Alabama and David Lee Murphy wraps up the 2025 Old Washington Music Festival.

by Dave Parsons

Three days. Three weather events. One incredible country music festival.

There was never any doubt who’d kick off the Saturday lineup of the 2025 Old Washington Music Festival.  And, no one deserved it more than Jake Binegar. The nearby native took the stage at 12:30 p.m. under overcast skies but with a crowd already showing up in boots and lawn chairs.  The only downside of being on that early is that a good portion of the audience is still somewhat hungover from Friday night’s Big & Rich marathon. The young singer-songwriter handled the challenge with the easy confidence of someone who’s spent years playing honky-tonks and dive bars where hostile crowds are just part of the job description.

With a rich baritone and a set that included songs from his 2024 debut EP and a few covers that leaned into classic country territory, Binegar reminded everyone why the festival stays loyal to its local roots. There were plenty of folks wearing his merch even before the show, and he did sign autographs for a good while after his set. Binegar may be the opening act for now. But the way that field responded? He’s climbing.

By 2 PM, the fairgrounds were filling with the day’s core audience: families with coolers, groups of friends claiming territory with elaborate chair setups, and the festival veterans who knew Saturday would be the best day yet. Sam L. Smith, a Nashville regular making his festival debut, delivered exactly what this crowd needed.  He brought tight country rock with enough traditional elements to satisfy the purists and enough modern edge to keep the younger fans engaged.

Smith’s band was one of the weekend’s tightest musical units, with a rhythm section that locked in from the first note and never wavered. Their take on classic country felt fresh rather than derivative, thanks largely to Smith’s genuine enthusiasm and the band’s musical chemistry.

Sam was on Season 21 of American Idol and has opened for national acts like The Oak Ridge Boys, Craig Morgan, and Ricky Skaggs.  From the first note, Smith commanded the stage with a voice older than his years. His influences are the holy trinity of classic country: Keith Whitley, Randy Travis, and Vince Gill. But his delivery?  He is clean, humble, with the kind of emotional clarity that makes even the back-row festival folks lean forward.  He’s one hit single away from nationwide radio play and a major tour. 

At 3:30 p.m., A Thousand Horses brought a different energy entirely. Southern rock with country flourishes, delivered with the swagger of a band that’s spent years perfecting their live show. The South Carolina quartet has always occupied an interesting space between country and rock radio, and the festival setting proved perfect for their hybrid approach.

Lead singer Michael Hobby’s voice carries the kind of whiskey-soaked authority that can’t be manufactured, while the band’s instrumental interplay shows influences ranging from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Keith Whitley.

The extended set flew by, leaving the crowd energized and ready for the evening’s bigger names. Sometimes the mark of a great festival act isn’t just individual songs but the ability to shift the entire day’s momentum, and A Thousand Horses accomplished exactly that.  This was the set that took the energy up a gear.

At 5:00 p.m., on the dot, Michael Ray walked out with a swagger that belies his Florida roots and a catalog that’s slowly become a soundtrack for modern country heartbreak. Since breaking out in 2015 with Kiss You in the Morning,” Ray has carved a lane that blends smooth-voiced accessibility with dive-bar lyrical punch. 

His Saturday set at Old Washington was a lesson in how to walk the line between slick and sincere. He opened with Kiss You in the Morning, rolled into Holy Water and Get to You, and brought the field to its feet with a rowdy, fist-pumping version of Joe Diffie’s Pickup Man. The crowd, especially the ladies along the pit rail, roared in approval.

But it was Her World or Mine that brought the temperature down, and the emotion up. Ray’s voice cracked in all the right places, and you could feel the quiet spread like wildfire. It was one of those festival moments where even the wind seemed to stop.

He closed with Whiskey and Rain, which was a real omen for the rest of the evening.

When David Lee Murphy took the stage, the crowd had reached its peak, as the festival was headed for the finish line. The veteran performer, best known for his ’90s hits and recent collaborations with Kenny Chesney, delivered what amounted to a master class in traditional country performance.

Murphy’s voice has aged like fine bourbon.  Deeper and more resonant than in his radio heyday, with an emotional weight that comes from decades of living the stories he sings. His opening number, Out with a Bang, immediately established the audience’s collective memories and was followed by Loco, which had the entire crowd singing along to a chorus that’s been embedded in country music DNA for three decades.

Murphy has had a hand in co-writing many modern country hits, which took up the bulk of his show. His collaborations with Kenny Chesney got the biggest response, but it was Murphy’s solo material that revealed why he’s remained relevant across multiple decades of country music evolution. The set felt like both a career retrospective and a reminder that great songs transcend their original radio success.

As the band slid into the chorus of Dust on the Bottle, the crowd sang louder than the PA. You could see it on his face; the field had taken over.  He didn’t need the mic anymore.  It is fair to note that the crowd demanded an encore, which Murphy obliged.  He was the only non-closing act of the weekend to get the honor.

When Alabama took the stage at 8:50 p.m., the evening sky had been dark and ominous for over an hour.  A slight drizzle fell on the faithful who were not ready for the weekend to end without seeing Alabama. And Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry, and their bandmates weren’t about to let a little atmospheric drama interfere with their first appearance at Old Washington Music Festival.

The opening song, the first hit they ever had, Tennessee River, immediately established why Alabama remains country music royalty. Owen’s voice, now weathered by five decades of touring, still carries the emotional authority that made the band’s original recordings so compelling. The harmony vocals that defined their sound remain delicious, while the musicianship demonstrated why they’ve influenced generations of country artists.

Their catalog reads like a country music history lesson, and this performance touched all the expected milestones. Each song’s arrival was met with pure joy as fans recognized opening chords that had been soundtracks to their lives for decades.

But it was their final act that transformed the evening from memorable to legendary. As Alabama launched into their closing song, the first fat raindrops began falling. By the time they reached the chorus, it was a steady shower. They powered through their encore, Mountain Music while the rain intensified.

As fans streamed toward their cars and campsites, completely drenched but somehow energized by the experience, Saturday night provided the perfect conclusion to a weekend that had tested everyone’s commitment to outdoor music. Thursday’s cancellation, Friday’s delays, and Saturday’s meteorological finale created a story that no festival programmer could have planned.

The weather became the weekend’s unofficial headliner, creating shared experiences that bonded strangers and transformed potential disasters into legendary moments. Watching Alabama, country music royalty, refuse to yield to a rainstorm while their fans refused to seek shelter was pure Americana theater.

Old Washington Music Fest proved that in an era of climate-controlled venues and predictable corporate entertainment, there’s still magic in the unpredictable field of live music, outdoor stages, and audiences willing to commit to the experience regardless of circumstances.

Some concerts you remember for the songs. Others you remember for the experience. Old Washington Music Fest 2025 delivered both, with Mother Nature providing the encore that no one requested but everyone will remember forever. In a world of increasingly sanitized entertainment experiences, sometimes getting completely soaked while singing along to country music legends is exactly the weekend that we didn’t know we needed.