Organizers say this week’s Friday After 5 lineup is one of the biggest of the season, with country artist Ashland Craft as the headliner plus Dan Hall and Hayley Payne as special guests.
Payne will be performing on the Main Stage at Mitch McConnell Plaza at 7 p.m., followed by Hall at 7:40 and Craft at 8:30. Meanwhile, the Overlook Stage will feature U-Turn from 6:05 to 8:05 p.m., and the Kroger Street Fair will kick off the night’s festivities at 5 p.m.
Craft’s performance in Owensboro is part of her Dive Bar Beauty Queen tour, a series of shows celebrating her recently released sophomore album of the same name. A release from Craft’s publicist said the 11-track record “marks a new chapter for the CMT Next Women of Country honoree and Pandora Country Artist to Watch, showcasing her grit, soul, and storytelling as both co-writer and co-producer.”
“This record is a look back at the sounds I grew up on,” Craft said. “The stuff that got me hooked on music in the first place and kinda made me who I am, for better or worse. ‘Dive Bar Beauty Queen’ dives into the chaos of being in music, the highs, the heartbreaks, the hangovers, but also how telling stories through songs has always kept me sane and given me a place where I feel understood.”
Craft added, “I wrote the title track when I was 18, driving home from my ‘honkytonk house band’ shift at 3 a.m., and somehow it still hits harder now than ever (go figure). I hope that through every song, people can hear the love I have for live music and the appreciation I hold for the folks who’ve shaped every experience and shown up to listen.”
