Downtown Hazard Danced The Night Away As They Hosted The North Fork Music Festival

Well, I finished off June at Festival Of The Red just up the road in Slade, so it only seems fitting to close out July with another Kentucky music festival right here in downtown Hazard! Let me ask you, how many music festivals have you been to where someone (Tim Parks) was made an honorary Duke Of Hazard? Zero? Yeah, me too. But that’s just one of the many very cool things that happened at this year’s North Fork Music Festival. You really missed out if you didn’t make either day of this one!

Friday evening started with Ben Fugate and I need to apologize to Ben. I missed his set, didn’t make it to the festival area in time to catch him… heard him as I was parking. I did catch Luke Trimble, Waylon Nelson, Dark Moon Hollow and Rye Davis (with a couple of members of Bourbon Branch) closed out the North Fork Festivals Friday night.

Luke Trimble:

Waylon Nelson:

Dark Moon Hollow:

Rye Davis:

Saturday was more of the same great Kentucky acts starting with Jasper Hollow, Andrew Moore, Branden Martin, Bourbon Branch, and closing out the night was Magnolia Boulevard (featuring Hazard’s own Gregg Erwin on guitar)

As you may know, if you’ve followed me any at all, I’m a photographer, I have never claimed to be much of a writer. So if you take the time to read my ramblings I very much appreciate that! Jonathan told me long ago in regards to writing show/festival reviews, to just hit the highlights, maybe talk about a band that was a new discovery to me. I feel very fortunate that I had heard most of the bands playing at the North Fork Festival at least once before. Some like Magnolia Boulevard and Bourbon Branch I’ve covered several times. Rye Davis and Branden Martin I was lucky enough to catch at the Festival of the Red this past June.

There were a few new discoveries to me over the weekend, Friday was Luke Trimble and probably my favorite of the weekend other than Magnolia Boulevard was Dark Moon Hollow. I know what you’re thinking… wait a minute Tom! A Bluegrass band was your favorite? Yes, they were! I’m pretty sure they are a metal band playing bluegrass, well maybe not… put them in some black clothes and they’d look like a metal band!

I knew going into Saturday that Magnolia Boulevard would be my pick for the day. What I didn’t expect was the opening act; the very first group of the day, Jasper Hollow, would impress me as much as they did. The husband and wife team from Maryville, TN wasn’t at 100% but what I heard I liked a lot! Hope to catch them again at full force.

Tim Parks and everyone with the City of Hazard and North Fork Music Festival really has found something that works. Judging from this year’s crowd (which was about 4 times the size of the crowd in 2019) a lot of music-loving folks in the area would agree – a music festival on the streets in downtown Hazard Kentucky works and hopefully with continue for years to come!

Jasper Hollow: