The Grascals at the 2025 Farm Jamb – photo © Roger Black
The Farm Jamb Bluegrass Music Festival at McClurg Farm in Bagdad, KY is quickly claiming a spot as one of the premier bluegrass festivals in the country. This is due to the hard work put into each festival by Ron McClurg, his family, and a great group of employees and volunteers. Ron is deeply dedicated to getting the best talent and biggest names in the world of bluegrass music. The venue is already one of the finest in bluegrass, situated on a beautiful mountaintop just outside of Frankfort, KY. Ron and his crew are constantly striving to make improvements in the facility year to year.
The 2025 festival opened with a day of fine weather on Thursday. Billie Renee & Cumberland Gap got the festival started with an amazing set, followed by the stellar voice of Caleb Daugherty. Larry Cordle had Clay Hess at his side as he shared his music along with many stories about the songs he has written over the past several decades. The bands played two great sets to an audience of happy fans.
Friday brought another day of great music from six bands, any of which could have easily been considered headliners at most festivals. The pop-up rain showers didn’t dampen the spirits of the crowd as Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers got the day kicked off on Friday. The Grascals continued to show why they have been one of the most in-demand bands for nearly two decades. Ralph Stanley II took the stage in fine fashion, followed by a memorable set by Hammertowne. They all did it again Friday evening and capped off the night in classic Farm Jamb style with sets from Larry Sparks and Pitney Meyer.
Saturday was another stellar day of bluegrass on the McClurg Family Farm. Wildfire opened up the show at noon to what looked like what was going to be a day of questionable weather, at best. We were blessed with overcast skies but no rain while we listened to The Kody Norris Show, Rhonda Vincent, and Balsam Range. Wildfire returned to the stage to start a second round of sets followed by The Dan Tyminski Band. Dan’s band was just about to finish up when the skies burst open, sending most of the fans running for shelter to their campers, or under the large tents that had been set up just for such an occasion.
With Rhonda Vincent and Balsam Range waiting to go on for the last two sets of the evening, sound engineer Seth Murray and MC Roger Black checked the weather radar and made a decision to wait it out so as not to disappoint the fans. It was about a half hour later when a break in the weather came through and the show went on to the cheers of some very wet fans.
With that, Farm Jamb 2025 went into the books. I would like to say to Ron McClurg, all of the Farm Jamb staff, and all of the great bluegrass music lovers that attended, thank you for allowing me to be a part of their weekend.
