The Circle Remains Unbroken at Inaugural Unbroken Circle Festival

It’s official. Independent country and roots music has a new killer festival on the calendar. It’s called the Unbroken Circle Music Festival, and it happened September 4-6 on the banks of the Ohio River in beautiful Madison, Indiana.

Great performances were logged by top headliners the Turnpike Troubadours, Charles Wesley Godwin, Blackberry Smoke, Ricky Skaggs, and Marcus King. Some excellent discoveries occurred from rising names like Wes Shipp and Joe Stamm. Overall though, it was the vibe created, the community forged, and the memories chronicled that made the Unbroken Circle Festival feel like one of these locals fests with national impact that will hopefully be enjoyed for many years into the future.

It takes some guts and moxie to christen your event the Unbroken Circle Festival. There’s perhaps no more hallowed phrase in the history of country music than “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” taken from the old hymnal. That’s the reason it’s emblazoned in big letters around country music’s holiest of holies—the Country Music Hall of Fame Rotunda in Nashville. It also takes guts to start a completely independent music festival in 2025 with the way LiveNation is trying to corner every square inch of the map and calendar.

For the owners and promoters of Unbroken Circle Fest, they took the success of the festival personally. Not only were they on the hook if it somehow became a financial boondoggle, the promoters were once the primary folks behind Madison, Indiana’s annual Roostertail Festival that coincides with the town’s regatta on the Ohio River each summer.

Roostertail Festival in 2025 decided to go in a different direction from the independent country and roots they normally book, bringing in the terrible Dustin Lynch and a bunch of C-level mainstream stars. So promoters Brent Turner and Drew Eades decided they’d throw their own festival in Madison a couple months later, and Unbroken Circle Festival was born.

Even though it was officially the inaugural year of the festival, there were ample appreciative fans and locals who were ready to give their patronage to Unbroken Circle Fest, and keep traditions going that first started at Roostertail. And where Roostertail was always more of an addendum to the regatta, Unbroken Circle felt like its own thing with three full days of music as opposed to only four acts or so per day.

Any drama about what happened in the past with the fest was quickly forgotten by the time the first act Wes Shipp took the stage. Shipp’s set to open the inaugural Unbroken Circle Fest was extra special since it wasn’t just bestowed, it was earned. When another performer backed out of the lineup, the festival held a contest to see who would fill in. Full throat, the fans said Wes.

If you wagered on how many artists would actually sing “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” over the weekend, you’d be smart to bet the under. The only artist who did was Issac Rudd, who turned in a rockin’ version of the old hymn early Thursday. From Indianapolis, he was one of multiple openers over the weekend from the greater Indiana region. You always know a good festival when they make sure to support the homegrown. It’s one way to ensure that a festival happens at a location, not to a location. Friday openers Vaguely Familiar, and Saturday’s Sons of Habit were also from the area.

But along with supporting hometown heroes, Unbroken Circle Fest was all about curating national-level talent for an audience made up of local fans and folks from all around the United States. Cristina Vane is all about taking a smart synthesis of elemental roots music and turning it into infectious but hearty songs. Some artists pursue music because they want to. Some artists pursue it because they have to. And some artists pursue it because they love to. Cristina Vane is one of those artists where her love for music comes gushing out of her, and is conferred to appreciative audiences who can’t help but feel that love.

Cole Chaney’s 2021 album Mercy had many singing his praises, but then he seemed to almost disappear for a spell. He’s a songwriter who you feel might have a strained relationship with music, obviously loving the craft, but maybe not always loving everything else that comes with it. He was somewhat reserved during the early part of his set. But after laying into a Stone Temple Pilots cover, Chaney loosened up, and it led well into one of his latest singles “Alone” that also gives off a grunge vibe. Cole’s new album In The Shadow Of The Mountain is out September 19th.

Don’t regard Ricky Skaggs as some dusty and fuddy duddy Opry star who you mostly appreciate for the prestige he brings to the stage. Starting off with a bluegrass set, then breaking out a Telecaster he said he found under the bed a few years back to play his country hits, Ricky Skagss brought both a good time and gravitas to the Unbroken Circle experience. He might look like a Founding Father on the back of a paper bill these days, but Ricky’s enthusiasm for the music shows no rust.

When the power went out randomly right at the 10:30 pm mark (some thought it might be a sound curfew at first), Skaggs and his band all unplugged and sang acoustic for the appreciative audience. Then when the power came back on, they kept playing past their allotted set time, concluding with a couple of Bill Monroe covers. Ricky Skaggs and his Kentucky Thunder band that included acclaimed fiddler Billy Contreras brought class and country music bonafides to Unbroken Circle.

Unbroken Circle is not a songwriter fest, but the lineup included multiple top-flight songwriters of our time. Leah Blevins helped open the festivities on Friday. Drayton Farley’s heard all the comparisons to Jason Isbell over the years, but has enough self-worth to embrace it as opposed to run from it. After all, he’s a poor kid from rural Alabama just like Isbell. But the songs Drayton sings are all his. Vincent Neil Emerson who performed on Saturday also gave those in the audience who don’t just like to hear, but to listen something to appreciate.

