We’ve got a couple of first timers (Thomas Costello, Chip Midnight) and a long timer (Rob Cohen) headed 70 miles southeast this weekend for the 2025 Nelsonville Music Festival. All of us are festival veterans and each have a different gameplan headed into the weekend. There are the “can’t miss” artists on each of our lists, the “never heard of ’em until a few weeks ago, but now am interested” artists, the “tried and true headliners,” and the happy accidents that will blow our minds that we’ll undoubtedly stumble upon when there is a gap in our carefully plotted out schedules.

One of the things that makes the Nelsonville Music Festival a unique event is the lineup curation. While some of the bigger, corporate-booked festivals focus on specific genres and pull from the same list of touring bands, the NMF team puts together a lineup with the discerning music fan in mind. Sure, they’ve had some popular headliners in the past, but never has it felt like they’ve booked something off brand just to sell tickets.

So, here are some of the artists Thomas and Chip are recommending based on extensive listening and research (or maybe just a quick listen on Bandcamp or Spotify). As is the nature of festivals, our writers and photographers may themselves stray away from the artists they are recommending and let the music guide the experience.

Check out the full, daily Nelsonville Music Festival schedule here.

FRIDAY, JUNE 20

David Nance & Mowed Sound
3:00 p.m. – Porch Stage

Seemingly the ideal act for a festival that celebrates crafty songwriting with a subtle casualness influenced by the tune in, drop out ’60s/’70s culture of peace, love, happiness, cosmic country and weed. The Omaha native describes his music as a mix of dirt, water, gravy, 1972 Fender Twin reverb, hair and insomnia, among other things. Though altogether original sounding, you’ll hear hints of Neil Young, the Grateful Dead, Canned Heat, and Gram Parsons throughout Nance’s early afternoon set. (Chip)

Balthvs
5:30 p.m. – Howard’s Stage

To answer your first question, it’s pronounced “ball thus.” To answer your second question, the Bogota, Columbia band’s sound is a blend of trippy, psychedelic Latin-flavored guitars, groovy rhythms and world music beats. Sure, the band gets compared to Khruangbin in just about every write up (including here) and the two bands exist within the same universe, but Balthvs incorporates some disco-style drums and is generally more animated than others in their genre. I’m anticipating an amazingly chill dance party when Balthvs graces the stage and for those who are planning to chemically enhance their experience, this set is where you want to time up the peak. (Chip)

Merce Lemon
6:00 p.m. – Porch Stage

It’s appropriate that Merce Lemon plays an hour before MJ Lenderman because Lemon and her band fit the alt-country vibe of the first night perfectly. Lemon’s voice has an effortlessness that turns the drive of the band’s electric guitar sound into a surprise. It does not come out of nowhere, no. The music behind many of Lemon’s songs build and crescendo, with her voice catching up to the music in tracks like “Foolish and Fast” from Lemon’s 2024 release Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild LP. A trio of Lemon at 6:00 p.m., Lenderman at 7:00 p.m. and then Waxahatchee at 9:00 p.m. is worth the price of the full single day admission itself. Then consider you get 12 more bands and you are ripping Nelsonville off. (Thomas)

Rosali
6:30 p.m. – Creekside Stage

I friggin’ love that an artist like Rosali Middleman has become an indie rock darling. There’s something so organic about the North Carolina-by-way-of-Philadelphia artist, her vocals are based in ’60s folk rock and, at times, make me wonder what Sheryl Crow might sound like without a major label pop sound. David Nance & Mowed Sound will pull double duty on Friday as they’re Rosali’s backing band and provide the right musical compliment making these songs sound timeless. There’s a very good reason Rosali’s Merge Records debut, Bite Down, wound up on so many “Best of 2024” lists. (Chip)

The Bug Club
8:00 p.m. – The Porch Stage

At the same festival where you’ll find 60-year-olds plucking banjos and playing bluegrass, you’ll catch a young, Welsh, indie-pop band trading male and female vocals on their short-and-catchy songs. The band’s brand new release, Very Human Features, came out last week and is full of mid-90s-sounding jubilant and infectious earworms. For those who need a little pick-me-up on Friday evening, this will be the show to catch. (Chip)

SATURDAY, JUNE 21

Jordan Smart
2:00 p.m. – Creekside Stage

Out of Northern Kentucky, just south of Cincinnati, Ohio, is Jordan Smart. A singer-songwriter/country artist who is brutally straightforward with lyrics, but what’s brutal about them is the inspiration behind his lyrics. Smart sings about politicians and governments killing those they are supposed to protect, and brings attention to it through lyrics that do not beat around the bush. He will lower your defenses with a singalong and when you leave you will feel more empowered to use your own voice without fear, exactly how Smart plays on stage. (Thomas)

Two Runner
4:00 p.m. – Howard’s Stage (Formerly the Snow Fork Stage)

A recent edition to the Gar Hole Records family, Two Runner is the duo of banjor player Paige Anderson and fiddler Emilie Rose. If you need a genre, consider them country or traditional folk. The two musicians from Northern California harmonize beautifully and it’s a set that will be right at home at Nelsonville. They are a cannot miss for anyone heading to Southeast Ohio for country music. While it does not match what the public considers to be country music that you see on the CMAs or NFL commercial blocks, it’s music where you can close your eyes and let it take you wherever it wants you to go. Enjoy the journey. (Thomas)

Low Cut Connie
5:30 p.m. – Howard’s Stage

You can never go wrong with a Low Cut Connie show (but you know that). My introduction to the band came via a big Nelsonville fan (R.I.P. Blair – man, what I wouldn’t give to catch LCC with you this year) in 2018 after both Barak Obama and Elton John had declared themselves fans of this piano-heavy Philly band. If Saturday’s predicted brutal summer sun hasn’t caused you to sweat, Low Cut Connie will take care of that. (Chip)

SUNDAY, JUNE 22

DANA
1 a.m. – Campground Stage

DANA is a psychedelic post punk band that does not exactly line up with the rural aesthetic of Nelsonville. The Columbus-based band joins Ohio’s corner of Appalachia unfortunately at a post-midnight 1 a.m. set start time. Although it is not conducive to a regular sleep schedule, the band’s performance feels right at place after a full day of folk music like Watchhouse or the southern country sounds of Charley Crockett. As someone who will be in loud mudville camping (I got in too late to get into quiet mudville), I will do everything in my power to see this four-piece avant-garage outfit. A theremin deserves an audience and their 2025 LP release “Clean Living” is at the top of the best Columbus-area releases this year. (Thomas)

Moe Reen
12:00 p.m. – Creekside Stage

The Columbus, Ohio music scene is not exactly known for its standout country musicians. At the start of 2024, I met Moe Reen at a Willi Carlisle concert. I did not know they were a musician. I was there before my friend and Moe Reen was there before their friends, and sometimes I talk to fill the void. Since that happenstance meetup, I saw they released an EP. On Friday, two days before their Nelsonville closing day set, they release their first full length LP, Scribbled Line. Moe Reen plays a Nick Shoulders-esque country where it’s traditional in comparison to whatever it is that Morgan Wallen is doing, but it deals with current life issues in a less than current day sound. If the LP is as good or close to the EP, there will be a lot of excitement around the early Sunday afternoon performance. (Thomas)