John Mayer, backed by his full band, and Kings of Leon will headline the 2025 Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival in Franklin, Tennessee. Set for Sept. 27 and 28 at the Park at Harlinsdale Farm, this year’s Pilgrimage marks the Nashville-area fest’s 11th anniversary.
Along with the headliners, the lineup includes Turnpike Troubadours, who dropped their surprise album, The Price of Admission, last week, Young the Giant, Father John Misty, and a trio of Sams: rising country singer Sam Barber, U.K. pop-rock songwriter Sam Fender, and bluegrasser Sam Grisman, who carries on the folk music tradition of his father David Grisman with the Sam Grisman Project.
“The impetus of the festival goes back to Jazz Fest in New Orleans,” says Kevin Griffin, Pilgrimage’s co-founder and singer-guitarist of the band Better Than Ezra, who will make their perennial appearance at Pilgrimage. “For 50 plus years, Jazz Fest was an outlier that celebrated the biggest international touring acts but also local acts. We wanted that to be the DNA of Pilgrimage and do that for Middle Tennessee. Be an incubator for country, for R&B, for indie, for alternative. That’s what we’re always looking for.”
Griffin says he’s particularly excited to have Kings of Leon, who call Tennessee home, on the Pilgrimage bill for the first time. “I’ve been a fan of theirs since the song ‘Molly’s Chambers,’ and Aha Shake Heartbreak might be my favorite of theirs,” he says. “We only have two repeat performers this year: Grace Potter and Better Than Ezra. I’m like, ‘Guys, we don’t have to play!’ But my partners in the festival are like, ‘No, you have to fuckin’ play. It’s your festival.’ So, we try to make it special.”
Another local act, Maggie Rose, who recently earned a Grammy nomination for her album No One Gets Out Alive, is also on the bill, along with the Heavy Heavy, American Aquarium, Alabama country badass Taylor Hunnicutt, Eddie 9V, Angel White, and Verygently. There’s also a pair of showcases: Ben Chapman brings his Peach Jam to the farm with guests JD Clayton and Meg McRee, while Sam Grisman enlists Leftover Salmon’s Vince Herman and Lindsay Lou.
“We’re always looking for who hasn’t played here in a while or who has underplayed,” Griffin says, explaining why Mayer is an ideal choice for Pilgrimage 2025. “He hasn’t played a full band show here since 2022 and he’s an artist that just continues to grow in his stature. He has his fans who’ve loved him for his earlier stuff, and now all the fans from Dead & Co.”
Passes for Pilgrimage go on sale April 17 at 11 a.m. ET at the festival’s website.
