On Thursday evening, a thunder filled the Remington Bar on Central Avenue in downtown Whitefish, Montana, when raucous Nashville act Hogslop String Band took the stage at the watering hole to signal the official kickoff to Under the Big Sky festival.
Since its inception five years ago, UTBS has emerged as one of the premier festivals in the country when it comes to genuine Americana and country music. With more than 20,000 in attendance throughout the weekend, the gathering has become a pilgrimage fest for music fans.
“This festival is about honesty, passion and authenticity,” Hogslop guitarist Gabriel Kelley tells Rolling Stone. “It brings together some of the best up-and-coming Americana, outlaw, red dirt and contemporary country from across the board — it’s been a melting pot for a lot of different styles.”
Situated on the 400-acre Big Mountain Ranch at the edge of Whitefish with the Rocky Mountains as a backdrop, UTBS blends juggernaut musical acts and real deal, nitty gritty Western appeal — live rodeos between sets, homemade barbecue, and late-night foot-stomping at local dive bars.
“It’s surreal,” says UTBS co-founder and ranch owner Johnny Shockey. “In my wildest dreams, I never, ever thought that it would get to this point or potentially even bigger than this.”
This go-round featured Billy Strings, Miranda Lambert, Turnpike Troubadours, Sierra Ferrell, Tanya Tucker, Brothers Osborne, Shovels & Rope, Mt. Joy, Flatland Cavalry, Pony Bradshaw, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, the Revivalists, and more.
“It’s a beautiful thing to see the crowds really into it,” Kelley said. “Not only with this festival, but with our scene — Americana, country, folk people — it’s kind of becoming the time for all of us to take a little bit more of a stand, have more of a platform, where it’s now filling up arenas.”
For Shockey, the continued evolution and word-of-mouth growth of UTBS is a testament to not only the astounding lineups each year, but also the stunning natural surroundings of the Treasure State.
“Big Sky Country is a place that everybody wants to visit on their bucket list,” Shockey says. “The success of this festival has more to do with the surroundings than anything. And being good stewards of the land is important — there’s a lot of love put into this thing.”
Here’s what we saw in Big Sky Country.
Sierra Ferrell arrives on horseback.
Riding through the festival crowd on horseback to her Saturday evening set on the Great Northern Stage, Ferrell hopped off the quarter horse, immediately strapped on an acoustic guitar and went right into a jam with her band.
Weaving through her timeless country, bluegrass, and folk offerings, Ferrell’s soaring voice radiated out into the hot summer evening. Part way through the performance, the railroad tracks buffering the property roared to life when a BNSF freight train cruised by — a poignant reminder to Ferrell as to just how far she’s come from her train-hopping and busking days.
“It felt super serendipitous,” Ferrell says backstage when asked about the train. “It’s kind of a nod to the great, vast unknown, and just living that sort of free life. It was a full circle moment.”
Guitar phenom Billy Strings also made an appearance during Ferrell’s set for “Bells of Every Chapel” (a collaborative effort by the duo from Ferrell’s 2021 album Long Time Coming) and the traditional number “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down.”
“Anytime I hear a sad song, I have to learn that song,” Ferrell told the audience before “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down.”
To note, Ferrell’s latest collaboration, “Oldsmobile” with Hogslop String Band, just hit the airwaves this weekend.
“It just keeps things fresh,” Ferrell says of her love of collaboration. “And you never know what you’re going to come up with. Everyone is themselves and they’re only going to have their essence. It’s a beautiful thing to share that essence.”
City & Colour mesmerize the ranch.
One of the most captivating sets of the weekend, Canadian singer-songwriter Dallas Green held court during his Saturday sunset slot performing as City & Colour on the Big Mountain Stage.
Although well-known above the nearby Canadian border with City & Colour and his other longtime project, post-hardcore outfit Alexisonfire, Green can’t ignore the proverbial chip on his shoulder being an artist “from up north” trying to break into the elusive American markets.
“I have a sizable bag of ketchup chips on my shoulder,” Green chuckles in his green room trailer. “And I have to keep the chip on my shoulder at arms-length because I have a dedicated, passionate group of people who have found me and listened to me.”
