Owensboro’s music scene received national attention, with Garden & Gun magazine naming the city among the South’s best places for live music.
The recognition comes in the magazine’s feature, “The South’s Best Music: Where to Find Your Groove,” written by Kentucky author Silas House.
Founded in 2007, Garden & Gun is a nationally distributed lifestyle magazine that celebrates the culture, food, travel, music and traditions of the American South.
In the feature, House points readers to several of Owensboro’s music attractions, including the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum, the annual ROMP Festival, the Owensboro Symphony, Brasher’s Lil Nashville, The Pub on Second, and Friday After 5, saying the city’s music offerings extend well beyond its bluegrass roots.
Among those attractions, House singled out Friday After 5 as a summer experience visitors shouldn’t miss.
“No matter what, make time for one of those Friday After 5 concerts, held every Friday in the summer,” House wrote. “I still think about the first time I saw the camaraderie on display there as folks gathered beneath the glow of the bridge’s lights.”
Friday After 5 Executive Director Kirk Kirkpatrick said seeing Owensboro featured alongside much larger music destinations came as a pleasant surprise.
“I just put a big smile on my face,” Kirkpatrick said. “It was a wonderfully written compliment to our community.”
Friday After 5 debuted in July 1997 with four Friday concerts in the courtyard of the RiverPark Center. Kirkpatrick was one of the event’s three founders.
“It is truly satisfying to me to know that I played a small role in not only starting it but keeping it going,” he said.
The series moved to the riverfront in 2002, and after Owensboro’s downtown revitalization was completed in 2012, Friday After 5 expanded throughout the waterfront district.
Kirkpatrick said those improvements helped transform the event into one of the region’s largest free outdoor concert series.
“The city is really trying to take advantage of the venue, our location, and all of the different assets downtown that people can enjoy,” he said. “We now average about 11,000 people a Friday, sometimes larger.”
Kirkpatrick said the event’s success also stems from its commitment to offering free entertainment and booking a variety of musical genres that appeal to a broad audience.
Now in its 30th season, Friday After 5 draws more than 120,000 people each summer and is made possible through the support of local businesses, sponsors, volunteers, and its partnership with Visit Owensboro.
Kirkpatrick said the series often serves as an added attraction for visitors already coming to Owensboro for other reasons, helping showcase the city’s riverfront and music culture.
Looking ahead, he believes the event’s future remains bright.
“The whole concept of live music and live entertainment after COVID has really taken off,” Kirkpatrick said. “With that, Friday After 5 will be around for years and years and years.”
