Noah Kahan, Wynonna Judd, Hozier, and Turnpike Troubadours, while undercard acts like Katie Pruitt, Ryan Beatty, Johnnyswim, and more brought out the best of the current Americana, folk, and blues scenes.

Veteran festival photographer Steve Galli caught all 32 acts. See the highlights below.

Deep into his festival circuit, Noah Kahan’s headlining set at the Limestone Stage was still full of surprises and comedic banter inbetween. He thanked fans for standing in the rain, calling it the “absolute perfect weather” for his set.

“It’s gonna be so depressing,” Kahan said. “My goal is to leave you all a little worse off than you came.”

On top of his special appearance with Hozier, Kahan also brought out Counting Crows frontman Adam Durtiz, introducing him as one of the greatest songwriters of our time. Kahan and Duritz performed “A Long December”.

“This next song in particular was something that brought my mom and I close together when I was a kid. It’s a song that’s so special and I think it might be one of my favorite songs of all time”, Kahan said before he and Durtiz traded verses on the Counting Crows classic.

Kahan went on to perform 18 songs, including the unreleased cut “The Great Divide”, and encore song, “Young Blood”.

Counting Crows took the Limestone Stage before Kahan, fitting just a fraction of their widely-beloved catalog into an hour-long set. Even with the absence of guitarist David Immerglück, the folk-rock San Francisco band sounded vibrant. Duritz’s vocals were expressive, while David Bryson, Charlie Gillingham, Dan Vickrey, Jim Bogios, and Millard Powers set the scene with rhythms full of color and character.

Against gray skies, the sounds of “Miami”, “Mr. Jones” and “Hanginaround” brought sunshine in a song. Calmer cuts like “Colorblind” and a cover of Taylor Swift’s “the 1” offered a change of pace that made the festival grounds feel infinitely more intimate. Their set kept the crowd moving and in the groove, even at the height of the rainfall.

Over at the Elkhorn Stage, Wynonna Judd sounded as fierce as ever as she delivered 13 songs from across her catalog, including The Big Noise and The Judds cuts.

Dressed in a long, flowy black dress that sparkled in the spotlight, the country icon opened with a couple songs from her solo 1992 self-titled before pivoting to other eras. Evan Felker from Turnpike Troubadours joined onstage for The Big Noise tune, “Ain’t No Thing”.

On “She Is His Only Need”, Wynonna belted out the last chorus with flawless control, as her band stayed on top of delivering extra twang.

“That was my first number one record”, Wynonna said as she thanked the crowd for singing along.

She later brought Marcus King onstage to close the set with a live duet of “No One Else on Earth”.

Marcus King played his own set at the Limestone Stage earlier in the day, delivering an hour long performance of mainly guitar-driven country bliss. He hopped over to a set of keys to turn in slower songs, including a cover of Brenda Lee’s “You Were Always On My Mind”, which seamlessly led into his song, “Delilah”.

Opening up the Limestone Stage for the day were Flatland Cavalry and Ryan Beatty. Flatland Cavalry performed mostly songs off their 2023 album Wandering Star. The Texas six-piece even played a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide”. Meanwhile, Clovis, California’s Ryan Beatty delivered emotive serenades for his opening set at the fest. His set consisted of fan favorites like “Bruises Off The Peach” and “Ribbons”, as well as a cover of Brooks & Dunn’s “Neon Moon”.

The Elkhorn Stage saw performances from honky-tonk heavyweights Turnpike Troubadours, as well as Minnesota’s Trampled By Turtles, Nashville’s Kaitlin Butts, and Maryland’s Brittney Spencer.

Turnpike Troubadours showed up in their Saturday best, with much of the sextet donning cowboy hats and button-ups. The stage spotlights glistened and flashed as the guys turned in lush grassroots jams that had their fans singing back to the band. Their closing cut, a cover of John Hartford’s “Long Hot Summer Days”, which also had a guest appearance from Trampled By Turtles’ Dave Simonett, had the crowd especially energized and stomping along.

Trampled By Turtles kept the pace at their own set fresh and frenetic with multi-part harmonies and rock-meets-bluegrass tendencies. Meanwhile, Kaitlin Butts delivered her signature twang with feel-good serenades and Brittney Spencer brought a stunning mix of pop, soul, and folk—her vocals as smooth as butter.