Standing behind the microphone, Green commanded the audience with a stage aura akin to My Morning Jacket’s Jim James. “I would sing this song, in hopes that we might find a better way,” he sang in “Bow Down to Love,” mesmerizing those gathered on the ranch.
“I definitely try not to look back much, because I’ve always moved forward,” Green says of City & Colour quickly approaching its 20th anniversary. “But it is quite remarkable that I’m still able to do it.”
Tanya Tucker mines country gold.
As 65, Country Music Hall of Fame member Tanya Tucker is showing no signs of slowing down. Even though she’s been a notable presence in the music industry since bursting onto the scene as a teenager in the early 1970s, Tucker is focusing on what lies just beyond the horizon.
“God gave me a gift to sing,” Tucker says, “and I feel like there’s so many things that I’ve yet to do. I feel like I’m running out of time, so I’m trying to get it all in, you know?”
Strolling onto the Great Northern Stage beneath a still hot, early Friday evening sun, Tucker exuded swagger, grit, and grace. Adorned in her black suit with white trim and rhinestones, Tucker rumbled through a slew of her most beloved tunes and a handful of country gold classics, including Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”
“It’s what you grow up with and what you know,” Tucker says of those influential songs. “But I’m always looking for that new hit, always looking for that new song.”
For Tucker, performing the country music she adores conjures vivid memories of her early days running around Printers Alley and Broadway in Nashville, hopping onstage at long gone dive bars and singing Merle Haggard and Hank Williams numbers for whoever would listen. It also reminds her of a country radio station she used to tune into as a youngster, KHIL in Willcox, Arizona.
“Thank god for KHIL radio, because if it’d been rock and roll, it might’ve been a different story,” Tucker says.
Paul Cauthen preaches unity.
“This is about to be the loudest shit of this entire weekend, y’all ready?” Paul Cauthen shouted from atop the Big Mountain Stage on Sunday. The larger-than-life country star is a sight to behold and hear, with a baritone like Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash, and a bravado in the same vein as Hank Williams Jr. or Kenny Powers.
“When you’re singing for Jesus, you have to sing a lot louder,” Cauthen says following the gig on his tour bus. “And my pulpit is different every night [on tour].”
Although initially on the trajectory of becoming a fifth-generation preacher, Cauthen veered into outlaw country music. The irony is that the latter career choice has allowed the charismatic performer to reach a larger audience to spread his word.
“You know, I loved my upbringing. I wouldn’t take it back for anything. But I learned a lot about religion being a form of separation,” Cauthen says. “And I don’t know if Jesus was here [right now], if he’d be all about it.”
The core of Cauthen resides in this delicate balance between rock star stage act and an artist using his platform for connectivity and understanding between groups of division, hate, and miscommunication. Midway through his set, he addressed the massive crowd about the fractured state of the U.S., following Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Trump.
“In those moments, you let your spirit lead you,” Cauthen says. “I wanted to say something about being together. It’s about our daily walk, about waking up in the morning and maybe there’s somebody that needs some help — if we help from the ground up, we can have a better place.”
Turnpike Troubadours level up.
Moments before taking the Great Northern Stage as the Friday night headliner, Turnpike Troubadours frontman Evan Felker was sitting at a picnic table underneath a large pine tree backstage ruminating on nearly 20 years together as a band.
“It’s about staying focused on what’s important or what’s the highest priority at that exact moment,” Felker says. “We got to do it our way. And, like everybody else, you wonder if that’s the only way to do it. But it’s certainly the path we’ve chosen for so long.”
During a rock ’em/sock’ em set, Turnpike tore through its cache of melodies, including “Before the Devil Knows We’re Dead.” “And let’s leave the world laughin’ when our eulogies are read,” Felker howled, “may we all get to Heaven ‘fore the devil knows we’re dead.”
“It’s uncharted waters,” he says about the band’s recent upgrades into arenas. “I just know that we’re continuing to grow up and find out what’s required of us each day, each year. Everything we’re doing is evolving. Hopefully we’re able to keep up with it.”
