<\/p>\n
Since its start in 2015, the Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival in Franklin, Tennessee, has pulled off the tricky task of being both a hip, taste-making festival and appealing to everyday fans and even families. That balancing act was on full display this weekend when rockers like headliners like John Mayer and Kings of Leon, along with bands like Young the Giant and Better Than Ezra, shared a bill with Red Dirt kings Turnpike Troubadours, Americana chanteuse Maggie Rose, and blues-rocker Eddie 9V.<\/p>\n
Mayer\u2019s set on Sunday night, just a day after playing the largest U.S. stadium concert<\/a> ever with Zach Bryan in Michigan, summed up the vibe of the Pilgrimage weekend<\/a>. Somewhat rare and non-Dead & Co. in nature, Mayer\u2019s performance, especially the weekend-ending \u201cGravity,\u201d resonated with Kevin Griffin, Pilgrimage\u2019s co-founder and singer-guitarist of Better Than Ezra.<\/p>\n More from Rolling Stone<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhat a fitting last song for John Mayer to play to close his set,\u201d Griffin says. \u201cThe weight of the moment was not lost on the festival co-founders and producers as we looked at the packed Midnight Sun Stage lawn, singing along to every word. We couldn\u2019t be more proud and grateful to the community that came out this weekend to make this year\u2019s Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival the best ever. What a great way to celebrate all the one-of-a-kind music, food, culture, and artisans of Middle Tennessee.\u201d<\/p>\n Much like Bonnaroo symbolizing the beginning of summer, Pilgrimage has staked its claim as the unofficial start of fall in Middle Tennessee. Here are some of our favorite moments from the fest.<\/p>\n Over the past few years, Father John Misty \u2014\u00a0the alter-ego of Josh Tillman \u2014 has established himself as a reliable festival performer who appeals to both discerning and casual fans. That was the case this weekend when Tillman delivered a late-afternoon set in front of an attentive crowd. He crooned his way through tunes like \u201cStrange Encounter\u201d and received big responses for \u201cReal Love Baby\u201d and the spirited closer, \u201cI Love You, Honeybear.\u201d<\/p>\n Of all the first day\u2019s artists, rising singer-songwriter Sam Barber attracted the biggest crowd and loudest cheers. The festival\u2019s enthusiastic, young-country-inclined contingent flocked to the Gold Record stage to see Barber at twilight. Nestled between Red Dirt heroes Turnpike Troubadours (who were, as usual, great) and festival headliners Kings of Leon, the lyrically earnest Barber performed well, worthy of the slow-building hype surrounding him. And the 22-year-old Missouri native endeared himself not just to the cowboy-hat-wearing audience: With the stage conveniently located near the bar, food stands, and merchant village, many curious attendees wandered over to hear what all the cheers were about.<\/p>\n Playing a choice spot at dusk, the scene was set for Turnpike Troubadours. Opening up with \u201cThe Bird Hunters,\u201d followed by \u201cKansas City Southern,\u201d the band played a shortened version of their standard set. In this atmosphere, however, it was majestic. With the sun slowly disappearing on the horizon, it added to the power of fan favorite \u201cGood Lord Lorrie.\u201d As they continue to release albums at a semi-prolific pace following their multi-year layoff, don\u2019t be surprised if Tahlequah\u2019s finest aren\u2019t at the top of the bill the next time they\u2019re performing here.<\/p>\n Barely 24 hours off a set at longtime pal Eddie Vedder\u2019s Ohana Festival in Southern California, Kings of Leon offered a rock-heavy performance in front of a supportive hometown crowd. At this point in their career, the Followills are comfortable with their status as headliners, but that doesn\u2019t mean the guys phone it in. Smoothly performing a 22-song set that prioritized earlier material (only one-third of the songs came from the band\u2019s four-album output over the past 12 years), the Kings were confident and fun. Songs like \u201cPyro\u201d and \u201cMolly\u2019s Chambers\u201d still pack a walloping punch, while singalong hits like \u201cUse Somebody\u201d and \u201cSex on Fire\u201d resonate 17 years after the band\u2019s commercial peak. And despite flubbing the intro to 2004\u2019s \u201cTaper Jean Girl\u201d and calling it a \u201cnew one,\u201d singer-guitarist Caleb Followill couldn\u2019t help but laugh. In fact, the typically stoic frontman was often chatty onstage, remarking at one point, \u201cThis show is living up to the hype.\u201d<\/p>\n Best of Rolling Stone<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for RollingStone’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Since its start in 2015, the Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival in Franklin, Tennessee, has pulled off the tricky task of being both a hip, taste-making festival and appealing to everyday fans and even families. That balancing act was on full display this weekend when rockers like headliners like John Mayer and Kings of Leon, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2058093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[383303,341622,383306,375410,46420,383305,383307,340845,363839,373987,368113,23502,383304,356430],"class_list":["post-2058092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-better-than-ezra","tag-cultural-festival","tag-father-john-misty","tag-franklin","tag-john-mayer","tag-kevin-griffin","tag-king-of-leon","tag-kings-of-leon","tag-maggie-rose","tag-middle-tennessee","tag-sam-barber","tag-tennessee","tag-the-pilgrimage","tag-turnpike-troubadours"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Four-Great-Sets-at-Tennessee-Festival.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2058092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2058093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2058092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2058092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2058092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Father John Misty is as sturdy as ever.<\/h2>\n
Sam Barber earns a superstar response.<\/h2>\n
Turnpike Troubadours ring in the golden hour.<\/h2>\n
King of Leon are still rock royalty.<\/h2>\n