The 2025 Railbird Festival Lineup is Here and It's Underwhelming

You ready to rail some birds? Probably not after seeing the 2025 Railbird Music Festival lineup.

To be clear, this is Kentucky Sports Radio, not Kentucky Music Radio. We will not pretend to be tastemakers in the musical genre, but you don’t have to know much about contemporary popular music to wonder what’s going on with this year’s collection of acts at Railbird.

Lainey Wilson headlines the popular Lexington music festival on May 31. Bailey Zimmerman and Shaboozey will set the stage leading into the finale. The Red Clay Strays and Riley Green will have the honors the following day when Jelly Roll is the headliner.

Lainey Wilson and Jelly Roll’s presence makes it clear that Railbird is taking a turn from its roots into popular country music.

The first event was hosted at Keeneland in 2019. It featured acts like Tyler Childers, Brandi Carlisle, Leon Bridges, Billy Strings, and My Morning Jacket. Bridges and MMJ returned in 2021, along with Dave Matthews, Jason Isbell, and a young Zach Bryan. That year was a logistical disaster with sweltering heat and a lack of cooling stations.

The event moved from Keeneland to The Infield at Red Mile in 2023. Aside from some parking challenges, most approved of the move and enjoy Zach Bryan and Nathaniel Rateliff. Despite some rainy weather last year, there was still plenty of enthusiasm for Hozier, Noah Kahan, and Chris Stapleton.

Notice anything about all of those musical acts? Those aren’t people you hear often on FM-radio. Call it alt, Americana, whatever you want to call it, Railbird had a distinct sound. They’re now pivoting to popular country music. It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see how it plays out for them.

The 2025 Railbird Music Festival Lineup

Like what you see? Presale tickets will be available on Friday, Jan. 24.

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