What’s better than live music and the great outdoors?
The Beech Mountain Resort in Beech Mountain, North Carolina does a great job of combining the two every year, but still, I don’t think anyone saw this coming.
Located about 25 miles west of Boone, NC, the town of Beech Mountain is situated at the highest elevation of any municipality east of the Rocky Mountains, and while its main attraction are the ski slopes at Beech Mountain Resort in the winter, drawing skiers and snowboarders to the mountain town from all over the east coast each season, many people visit the town in the summer as well to beat the heat, experience the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains, and take advantage of all of the recreational activities the area has to offer.
Beech Mountain has capitalized on its status as a go-to destination for many on the east cost by hosting local and up and coming acts in the Beech Mountain Brewing Co. taproom at the bottom of the slopes during the ski season, with 49 Winchester and Wyatt Flores, among others, gracing that stage with their music in recent years. On a larger scale, though, Beech Mountain has hosted the Beech Mountain Resort Summer Concert Series each year since 2019, though 2020 was cancelled due to Covid, and has hosted bigger names each summer at the foot of the slopes.
The concert series has grown each year in stature and historically has played deeper into the jam band scene than country music, blurring the lines frequently with bluegrass, Jamgrass, and folk groups like Greensky Bluegrass, Steep Canyon Rangers, Watchhouse, and more over the years. But this year, they seem to have changed their approach a bit. And while I love a good jamband show as much as (if not more than) the next guy, I am through the roof excited for the lineup this year.
In 2025, for the sixth rendition of the series, Beech Mountain will welcome headliners The Red Clay Strays, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Lake Street Dive, and Charley Crockett to their stage throughout summer. And just like that, North Carolina’s premier ski resort has become champions of the non-mainstream, roots music scene.
Kicking off the series on June 14, The Red Clay Strays will bring their fervent and perhaps the fastest growing fanbase in music to the mountain for an epic night of southern soul and rock and roll music with support from Nashville-based soul artist Devon Gilfillian. Fresh off of being snubbed by the CMA’s for Vocal Group of the Year, The Strays have become one of the hardest tickets to get in the country music scene, so you’re not going to want to wait to snag these tickets.
A month later, the third installment of the “Party on the Mountain” weekend will take place in more of a festival form than ever before. The last two years, Party on the Mountain has consisted of two-act concerts three nights in a row, but this year, for the first time, Party on the Mountain will transpire as an all-day affair featuring 8 bands on July 18 and 10 more on July 19. Night 1 headliner is alt-country legends Jason Isbell & the 400 unit who will be joined by Grace Bowers and Boy Named Banjo, among several other bands, and indie-pop band Lake Street Dive is slated as the Night 2 headliner following The 502s, The Wilder Blue, and many more.
Then to wrap up the series, on August 9, the finale features headliner Charley Crockett closing it down after Appalachian soul outfit 49 Winchester does their thing to get the night started. Check out the full lineup below:
Is Beech Mountain becoming a destination mecca for summer concerts? Probably not quite yet, but no matter how you cut it, they’ve absolutely killed it with the lineup this coming summer, and each show is one that you won’t want to miss. I’ve attended one of these concerts each of the last two summers, and not only is the music going to be great, but the atmosphere is incredible, with the stage nestled at the bottom of the ski slope, beneath the Appalachian stars and Blue Ridge Mountains, there’s no matter way to catch a concert amidst the fresh mountain air.
If I were you, even if you aren’t local, I’d make plans to at least catch one of these. Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning at 10am eastern, and they’ll go fast. Grab your tickets and make sure you don’t miss out on the fun.
Once you grab those tickets, kick back, listen to these bands, and let the anticipation begin. The Red Clay Strays, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, and Charley Crockett have all recorded incredible live albums from the Ryman Auditorium lately, so check out a few of those clips to get a sense of what their shows are all about.
The Red Clay Strays – “Drowning (Live at the Ryman)”
Charley Crockett – “Trinity River (Live from the Ryman)