Moonshiner’s Ball: Americana/bluegrass festival by day, funky dance party by night

Don’t expect Travis Young to be tuning into The Weather Channel much this week.

That might seem surprising, given how he has been at the helm of the grassroots-oriented Moonshiner’s Ball since its inception in 2014. When it comes to weather, Young and his grassroots-oriented festival have seen just about everything — torrential rain and heat when the event was staged during the late spring and summer months, cold and even frost when it moved to its now current autumn spot on the calendar.

But he also doesn’t trust forecasts, especially those announced a week ahead of time. As Young has done with every other aspect of the festival, he weathers the weather and celebrates the music.

“Honestly, I try to stay completely away from the forecasts,” Young said. “Especially during the years when we were in the spring and we had really traumatic weather experiences. Back then, we were always scouring the weather reports only to find out that they were wrong one way or another. If we looked two days in advance, I guess there was some meaning in there. But outside of that, I don’t trust what the forecast says. It just messes with my emotions.”

Emotions, for Young, run high with The Moonshiner’s Ball. Favoring a mix of daytime folk, bluegrass, Americana and nighttime rock and funk jams, the event has long retained a sense of intimacy that has set it apart from many of the year’s other music gatherings.

What makes Moonshiner’s Ball different from Railbird?

It’s far bigger than homey, small-town events born out of the bluegrass boom of the 1970s but vastly smaller than mammoth, marquee band-heavy summits like Railbird. That balance, Young feels, is the basis for the charm and distinction at the heart of The Moonshiner’s Ball, which returns to its current home at Rockcastle Riverside in Livingston, Ky., in Rockcastle County this weekend.

“Lots of things are in a really good place for us this year. We’re seeing what continues for us to be a slow burn, organic kind-of growth. We haven’t seen an explosion in attendance, but it does increase every year. It seems like that growth comes from word of mouth. There are people who come for the first time because of the headliner in any given year, but mostly it’s just people who love commenting to other people about it. It’s all these little tribes, all these little plants of people, families and friends. They all expand and grow, so the overall festival size expands and grows.

“That growth can be a little bit slower sometimes than you want it to be. As a festival, you just want to get past the point where you’re worried about ticket sales. The flip side of that is slow growth is quality growth. That’s what always makes a festival crowd so beautiful. I hear this from all kinds of people, that The Moonshiner’s Ball’s greatest asset is its crowd. It’s really a beautiful collection of people, the majority of which come every single year. If the growth happens through word-of-mouth from that crowd, then the quality of the crowd is maintained. It doesn’t become such a random grab-bag of people who are there to see a specific band.”

Who will headline, play festival this year?

Specific bands still matter, though. In recent years, the festival has presented headliners designed to appeal to its “slow growth” audience. Progressive bluegrass pioneer (and Kentucky native) Sam Bush headlined in 2021. Americana empress Lucinda Williams topped the bill in 2022. This year, Moonshiner’s top slot will go to the veteran New Orleans-rooted jazz, jam and funk troupe Galactic. The band is currently experiencing a career renaissance of sorts since recruiting former Tank and the Bangas vocalist Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph.

“The change to Galactic felt like a pretty significant one to me,” Young said. “Being in that jazz, jam, New Orleans funk kind of genre, I didn’t know if they would have the name power in this area that big bluegrass and Americana acts would. But their sound has always been a huge part of Moonshiner’s. We like to bask in folk, bluegrass and Americana during the day. At night, we want a dance party, so we turn it over to funk and jam and rock. This is the first time we’ve gone with that jam/funk genre for a headliner, but I think it’s working. There has really been a lot of response.”

The rest of the roster is, as Young aptly terms it, “deep.” Just behind Galactic is psychedelic rock-soul stylist Neal Francis (one of the highlight acts from this year’s Railbird), two-time International Bluegrass Music Association mandolin player of the year Sierra Hull, a pair of champion Nashville singer-songwriters — Adia Victoria and Sunny War, progressive bluegrass warhorse Larry Keel, Kentucky-born country/Americana stylist Kelsey Waldon and a hearty pack of local and regional favorites that include Magnolia Boulevard, Eric Bolander and Brother Smith.

Capping it all is the host band that will place Young onstage: The Blind Corn Liquor Pickers. Co-founder Young is the band’s banjoist. (For a full festival schedule, go to themoonshinersball.com).

Last music festival of the year

“When you go about working as a small festival like us, there is a lot of hoping that things will break the right way in terms of how the artists are routed, whether the artist would consider taking a little bit less that they might get at bigger festivals and if they will then jump on board. Sometimes it works out better than at other times. This year, we pretty much hit on all of our targets. It’s a stacked lineup this year. It’s diverse and interesting and is really going to deliver for the crowd.”

Despite its modest growth, The Moonshiner’s Ball, the last major outdoor music festival of the year, still works within significant financial concerns. No one, Young assures us, is getting rich from profits the festival generates. The rewards, he said, are found elsewhere.

“We already know from the start every year that this gig is going to be successful in terms of the experience. The experience is going to be excellent, but so much comes down to the bottom line. Can we survive for another year? I don’t seem to be inching any closer to quitting my day job. You have to be able to thrive in chaos. Most of our team operates that way. It’s a bunch of musicians and artists and lovers of music and art. It’s all for love, for sure.”

The Moonshiner’s Ball

When: Gates open 3 p.m. Oct. 12 and 10 a.m. Oct. 13-15

Where: Rockcastle Riverside, 4211 Lower River Rd. in Livingston

Tickets: $25-$120

Online: themoonshinersball.com