We went west (barely) of West Virginia to take in Healing Appalachia 2025. The festival known for helping to fund treatment programs for those caught in the throes of addiction set up camp at the Boyd County Fairgrounds outside of Ashland, Kentucky.
Twenty-five thousand people poured into the rural area to take in the multi-day music festival that was headlined by local natives Tyler Childers and Chris Stapleton. We were there to take it all in but mainly to catch some West Virginia artists take the stage. We were able to watch the late night, or depending on your perspective, an early morning show, by Huntington based Kindred Valley.
The folk six piece played the late night stage at 1 AM, for a great crowd that wasn’t ready to go to bed yet. Kindred Valley played an energetic set, that saw them utilize a mix of older and new material, which highlighted why this band is one we believe can make it to that next level.
On the experience of playing Healing Appalachia and another festival on the same day, Blake Lacy said “Being a part of Healing Appalachia is an incredible honor. To be able to play a part in the work of recovery for our area and our people is a special thing Playing two festivals in the same day was certainly a unique experience. Definitely exhausting but also a very gratitude inspiring event. Being able to play music around the country and have your work requested by others is just so cool. I’m grateful we get to road dog it and meet the wonderful people everywhere we do.”
Noah Freeman, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist said “Healing Appalachia has always been close to our hearts. Having an event that means so much to us right in our backyard put more excitement in us for the event than we thought we could have.”
Freeman continued, “When we checked the distance and set times, we knew it was worth it to make it back for Healing Appalachia. Thankfully, we were able to pull off both shows and make it for the back half of Tyler’s set.”
Check out the pictures by Maria Cusack in our gallery below and stream their new song “Why I’m Crying” as well.
