Railbird Fest throws fans for a loop with 2025 Headliners

The annual Railbird Festival in Lexington, Kentucky just announced its 2025 lineup from May 31st to June 1st, and it includes a stellar crop of top-of-the-line independent country and roots artists.

This includes Cody Jinks, Sierra Ferrell, Wyatt Flores, Blackberry Smoke, The Castellows, Ole 60 and many more. Railbird organizers have also clearly done their homework, booking some overlooked and under-the-radar bands worthy of the opportunity, namely Saving Country Music Songwriter of the Year Jesse Welles, as well as one of Austin’s biggest bands, Rattlesnake Milk.

These artists and bands are what you would expect from C3 Presents Railbird Fest, which since its inception has focused more on independent country artists as opposed to mainstream names. But it’s the headliners that Railbird has announced that have repeat patrons chirping and wondering how they fit in with the festival’s undercard.

Lainey Wilson isn’t too far out of left field. After all, for a mainstream country artist, she still has a more traditional sound and has appeared at independent country festivals before. Believe it or not, you can even see a universe where Shaboozey could be a unique change of pace for the party, especially if he offers up some of his rootsier material (which he also apparently wants to lean into more).

But Bailey Zimmerman and especially Jelly Roll feel almost like poison pills for a lineup that focuses primarily on non-country radio-supported artists. Zimmerman is like the TEMU version of Morgan Wallen, and we’re about a year past the fact that people are tired of the overexposure and constant rambling of Jelly Roll down our throats.

As one commenter on Facebook said, “It’s a way to make sure the party doesn’t get oversold! Went from a nice alt country/rock party to mainstream country…ruined everything you had going on!”

But as someone else points out, “Stop by the headliners yall, Red Clay Strays, Ole 60, Noeline Hoffman, Treaty Oak Revival to name just a few new ones on this list who are so good and true to their music. Give them a listen if you are not familiar, that’s why I’m taking.”

In some ways, you feel sorry for Railbird and other indie-oriented country music festivals. Although independent artists and bands continue to rise, the amount of top names for a big festival is somewhat thin. With Zach Bryan saying he won’t be touring much in 2025, Billy Strings and Tyler Childers focusing more on their own headlining shows, and Cody Jinks and the Turnpike Troubadours coming back to reality a bit, there aren’t many names to choose from.

But a strong case could be made that you’d be better off putting artists like Sierra Ferrell and The Red Clay Strays at the top of your poster as opposed to overpaying for Jelly Roll. Along with Charley Crockett, 2025 feels like the year these artists graduate to legitimate headliners, and The Red Clay Strays already have.

Railbird has some incredible names playing the festival in 2025, offering both a wealth of top line independent country entertainment along with plenty to discover. It’s just a shame that Jelly Roll, Shaboozey, and Bailey Zimmerman will distract from how good this lineup actually is. Most independent country fans would rather listen to a straightforward hip-hop artist than pop country’s inferior versions of one.

The pre-sale is now up at railbirdfest.com .