DAVE SIMONETT of **TRAMPLED BY TURTLES**

The Burl Stage was heavy with talent from Tennessee and Kentucky, including performances from Benjamin Tod and the Lost Dog Street Band, Josiah and the Bonnevilles, Katie Pruitt, Abby Hamilton, and Brother Smith. Missouri’s Sam Barber also took the stage. Each artist leaned into their own takes on country, often blending elements like pop, alternative indie, and soul into the mix.

Day 2 saw headlining performances from Chris Stapleton at the Limestone Stage and Hozier at the Elkhorn Stage.

Currently on his All-American Road Show tour, Chris Stapleton played a festival-friendly version of his tour setlist, which included 18 songs across his five albums, plus a handful of his famous covers.

The Kentucky country star took the stage in a cowboy hat and denim button-up, opening up with the electric, “White Horse”. His vocals were sharp and punchy, while his band laid out some heavy riffage that altogether brought to life Stapleton’s distinct Southern rock sound.

He’d also lean into soulful grooves on “Think I’m In Love WIth You” and slow-burning tendencies on “Tennessee Whiskey”. No matter the mood, fans were on board for it all, singing along at max volume.

Hozier drew in one of the most-packed crowds of the weekend for his headlining set. Though currently on tour for 2023 album Unreal Unearth, the Irish singer-songwriter performed mostly songs off his self-titled album, and just a few off Wasteland, Baby! and his latest release.

Resonant and rich, Hozier’s vocals had a magnetic pull that had the tens of thousands of fans in attendance absolutely attuned to the Elkhorn Stage. He and his band were sharp with their build-ups, creating epic moments on songs like “Francesca”.

His set also featured a special appearance from Allison Russell for “Work Song”.

Elle King took the Elkhorn Stage before Hozier and delivered a set of feel-good energy. The Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter wore a black and red outfit, adorned with hearts and flames. Her backdrop was equally vibrant, projecting visuals of a giant spinning disco ball, lava lamps, and other psychedelic imagery.

Her vocals were fierce on songs like “Ex’s and Oh’s”, “America’s Sweetheart”, and “Baby Daddy’s Weekend” and had the crowd swaying side-to-side and belting along.

Dwight Yoakam delivered 11 songs before cutting his set short due to a spell of heat exhaustion. His team later gave an update on social media that the Kentucky country star was ok, and expressed Yoakam’s gratitude towards the support of attendees and the EMTs at the scene.

Many fans posted videos of themselves enjoying Yoakam’s great performances of “Keep on the Sunny Side”, “Little Sister”, and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, while their captions wished the singer-songwriter a speedy recovery.

Lord Huron, Allison Russell, and Kip Moore also took the Limestone Stage on Day 2.

Lord Huron delivered an engaging performance centered around a payphone they had placed onstage. Throughout the set, the Los Angeles band (with Michigan roots) would pretend to take calls from it. Lead singer Ben Schneider also sang into it occasionally.

Their performance carried a lot of emotion, especially on cuts like “La Belle Fleur Sauvage” and “The Night We Met”, totally captivating the Limestone crowd.

Allison Russell brought a refreshing mix of soul, pop, and folk with her set. The singer-songwriter’s vocals were front and center, while her banjo parts and full band provided delicate embellishments. Meanwhile, Kip Moore totally embodied a country rockstar and delivered an opening set of immense energy.

Over at Elkhorn, Johnnyswim, a Tennessee duo started by Amanda Sudano and Abner Ramirez, turned in a gorgeous set that mixed elements of folk, soul, blues, pop, and the most divine harmonies. Acoustic prog meets bluegrass with The Infamous Stringdusters, a Tennessee quintet whose eclectic vibes brought high energy to the Elkhorn Stage early on in the day. And Georgia’s Brent Cobb opened the stage with beautiful acoustic guitar-driven serenades.

AMANDA SUDANO and ABNER RAMIREZ of **JOHNNYSWIM**

Day 2 at the Burl Stage offered a stellar mix of unique sounds that ranged from folk rap and country grunge. Hailey Whitters brought a pop-girl flair to her country ballads, while Alabama’s Red Clay Strays delivered pure country rock—grit, twang, and all.

Nolan Taylor and Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle both represented Ohio with their own takes on folk. Taylor’s style was incredibly thoughtful and yearnful, as Buffalo Wabs leaned more into Americana. And then there was the emotive, heartland rock of Tanner Ursey and Stephen Wilson Jr.’s American Gothic tendencies, which he describes as “Death Cab for Country”.