The Five Artists You Need to See at The Long Road 2025 This Weekend

With the Long Road Festival making its glorious return to Stanford Hall, Leicestershire, UK this weekend, August 22-24, we thought we'd pick out a few of our favourites from the festival's jam-packed line up.

Regular readers will already be more than familiar with headliners Midland and Drake Milligan, as well as Larry Fleet, Charles Wesley Godwin and Alana Springsteen, so we're pushing some less widely known wildcards on you.

Set to perform over the weekend along with Evan Honer, Gareth, Elles Bailey, Ashley Monroe, Fancy Hagood, Trousdale, Fanny Lumsden, Halle Kearns, Simeon Hammond Dallas, Steady Habits, Janet Devlin and lots more, here are five artists you definitely do not want to miss.

Roll out the red carpet, we've got country royalty at The Long Road this year. Our favourite country queen, Mackenzie Carpenter takes to the main stage on Saturday early evening for a set that promises to be one of the highlights of the weekend.

One of modern country music's truly great songwriters, she's as well known for writing Megan Moroney’s ‘I’m Not Pretty,' ‘Indifferent,' ‘28th of June' and Lily Rose’s number one smash 'Villain,' as she is her own perfectly formed pop country songs like 'Dozen Red Flags' and 'Boots On.' Paying homage to the country queens that paved the way for her to speak her mind, write her truth and have a damn good time with it, her latest album, Hey Country Queen, is one of our favourites of the year and we can't wait to hear these songs live.

With Midland serendipitously on the line up for the Rhinestone Stage on Saturday night, we might even be treated to an irl rendition of their steamy classic country viral duet, 'I Wish You Would.'

With Mercury being in retrograde and causing all sorts of problems recently, Alyssa Flaherty's trip to the UK couldn't come at a better time. If you've got a soft spot for pop country divas like Carly Pearce, Lee Ann Womack and Lauren Alaina, then you're going to find a lot to love in Alyssa Flaherty, and if you've been going through a relationship rocky patch recently too then it's a double whammy for you.

Performing songs from latest EP, Heartbreak, Thank You, Flaherty always leaves it all on the stage as she takes us through each emotional step in her own healing process following a break-up – from betrayal and shock to self-reflection, healing and ultimately independence. What more could you want from a Sunday afternoon at a country festival?

After all, when it comes to country music, if you’re not here for the heartbreak then to be honest we're not really sure why you're here; unless it’s because you just really like trucks, I suppose. Which, luckily for you, The Long Road also has lots of.

Fans of the power folk of Noah Kahan, Michael Macargi and Mumford & Sons will find their spirits suitably uplifted by Crowe Boys on Friday evening down at Buddy's Good Time Bar.

The two brothers, Ocie and Wes, have made staying positive and sharing hope their USP with viral hits like 'Bootstraps,' 'Where Did I Go Wrong' and 'Let Me Feel Alone' as well as their unique, acoustic renditions of everything from 'Mr. Brightside' to 'Stick Season' and Coldplay to the Toy Story Soundtrack.

Whether they're remembering childhood road trips or the joys of becoming a parent, Crowe Boys are on a two-man mission to encourage and challenge their listeners to live their lives with intentionality and give meaning to every moment, so it promises to be an emotional one down at Buddy's on Friday night.

After a long day of moonshine and mechanical bulls you're going to need the soothing sounds of Denitia. The Texas-born and Nashville-based singer songwriter takes to the Front Porch stage on Saturday afternoon just as the sun goes down and we can't imagine a more perfect setting for her dreamy, pop country songs.

Last year's Sunset Drive naturally became the soundtrack to the end of the summer, with its woozy '70s soft country pop sound and touches of Laurel Canyon folk mixed in with the effortless cool alt-pop of Haim and Golden Hour era Kacey Musgraves.

The follow up to her acclaimed 2022 album, Highways, the album came about following her return to Nashville, where she'd previously gone to college, and where she quickly found herself immersed in the city’s roots music scene. In just a few short years, Denitia has shared stages with Amythyst Kiah, Joy Oladokun and Allison Russell, landed one of just five spots in the Black Opry WXPN residency, was a member of both Rissi Palmer’s Color Me Country class and featured in the Call Me Country: Beyoncé and Nashville’s Renaissance documentary on MAX.

Kicking off the Friday on the Front Porch stage, Ella Spencer will be no stranger to the atmosphere of an Americana festival in the middle of the English countryside.

Born in London and raised by British-American parents in Suffolk, Ella grew up surrounded by musicians after her father started the UK's first Americana festival, Maverick, and after she spent her school years studying classical piano and viola, in her early twenties she moved to London and gravitated back towards the music she was raised on.

Her angsty and vulnerable, rock-tinged Americana will appeal to fans of Morgan Wade, Sheryl Crow and Ashley McBryde, and should set us all up for a cracking day on Friday.

Check out other country festivals set for 2025.

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