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Langhorne Slim will headline this year's Well Crafted Brews + Bands Festival
Around three years ago, Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill approached local videographer and musician Derek Feldman to help curate a musical line-up for a festival to be held on the village grounds. The similarity between the title of the music video series that Feldman co-created, Shaker Steps – which features songs from local and regional musicians performed live against interesting local backdrops – and Shaker Village was a coincidence, but it turned out to be a great fit.
Now entering its third year, the festival, Well-Crafted Brews and Bands, makes good on delivering a line-up of artists that differ slightly in genre but don't stray far from Kentucky's homegrown musical roots, featuring everything from Americana and indie rock to country and blues. This year's line-up is anchored by upbeat, banjo-driven songwriter Langhorne Slim, and rounded out by 10 additional acts, mostly local and regional, including NP Presley, Tyler Childers, Josh Nolan and more. The fest takes place this Saturday, June 18.
In addition to a full day of music, Well-Crafted also features a wide range of craft beers that patrons are encouraged to taste and sample. The beer selections originally started with regional and state-wide breweries, but now include larger, nationally-renowned breweries that also help sponsor the festival. There will be over 30 craft beers available, with varieties from local brewing staples Blue Stallion, West Sixth, Country Boy and Ethereal, and regional additions from Great Flood, Apocalypse, Lemons Mill and more. An array of local food trucks will be on site to provide nourishment to beer-lovers and music-lovers alike.
Tickets for the Well-Crafted Festival include a complimentary pint glass and all-day access to festival grounds; ticket also get you access to the Village itself, where you can take advantage of staff-led tours, talks, demonstrations, activities, and farm experiences.
“Ticket prices are extremely reasonable – we purposefully try to keep it as low as we possibly can,” explained Feldman. “We want people to experience the festival and Shaker Village as a whole.”
As Well-Crafted organizers are taking stock of where the festival is and where it may head in coming years, Feldman said he looks forward to “growing in terms of more well-known artists, and focusing on a really great line-up of music.”
After welcoming roughly 1,300 attendees last year, they're expecting to hit closer to 2k for this years event. Despite growing crowds, Feldman noted that he would like to keep the intimate, keep the “go at your own pace” nature of the festival intact, and has considered expanding Well-Crafted into two days to accommodate possible overcrowding.
Well-Crafted is held at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill in Harrodsburg, KY on Saturday, June 18. Music begins at noon and ends at 9pm, with performances split between national acts on the main stage, and the local/regional singer-songwriter fare on the smaller second stage. Click here for tickets and more information.