Hot and 'something special:' Here's what happened during Day 1 of Bourbon & Beyond

Bourbon & Beyond, the world's largest bourbon and music festival, returned to Louisville Thursday for its sixth year at the Highland Festival Grounds.

The multi-day festival, which runs Sept. 19-22, features more than 100 music artists across five stages and culinary and bourbon workshop stages. Thursday's headliners included Sting, Beck, Koe Wetzel, Matchbox Twenty, and Maren Morris.

The Bluegrass Situation Stage featured Kentucky Newgrass legend Sam Bush. Another up-and-coming Kentucky artist, Kyle Ray, also performed Thursday along with last-minute addition Raelyn Nelson, Willie Nelson's granddaughter. She took over for Patty Smyth who had to pull out of the festival.

The first day of Bourbon & Beyond was hot, hot, hot, and fans made good use of the shaded food and beverage tents and free hydration stations provided by Louisville Pure Tap. (Remember to bring a reusable plastic water bottle and fill it often if you come out to Bourbon & Beyond this week.) The top accessory for festival goers at this year's festival is, without a doubt, a battery-operated or manual hand fan.

Throughout the festival, the Courier Journal is out in force bringing you stories, pictures, and videos from the four days of the festival. Here are some highlights from Thursday at Bourbon & Beyond.

Taylor Acorn performs as the first act at Bourbon & Beyond 2024

Somebody has to be the first artist out of the gate and singer-songwriter Taylor Acorn was that person at the 2024 Bourbon & Beyond Festival.

Acorn, who is currently on tour with Dashboard Confessional and Boys Like Girls, performed at 1:30 p.m. Thursday and was the first performer of the day on the first day of the multi-day festival.

"It was awesome even though we were feeling a little worn down because we are in the middle of a long tour run with Dashboard Confessional and Boys Like Girls," Acorn said. "But the festivalgoers brought the energy and we made it through. We are very honored to be part of the festival."

Earlier this month, Acorn released her debut album "Survival in Motion." The record speaks to the singer's struggles with mental health, love, loss, and everything in between.

Kentucky singer Kyle Ray performs at his first Bourbon & Beyond

Another artist powering through the mid-day heat was Kentucky native Kyle Ray.

"I haven't been this hot since I was doing tree work, gracious I have been out of the Kentucky sun too long," Ray told the Courier Journal. "But it didn't matter. Playing here at Bourbon & Beyond is a dream come true."

The country singer from Barren County said his family traveled to Louisville to see him perform on the Beyonder Stage during Bourbon & Beyond, which is billed as the "world's largest bourbon and music festival."

"My mama and my nine siblings were in the crowd and I'll tell you, that was something special," he said. "We just dropped a single, 'Angel Poet.' Follow me on @KyleRay_Music and I'll reach out to you and say 'hey.'"

Lyle Lovett brings the crowd to their feet with a song written with his kids

Wearing a stylish steel blue suit and crisp white button-down, Grammy Award winner Lyle Lovett was the epitome of cool and brought a touch of class to the Thursday Bourbon & Beyond lineup.

Before performing "Pants is Overrated" from his "June 12th" album, Lovett explained its origins to the festival crowd.

"You may know I have seven-year-old twins, if you can believe it at my age, because I have been talking about them nonstop," he told the crowd. "One night after a show when they were five years old, they were running back and forth in the bus singing and I told them we should turn it into a song. My daughter said there had to be a verse about unicorns. My son said we also needed a verse about dinosaurs."

The result was the silly and fun "Pants is Overrated," which brought the Thursday Bourbon & Beyond crowd to their feet.

Smash & Grab: The Ultimate Burger Showdown

Celebrity chef Eric Greenspan is known for writing "The Great Grilled Cheese Book," but he arrived on the culinary stage at Bourbon & Bourbon insisting he'd take a step away from his reputation to make a "great smashburger."

Greenspan then demonstrated how to make a smashburger, topped with his invention of "New School American cheese," which he said he created as the perfect cheese for melting atop a burger. To a crowd of dozens on Thursday afternoon, Greenspan prepared the burger topped with cheese, a cheese spread, and a marmalade with splash of bourbon from Starlight Distillery.

He said he was told to go "over the top," so he proceeded to make several more burgers, smashed nice and thin with a crispy crust, resulting in a tall "superburger."

"How many of these do you think we can stack?" he asked a group of festival-goers, with front-rowers awaiting samples.

As Greenspan held up a giant sabor to cut the burger, a smiling chef Noam Blitzer, head chef at MeeshMeesh in Nulu, could be seen taking a photo.

BRELAND is breaking the mold for country music

Country music fans may be looking forward to Saturday's lineup featuring Zach Bryan, Cody Jinks, and Whiskey Myers but Thursday had its country contingency thanks to sets from Texas native Lyle Lovett, The Raelyn Nelson Band, and Breland, a 29-year-old who burst onto the country scene with his TikTok viral single "Mr Truck" from his self-titled debut EP "BRELAND."

"If you are a country music purist, you probably won't love my music," Breland told the Courier Journal. "But if you like country music and you also like other genres and appreciate music and creativity, then I definitely have something for you."

Breland's Bourbon & Beyond set included a hybrid of country rap, R&B, gospel, and soul music. It's a genre of music that has allowed him to collaborate on songs with Mickey Guyton, Keith Urban, Thomas Rhett, Lady A, and Dierks Bentley.

"It's been fun to be a part of country music, even as someone who doesn't fit super cleanly," he said. "It's a genre that is growing very quickly and I am proud that it's creating space for a lot of artists that might not traditionally be a part of country music."

K-Town Kings cooking demo with chefs Danny and Edward Lee

Days after the Netflix show "Culinary Class Wars," which features Louisville-based celebrity chef Edward Lee, premiered, the chef appeared on the culinary stage at Bourbon & Beyond.

Edward Lee, who runs Nami, a Korean steakhouse in Louisville, gave a “warm Kentucky welcome” to “his brother from another mother,” chef Danny Lee, of Washington D.C.

Danny Lee demonstrated how to make one of his 80-year-old mother’s favorite recipes of mandu, Korean dumplings. He taught festival-goers how to make beef and pork filling and the proper folding technique. While Edward Lee looked on, he took a chance to show off how to make his “favorite bourbon cocktail.”

“People who know me know how to make a mean bourbon cocktail," Edward Lee said on stage.

He then proceeded to place ice in a glass and pour in some bourbon. He then stirred it up with his finger, before lifting the glass for a cheers.

“These are my favorite four days of the year,” Edward Lee said.

Bourbon & Beyond continues through Sunday. Friday's headliners include Dave Matthews Band, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Chris Isaak, The Red Clay Strays, and Black Pumas.

Reach features reporter Kirby Adams at [email protected]. Reach food and dining reporter Amanda Hancock at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Bourbon & Beyond 2024: what happened at the music festival Thursday