The Lower Town Arts and Music Festival is set to return to Paducah May 8 and 9 featuring a diverse lineup of national and regional artists.
The 2026 festival is the first one that has been organized by a nonprofit group that formed last year to keep the annual event going after the Yeiser Art Center decided it would no longer be the main sponsor of the festivities. The 2025 festival was canceled three months before it was set to take place.
The two-day festival in Paducah’s Lower Town neighborhood will feature two stages, live music, crafts, vendors, and food. Festival Music Director Seth Murphy said he is glad the festival is back, and that he thinks it will be better than ever.
This year’s headliners are two Grammy Award-winning artists: renowned pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph and Cajun-flavored rock musician Louis Michot.
A musician that Rolling Stone once named one of the top 100 guitarists of all time, Randolph got his start playing gospel music in a church worship band. As part of Robert Randolph & the Family Band, he blended funk and soul music with the sounds of the pedal steel guitar. Last year, Randolph released the solo album Preacher Kids. This year, the artist who’s been described as a rock-blues pedal steel guitar virtuoso won his first Grammy Award, with Preacher Kids being named the Best Contemporary Blues Album.
“A lot of people are excited about Randolph. It is a huge get for Paducah and for the festival. We talked to Robert’s people earlier this year and we're excited to have him come up and play. And then in the midst of it, the Grammy’s happened, and he won the award for Best Contemporary blues album of 2026, so that's just a cherry on top for everybody,” Murphy said.
As the fiddle player and lead singer for Lost Bayou Ramblers, Michot has two Grammy Awards under his belt. Murphy said the Louisiana musician is representing the UNESCO Creative Exchange on his visit to Paducah. New Orleans is a UNESCO Creative City of Music, while Paducah is a Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art.
“[Lost Bayou Ramblers has] been a long time progressive Louisiana traditional group blending songs of the swamp and French Creole Music with rock and psychedelic music. They've toured around the country for the past 20 years, and I think this will be [Michot’s] first stop in Paducah.”
Prior to the festival, Michot will present two lectures on May 6 in Paducah discussing the history of Louisiana French music and Cajun and Creole Music in French Louisiana. He’ll also be at a meet and greet that afternoon hosted by the Paducah School of Art and Design.
Murphy said the first night of the music festival will feature the two headliners along with two regional bands: Slap Dragon and Girl Tones.
“Slap Dragons are a great new band from Nashville. Fans of funk and jam, acoustic-style music will like them,” he said. “Girl Tones is the two-piece female fronted rock band from Bowling Green. They've been supported by some of the folks in Cage the Elephant. Just imagine a sort of a White Stripes, but a little bit heavier group. We are excited to see what they're bringing to the stage.”
Murphy said the second day of the festival is more local and regional focused.
“Saturday shifts to a more regional, local focus and youth performers as well. I'd be remiss not to mention our partnership with Time on the String music studio, who helps program our second stage and lend time to the next future generation of musicians and in western Kentucky,” he said. “Then additionally, on the main stage, we have Paducah Symphony Children and Youth choirs kicking off Saturday morning. We have the local Jazz Patrol group performing.”
Also on Saturday, King Kaiju, winner of the 2026 WKMS Battle of the Bands competition, will be performing on the main stage.
Murphy highlighted an eclectic mix of artists for Saturday’s music lineup on the main stage, including South American dance group Yapa, folk rock band Lucas Wayne & the Cotton Mouths, Devin Metzger & the Cane Holler Saints, a regional artist whose style merges blues, rock, and country elements, followed by The Luv Locs Experiment, an 8-piece group that combines elements of reggie and funk.
Murphy said that Aaron Lee Tasjan, and former regional artist Bawn in the Mash with a reunion performance will close out the festival.
“Nashville songwriter Aaron Lee Tasjan will play at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. He has tons of tons of records and albums, and a highly respected touring songwriter throughout the country and is releasing new material all the time. A bunch of people are looking to Tasjan as the next generation of a modern day troubadour,” he said.
Murphy said closing out the festival is bluegrass band Bawn in the Mash, a local band that’s reuniting to put on this performance.
Along with the main stage, another stage will be set up in the garden next to Etcetera Coffeehouse on North 6th Street, which will have acts playing on both days of the festival offset from performances on the main stage including Melanie A. Davis & the Madness, Missourado, Cody Campbell, and a Time on the String student showcase.
“We've got a few other little surprises sprinkled throughout the festival. Last festival, we had some pop up appearances, some street performances. And that's part of our initiative at the festival to do sort of Street Arts, live art demonstrations, where people can feel like they're part of the band,” Murphy said.
The Lowertown Arts & Music Festival will take place in the Lower Town Arts District of Paducah on May 8 starting at 5 p.m. and May 9 starting at 10:30 a.m.
More information including the music lineup, vendors and more on the festival’s website.
