{"id":41563,"date":"2025-07-21T22:33:36","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T22:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/21\/wynonna-judd-keeps-it-real\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T22:33:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T22:33:36","slug":"wynonna-judd-keeps-it-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/21\/wynonna-judd-keeps-it-real\/","title":{"rendered":"Wynonna Judd Keeps It Real"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tFor its sixth installment, Under the Big Sky Festival<\/a> in Whitefish, Montana, boasted one of its most potent lineups yet: Tyler Childers, Wynonna Judd<\/a>, Mumford & Sons, the Red Clay Strays, Shane Smith & the Saints, Luke Grimes, Whitey Morgan & the 78s, Hailey Whitters, Kelsey Waldon, Wyatt Flores, and more all descended on the mountain town just an hour\u2019s drive from the Canadian border.<\/p>\n

\n\tLocated on a 400-acre working ranch owned by Under the Big Sky Festival founder Johnny Shockey, the festival is stunning in its beauty<\/a> and proximity to rugged nature. It\u2019s also proving its reputation<\/a> as an expertly curated weekend of music. Here\u2019s the best things we saw.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Red Clay Strays<\/strong>
Just two years ago, Alabama country-rock band Red Clay Strays were somewhat unknown and way down on the UTBS lineup, playing an early set and small late-night showcase to a few hundred folks. Skip ahead to 2025, and the Strays are now one of the hottest bands in the country. On Friday night, the Strays took the Great Northern Stage as headliners in front of an estimated audience of 20,000.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe just refused to quit,\u201d Strays lead singer Brandon Coleman tells Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cAnd it doesn\u2019t have to be something that you read in a fairytale or see in a movie. If you put your mind to it, trust God, and work hard, it can happen for you, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf you\u2019re lookin\u2019 for a prophet\/I tell ya I ain\u2019t,\u201d Coleman howled during \u201cDisaster.\u201d \u201cBut I know when it\u2019s gonna rain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve very picky on what songs I sing, because the message of the song is what emotion is coming out,\u201d Coleman says. \u201cI\u2019ve got to be able to be behind [the song] and just know that when I die, this is what I\u2019m leaving in the world \u2014 and you got to be proud of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShane Smith and the Saints<\/strong>
Coming up on their 15th anniversary next year, Austin-based Shane Smith & the Saints haven\u2019t taken any of their long, arduous, yet bountiful journey for granted. If anything, Smith\u2019s resolve to push ahead comes directly from always doing what he wanted, sonically.<\/p>\n

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\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019ve created this misfit sound,\u201d Smith says. \u201cAnd when you\u2019re down in the valleys and in the shadows of it all, it\u2019s kind of hard not to question, \u2018Are we doing this right or not?\u2019 I\u2019m thankful we stuck to our guns, and the audience we\u2019ve created is a really special one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSmith has played UTBS before. He views their return as a litmus test for how much they\u2019ve grown their fan base. \u201cIt\u2019s just one foot in front of the other over years and years,\u201d Smith says. \u201cWe never did it a traditional way.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tShane Smith and the Saints perform at Under the Big Sky festival. Photo: Felicia Garcia*<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tTown Mountain
<\/strong>Making their UTBS debut, Town Mountain kicked up the western prairie dust with honky-tonk swagger. The ragtag Asheville, North Carolina, ensemble is marking its 20th year together with a barnstorming summer tour throughout the Rocky Mountains and greater Northwest United States.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSee the lines in the levee\/what\u2019s a poor country boy supposed to do?\u201d guitarist Robert Greer sang in \u201cLines in the Levee.\u201d \u201cSee the lines in the levee\/muddy water pushing through.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is a labor of love,\u201d Greer says of the group\u2019s history. \u201cIt\u2019s the love of performance and making a connection through music. Keeping the band on the road is no easy task, and doing it for 20 years defies all logic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHoundmouth<\/strong>
Maybe on paper having indie-rockers Houndmouth play UTBS seemed a little bit out of left field. But the Indiana act ripped through its hour-long appearance. The massive crowd at the Big Mountain Stage \u2014 sporting cowboy hats, shiny belt buckles, and polished boots \u2014 hollered during \u201cDarlin\u2019\u201d and \u201cMcKenzie.\u201d But it was the \u201cSedona\u201d closer that triggered the audience to bounce and sing in unison.<\/p>\n

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\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\t\u201cWell, hey little Hollywood\/you\u2019re gone, but you\u2019re not forgot,\u201d lead singer Matt Myers bellowed. \u201cYou got the cash, but your credit\u2019s no good\/you flipped the script, and you shot the plot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are country adjacent. [Houndmouth] is grounded in country and the blues,\u201d Myers says of the band\u2019s origins. \u201cIt\u2019s just enough foot in the door to have a good time and be in my comfort zone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelsey Waldon
With her new album Every Ghost<\/em> making waves<\/a> across the Americana\/country realms, Kentucky singer-songwriter Kelsey Waldon rolled into UTBS Sunday afternoon and proved exactly why.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think as long as you have a true fan-base, you can keep going \u2014\u00a0this is the only thing I want to do,\u201d Waldon says of her musical journey thus far. At UTBS, she delivered a soaring take on Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard\u2019s \u201cRamblin\u2019 Woman.\u201d \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve been working for a long time to dial it in. Maybe I just don\u2019t care anymore, maybe I\u2019m just not afraid anymore,\u201d she says. \u201cEverything feels so natural.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whitey Morgan & the 78s
With a stunning sunset fading behind the Rocky Mountains late Sunday, Whitey Morgan & the 78s bulldozed across the Big Mountain Stage.<\/p>\n

\n\tA pillar of the 21st century outlaw-country scene, Morgan is the gold standard of a sound that was first conjured by the likes of Waylon Jennings and Billy Joe Shaver decades ago. In a nod to his heroes, Morgan finished the set with a raw rendition of Jennings\u2019 seminal number \u201cWaymore\u2019s Blues.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s all about the backbeat, with Waylon in particular. And then, when you add Billy Joe, you get the lyrics, you get the storytelling,\u201d Morgan says of outlaw country. \u201cAnd it just doesn\u2019t get any better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWynonna Judd<\/strong>
The most poignant moment of UTBS came with the appearance of Wynonna Judd on Sunday evening. Gracing the Great Northern Stage with a slew of her timeless hits, Judd showcased why she\u2019s country music royalty, and has been for over four decades.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe songs still resonate with [the audience] because they know I\u2019m giving my truth,\u201d Judd tells Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cMy fans grew up with me. I was the backdrop of everyday life for them \u2014\u00a0through divorce and death and life and babies and everything in-between \u2014\u00a0and they just resonate to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tJudd herself has been through a lot in recent years, which made her set in front of tens of thousands\u00a0particularly moving, especially when fans sang along to classics like the Judds\u2019 \u201cMama He\u2019s Crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMy passion is poetry, and the poetry of the common man is what country music is,\u201d Judd says. \u201cIt\u2019s real life, real stories, about real people in the real world. And I try hard to keep it as real as I can find it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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