The full lineup… and it’s one of the best I’ve seen for 2025.
Healing Appalachia, the flagship production of Hope in the Hills, a West Virginia-based nonprofit organization operated by an all-volunteer board of directors committed to combating the opioid crisis and supporting recovery across Appalachia, has another incredible group of artists slated to perform in Kentucky this fall.
They previously announced Kentucky natives and two of Appalachia’s finest, Chris Stapleton and Tyler Childers, as headliners for the festival in Ashland, Kentucky, which will certainly make for two days of incredible country music in support of a great cause that means a lot to both of them personally.
And today, they announced the rest of the lineup, which includes stellar acts in Molly Tuttle, Lukas Nelson, Blackberry Smoke, American Aquarium, The Infamous Stringdusters, Cole Chaney, Jesse Welles, Jonas Conner, Hill Country Devil, Corduroy Brown and The Montvales, Brad Goodall, Remi Wolf, Conrad Moore, Andy Frasco, Jeremy Short, and more. I mean, absolutely stacked…
Previously held in West Virginia, the sixth annual festival will take place on September 19th and 20th, marking one of the first-ever true hometown shows for both Childers and Stapleton. It will all be held on a mountaintop near the Boyd County Fairgrounds in Ashland, moving to a new part of the Appalachian region. It’s very fitting that for this special year, Healing Appalachia will take place along Kentucky’s Country Music Highway that birthed not only Childers and Stapleton, but also Loretta Lynn, Tom T. Hall, The Judds, Dwight Yoakam, Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley and dozens of other influential artists.
Dave Lavender, board president for Hope in the Hills, says it’s an opportunity to spotlight a new area, with Tyler and Chris bringing a ton of attention to the important work that they’re doing all over the region:
“Moving the festival to Eastern Kentucky and to the heart of The Country Music Highway, we could not be more excited or humbled to have two of the Commonwealth’s greatest songwriters and voices for their people – Chris Stapleton and Tyler Childers.
Not only have they both urgently and boldly shared their journeys and songs of home with the world, but both are first in line to roll up their sleeves and help folks in need. We can’t wait to leave the porch light on for them here in the hills of home at Healing Appalachia.”
The festival was founded hosted by Lawrence County, Kentucky native Childers and his team, and Andrew Steele, Executive Director of Boyd County Tourism, says they’re all thrilled to host this concert in Kentucky:
“We are thrilled to host Healing Appalachia in Kentucky for 2025. We are beyond excited to show off the Country Music Highway with a few of our very own! The mission behind this festival is so important to our region, and we can’t wait to help the event grow.”
A cause very near and dear to my heart, the whole benefit show contributes to several different charities and organizations within Appalachia, with the goal of the event being to raise funds and awareness to combat opioid addiction through a wide array of projects and programs from youth prevention, healthy lifestyles and wellness to recovery houses and recovery to work.
All of the proceeds go directly to Healing Appalachia, and it’s held in September during National Recovery Month, honoring the more than 87,000 people in the U.S. who died of overdose in 2024, and joyously celebrating the over 20.9 million people in the U.S. recovering from alcohol and/or substance use disorder.
Tyler and Chris previously performed at the Kentucky Rising benefit concert following devastating floods in 2022, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that I hope we’re lucky enough to see them team up onstage once again… but even if they don’t team up like this again, it’s going to be a can’t-miss event benefiting an incredible cause. Tickets for both days are on sale now.
