Laurel Cove 2025: Best Things I Saw
Evan Honer, Kaitlin Butts, Hunter Flynn, Emily Jamerson, and more
Laurel Cove is much more than a music festival, it’s a family reunion. Friends from across Kentucky and Appalachia and from as far away as England, Canada and Australia all gathered in the picturesque holler just north of the Cumberland Gap this past weekend for a celebration of insane proportions that not even Mother Nature’s best curveballs could squander.
Despite the weather’s best efforts for a washout, the community 1,500 strong around the festival didn’t let the uncertainty dampen their spirits. While other festivals would’ve been in ruins Laurel Cove thrived thanks to the fast, forward thinking action by organizers and cooperation from artists and fans alike to roll with the punches and trusting the process — even when storms Friday cancelled sets from Ian Noe and Bedford.
“Laurel Cove is all about the people, the atmosphere and the scenery even more than it is about the music,” says Kyle Hammer, who’s traveled from New York to Kentucky for the festival every year since 2023. “Everybody is so respectful and has the common goal of enjoying themselves and experiencing authentic, grassroots music.”
I could sit here and write 3,000 words on what makes Laurel Cove so great and what stood out from this weekend (which you can also read about in my preview story for the Lexington Herald-Leader), but for the sake of brevity I’ve gathered my 10 favorite moments from the sixth installment of the festival below.
Jack Browning
Coming all the way from England to make his Laurel Cove debut, Jack Browning’s poetic songwriting and gritty drawl felt right at home in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky during his Saturday afternoon Creekside set. Browning had the crowds on pins and needles throughout with originals like “Muhlenberg County Stars” (see above) and Luke Bell’s “The Bullfighter” as he continues to work himself into the local scene ahead of releasing more new music later in the year.
Learn more about Jack when he joins me this Wednesday, June 18, from 7-8 p.m. ET for episode 60 of Wick’s Picks on The Hound.
Kaitlin Butts
There’s not many artists in country music having a bigger moment right now than Kaitlin Butts, who lived up to every expectation and then some during her Laurel Cove debut. The Oklahoma singer currently going viral with the hit song “You Ain’t Gotta Die (To Be Dead To Me)” pulled out all the punches for the set including a haunting version of traditional song “In The Pines,” a cover of Ke$ha’s “Hunt You Down” and the happy-go-lucky “Wild Juanita’s Cactus Juice.”
However, the set’s coolest moments came from watching her interactions with a group of children watching on from side stage, dancing along to and singing every lyric. Butts repeatedly looked over and went nearby to dance with them before welcoming them up during the last song to dance from the stage and sharing a moment with them off of it following the show’s conclusion.
The Creekers
Kicking off Friday’s main stage action were Eastern Kentucky bluegrass extraordinaires, The Creekers. Still flying high after signing a booking deal with WME earlier in the week, the band delivered a heated set under the early afternoon sun led by covers of Cheap Trick’s “I Want You To Want Me” and Tyler Childers’ “Jersey Giant” along with a wet n’wild fiddle solo from the incomparable Anna Blanton whilst laying in a flamingo float coasting across the stage side pond.
Kashus Culpepper
Brent Cobb may have a song called “King Of Alabama,” but it was the Yellowhammer State’s own Kashus Culpepper who was shimmering like royalty during his Saturday evening debut set at The Cove. Fresh off playing in downtown Pineville for the festival’s lineup reveal party in January and having been featured on CBS Saturday Morning earlier in the day, Culpepper more than proved his place among country and roots music’s rising stars with a blazing performance that included originals like “Man Of His Word” and “Alabama Beauty Queen” interspersed with tasteful covers like Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.”
Hunter Flynn
One of Kentucky’s best kept secrets the last few years (aside from Laurel Cove) has been Somerset native Hunter Flynn, who took over the festival’s Creekside Stage on Saturday for one of the weekend’s most joyous performances. Starting solo and later joined by Jordan Lee King, Flynn had the crowd singing along at the top of their lungs to his originals like “Fucked Up Brain” and “You Just Don’t Know Me,” the latter of which drew an extra enthusiastic callback during the lyrics “If you like pop country you can kiss my ass.” Rumor has it there’s big news on the way soon from Flynn (and deservedly so), so stay tuned!
Noeline Hofmann
Every year Noeline Hofmann returns to Laurel Cove bigger and better than ever, and 2025 was no exception. After first coming from Alberta, Canada as a fan in 2023 and leaving the weekend feeling transformed, the singer made her debut at the event as a solo act in 2024 before returning with her full band this year. In addition to running through songs like “Fourth Of July (Prairie Fire)” and the Zach Bryan collab “Purple Gas,” Hofmann also put her own spin on Lexington born singer Luke Bell’s tune “The Bullfighter,” which she told me about afterwards is not only one of her favorite songs from a Kentuckian, but one of her favorite songs, period.
Evan Honer
Oftentimes rain puts a damper on festivals or causes them to cancel altogether (just look at this year’s Bonnaroo…), but in the case of Laurel Cove bad weather just spawns beautiful moments. At the center of this year’s magic was Southern California born singer Evan Honer, who was forced to move under the festival’s artist green room/gazebo for an impromptu acoustic set after storms cancelled the remainder of Friday’s on stage action. Was ensued was complete euphoria, with him opening up the reimagined show with a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” before diving into songs like his Wyatt Flores collab “Take Me As I Come” (feat. a brave fan singing Flores’ part), Tyler Childers’ “Jersey Giant” and the cheeky “idk shit about cars.”
Following Honer in the gazebo Jonathan & Abigail Peyton (who weren’t even on the festival lineup) and the Hill Country Devil also had brief performances before music was shut down for the night, capping off a moment that rivaled epic memories from past Laurel Cove’s like the Red Clay Strays’ pond jump and Flores unplugged “Shake The Frost” finale from last year.
Emily Jamerson
It’s been so much fun watching Emily Jamerson perform more and come into her own on stage in the past year, and in many ways her Saturday set seemed like a coming out party and breakthrough moment. Despite rain showering down upon her and the crowd around the Creekside Stage Jamerson shined bright on originals like “Wild Woman,” “Dried Paint” and “Love Song Love.” However, the set’s most memorable moments came when she welcomed Jordan Lee King up for a duet on “Just Ain’t Fair” and later The Jenkins Twins for a rendition of Gram Parsons’ and Emmylou Harris’ “In My Hour Of Darkness,” both of which the crowd watched on with captivating silence.
Nicholas Jamerson
Laurel Cove’s secondary Creekside Stage was filled with anything but second-tier talent all weekend long but particularly on Saturday, which saw Nicholas Jamerson and his band The Morning Jays take over it’s closing slot ahead of Ole 60’s headlining show with seemingly everyone from the small, tight knit festival in attendance. In addition to running through fan favorites like “Hindman” and “Linda James” (see above), the Prestonsburg native also tore into new and unreleased material from his forthcoming album due out this fall including “Days Like These” and “Running Out Of Daylight” as he continues to cement his rightful place among Kentucky’s most revered songwriters.
Smilo & The Ghost
Much like their Laurel Cove debut in 2024, Erie, Pa. based folk group Smilo & The Ghost set the bar high early Saturday afternoon on the festival’s main stage with a rollicking set of bewildering ballads grass and punk influenced tunes reminiscent of Trampled By Turtles and The Devil Makes Three. The group’s performance was so profound that it drew not one, but two standing ovations — the first following the set’s original conclusion and the other following an encore, both of which stretched multiple minutes in length and left no doubt about the band’s place in Laurel Cove lore.