Railbird…or Failbird?
This morning, Railbird, a festival in Lexington, Kentucky, announced its lineup, and while some are amped up about the list of artists performing, others are not exactly thrilled.
Railbird Festival is historically known for blending country music with alternative and indie artists. The festival combines good music with bourbon, earning rave reviews from attendees in previous years. Not to mention, the scenic horse country of Lexington makes for incredible lush views around the festival grounds.
In previous years, the festival has featured artists like the Turnpike Troubadours, Chris Stapleton, Hozier, Noah Kahan, Brent Cobb, Counting Crows, Nathaniel Rateliff, Molly Tuttle, Goose, Marcus King, Wynonna Judd, Charles Wesley Godwin, and more. As you can see, the genre representation typically expands beyond country music but steers clear of pop artists.
Personally speaking, Railbird is always a festival lineup I am looking forward to seeing because they are stacked.
The festival shared their lineup this morning, announcing their headliners as Lainey Wilson and Jelly Roll. However, the two-day festival also features talent like Cody Jinks, Sierra Ferrell, Ryan Bingham, Luke Grimes, the Red Clay Strays, Wyatt Flores, Blackberry Smoke, Treaty Oak Revival, Ole 60, and more.
While I admittedly was not entirely thrilled with the headliners, and certainly won’t be parking it in the front row for Bailey Zimmerman or Shaboozey, once you moved past those two lines, the rest of the performers are incredible. I mean, seeing Red Clay Strays, Ryan Bingham, Treaty Oak Revival, Blackberry Smoke, and up-and-comers Max McKeown and Noeline Hofmann on the same day sounds like a dream come true to me.
However, the public was less than impressed. Festival followers have been sharing their disappointment on social media, identifying their main pain points as the headlining acts.
With artists like Tyler Childers, Turnpike Troubadours, Chris Stapleton, Zach Bryan, and others headlining in the past, and now featuring a number mainstream, radio hit acts, it’s not hard to see why it’s disheartening for past festival attendees. The festival has focused heavily in years past on giving headlining time to artists who resonate with country music and “y’allternative” fans. It’s a hard jump from last year’s headliners of Noah Kahan and Chris Stapleton to someone like Jelly Roll.
This is not to say that any of these acts are bad; different strokes for different folks. But when your lineup moves towards featuring some of the biggest acts in mainstream country music, you’re naturally gonna hear some backlash from those loyal fans who were looking forward to hearing artists from outside the mainstream.
Kickback is exactly what the festival is hearing on social media right now.
Check out some of the comments left on the lineup announcement.
“Headliners f***ing suck.”
“You’ve had artists like Billy Strings, Turnpike, Khruangbin, Noah Kahan, Dave Matthew’s, MMJ, Goose, Nat Ratliff, and this is what you came up with??? Wtf is this?”
“This is what we waited so long for?”
“Failbird.”
“In what world are Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson headliners? This is terrible.”
“Big fall off in terms of headliners from 2023 and 2024…”
“Ahhh, and the streak of going to every Railbird comes crashing to the ground. Big yikes.”
“Could’ve at least had the Red Clay Strays as a headliner over Jelly Roll or Lainey Wilson…”
“Maybe sit this year out, Railbird.”
“Welp, that’s a choice.”
“I cannot even imagine the amount of drunk frat-fake country-bros that this lineup will pull. Yikes.”
“What a falloff. Absolutely unreal.”
“Good news for people who want to go- I just canceled my hotel reservation, so you have a place to stay.”
“Railbird booking agents…y’all ok?”
Not great, eh…
However, these comments below echo where I am at with the lineup:
“Do you guys only go to festivals for headliners? Everyone else on the lineup is so good, Jesus Christ.”
“It’s not that bad if you put your thumb over the headliners.”
Don’t like the headliners? That’s okay, but don’t let that distract you from the list of other stellar talent this festival will feature. I don’t know about you, but getting out of a festival before the massive crowds leave and being in bed by 8 p.m. sounds fantastic to me.