Though not officially a headliner, Silverada turned in a set to remember at Unbroken Circle, if only because it was bisected by a marriage proposal (read dedicated review). The recently lineup change be damned, they still put on one of the most entertaining sets of the festival, or really, of the entire year. Because that’s what Silverada does.

There was some discussion in the audience of why Blackberry Smoke wouldn’t be headlining, especially with their storied history performing in Madison. That distinction was given to Marcus King, who’s no slacker himself. Both bands turned in excellent sets, and seemed to resolve any concern for who should open for who when Blackberry’s Charlie Starr came out on stage at the end of the Marcus King set to throw down a blistering rendition of “Ramblin’ Man” by the Allman Brothers, encored by “Can’t You See,” which both Marcus King and Charlie Starr are well-rehearsed on since they both front a new Toy Caldwell tribute project called the Toy Factory Project.

Both Friday and Saturday night also featured late night sets on a smaller stage. Those who stuck around in the unseasonably cool weather were handsomely rewarded. Dallas Moore Band turned the crowded tent into a Texas honky tonk, throwing down Moore’s full-tilt Outlaw sound with the incredible Will Owen Gage on guitar. And if there was any songwriter/performer that you might have never heard of, but it’s absolutely worth you time to do a full deep dive into, it’s Joe Stamm. He’s one of this generation’s greatest songwriters. And live, The Joe Stamm Band is everything you want them to be.

One of the most remarkable things over the weekend wasn’t just the great country songs of Sunny Sweeney off her excellent new album Rhinestone Requiem, it was the line that assembled at the merch tent from faithful fans looking to get their vinyl copies signed early Saturday afternoon. It stretched some 30 yards, and Sunny was still getting a writer’s cramp when Vincent Neil Emerson took the stage.

One fair observation about Unbroken Circle Festival is that it was a generally older crowd. But Evan Honer brought out the younger audience, and brought the enthusiasm to the stage. It wasn’t just his rendition of “Jersey Giant” that put both him and the Tyler Childers song on the map, or his viral “I Don’t Know Shit About Cars” to cap off the set. The dude was doing literal back flips on stage at one point.

Paul Cauthen continues to be a polarizing character in the country and roots world since he brings his trap beats and wild gesticulations to the stage that make many of the rednecks wince. He also didn’t help matters recently after calling out Charley Crockett. But Cauthen definitely has a strong constituency that swear he’s one of the most entertaining dudes in music, and they pushed to the front of the crowd and were screaming their guts out to his songs.

Charles Wesley Godwin and his band The Allegheny High always leave every ounce of energy out on the stage, and their moment at Unbroken Circle was no different. Godwin’s son was entertaining folks dancing on the side of the stage during the show. Then at the end, Godwin brought him out on stage to huge applause.

One of the things you have to love about Charles Wesley Godwin and his music is that it teaches you to put family, friends, and the little things first. Godwin was on a “guy’s night out” with his son this weekend, and it made for a memorable moment for Charles, his son, and everyone else.

The only band that could have capped off the inaugural Unbroken Circle Festival is the one that did. Unparalleled with really any other band previous, the Turnpike Troubadours combine a deep exploration of songwriting, infectious melodies, top-caliber musicianship, and an uncanny capacity for making every song of their feel like it was written just for you. It’s hard to fathom how one might even approach life without their music in it once you know it exists.

Then after Turnpike’s legacy was already firmly cemented, they released The Price of Admission earlier this year with songs like “On The Red River” and “Heaven Passing Through” that somehow elevated their importance to music and life even more. They capped off the inaugural Unbroken Circle Fest with one memorable performance after another, immediately gracing the event with its own memories and legacy to be looked back upon fondly for years to come. It was magic on the banks of the Ohio, in beautiful Madison, Indiana.

And beyond all the great musical performances to take in, Madison itself gives it’s own reasons to travel to the region. Right over the border from Kentucky, the riverfront and downtown are a picturesque slice of middle America. The revitalized brick buildings housing restaurants, bars, sweet shops, antique and craft stores, and other such independent businesses doesn’t just extend for a couple of blocks. It’s one of the largest and most active historic districts in the Midwest. As Charles Wesley Godwin remarked at one point, it’s a place where you can tell that everyone cares.

This is one of the most laid-back festivals you can attend. It’s a big enough festival to attract major names, but with only one stage and manageable grounds, it’s not overwhelming to take in. You can walk to town, camp nearby, bring your RV or camper, or find a hotel. There’s not a lot of signs, rules, or security. You pull into Madison and find your spot.

The Unbroken Circle Festival might have started from a place of frustration for the promoters, trying to keep the tradition of independent country and roots music alive in Madison. But it came to be so much more. “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” poses itself as a question. Will the traditions that have kept country and roots music alive for 100+ years be torn asunder by the commercial interests always encroaching on the music?

The answer in Madison, Indiana presented at the inaugural Unbroken Circle Festival was a resounding “No.” The circle remains unbroken.

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