If you attended opening day of Tortuga Music Festival in 2017 and didn’t scheme out of work pretty early, you missed Kane Brown and Jordan Davis, then little-known acts booked at the same time on opposite stages as fans trickled in at 3:30 p.m. Friday.
Later that weekend, as the Sunday afternoon crowd was relaxing and reloading in anticipation of headliner Kenny Chesney, country legend Alan Jackson cranked out his time-honored hits while, on a secondary stage, a smaller crowd watched a singer-songwriter named Luke Combs, who had yet to release his first album.
And that’s the thing about Tortuga Music Festival: The lineup is often scattered with yet-to-be-discovered gems who are worth seeking out. Who knew what the future held for down-the-bill Tortuga acts such as Brothers Osborne in 2014, Sam Hunt in 2015 or Kelsea Ballerini in 2016?
Tortuga Music Festival 2025 returns to Fort Lauderdale Beach Park on April 4-6 with a lineup typically strong at the top, this year featuring headliners Jelly Roll (Friday), Keith Urban (Saturday) and Luke Combs (Sunday), along with popular performers such as Megan Moroney, Parker McCollum, Jordan Davis and Ludacris.
But there again will be hidden treasures to be found on the sand along A1A this year, performers who may merely become instant adds to your personal playlist or go on to get so big that someday you’ll tell stories to friends about seeing them first.
Among such acts is Artikal Sound System, an alt-rock band from Delray Beach led by free-spirited and visually striking vocalist Logan Rex, worth slipping out of work early to see on opening day. The group will bring their national tour to the Tortuga stage at 3:35 p.m. Friday, April 4, and share music from their album “Are You Smiling Yet?,” a lively and ambitious collection released in February that weaves its familiar indie-reggae grooves with modern rock impulses.
While Rex doesn’t push back too hard at a lazy journalistic comparison to Gwen Stefani, she will remind an interviewer that she grew up with country music from Day 1: Her mother is from Texas and demanded that Willie Nelson’s “Stardust” album be played in the room as her daughter was born.
Speaking by phone from Los Angeles, the Delray Beach native answered a few questions about Artikal Sound System’s debut at Tortuga.
Q: How would you rate your country music IQ?
A: Oh, oof, modern country? Probably pretty terrible. But older country IQ? I’d say I’d give myself a 5 out of 10. Marty Robbins, Buck Owens, Conway Twitty, Tammy Wynette, all of that is really close to my heart.
Q: Three favorite country music artists?
A: Willie, because those are the first sounds I ever heard. Plus, I really just love his rebelliousness. Marty Robbins, because I love the storytelling. I feel like I’m living in an old Western when I hear it. Third? Is it just corny if I say Dolly? She’s been a pioneer for women and I love the tackiness that she leans into. I try to emulate that myself sometimes. [Laughs]
Q: Corona, Tito’s or High Noon, or other?
A: Oh … I love me some tequila. I’m not picky with it, but I am a tequila person. I don’t need anything fancy, I just need something that I can make a little tequila-soda-lime with. So I’m saying “other.”
Q: Onstage at Tortuga — boots, flip-flops or other?
A: Other. I’m going Converse. I know that stage is going to be piping hot, and flip-flops I’m going to be tripping all over myself. Boots? It’s just gonna be too hot.
Q: Toughest question so far: Johnny Cash and June Carter or Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani?
A: Oh, man. I mean, Johnny and June. Right? Like, Blake and Gwen are great and iconic for the moment, but they still have to prove themselves.
5 MORE ARTISTS TO KNOW
Here’s a chronological look at five other performers at Tortuga 2025 who may be new to you, but shouldn’t be for long.
Angie K
1:45 p.m. Friday, April 4
El Salvador-born, Georgia-raised, singer-songwriter Angie Keilhauer, as seen nearly a decade ago on “The Voice,” has been generating new buzz with a self-titled EP released in February. Her classic-country ballad “Red Dirt on Mars” was listed last week among the Top Songs of 2025 by NPR’s Alt.Latino. In an interview on the national broadcast of “Here & Now” from NPR and WBUR Boston, Alt.Latino host Felix Contreras said the long-running “cultural mashup of Latinos and country music” has spread beyond the Southwest border states as immigrants from Latin America settle all over the United States. “Whether it’s in English or Spanish, it’s still all about the storytelling,” he said, citing Angie K’s song. “Right now, this is my new favorite.”
Lily Rose
2:20 p.m. Saturday, April 5
Lily Rose is a country artist to root for as she navigates gender stereotypes on the way to, as a 2024 People magazine profile put it, “redefining what it means to be a country artist.” The last time she played Tortuga, it was to showcase her breakout hit, “Villain,” but this time she’s sharing music from a critically lauded EP, “Runnin’ Outta Time,” that includes the pop-leaning, perfect-for-Tortuga sing-along “Parking Lot.” The song, spirited and relatable, just so happens to pay tribute to Saturday’s headliner: “Hell, don’t know about yours, let me tell you ’bout mine / It was Keith Urban, Coors Light, in 2009 / That’s where I learned that you don’t need a bar / ’Cause a cheap buzz is better from the trunk of a car …”
Wyatt Flores
4:10 p.m., Saturday, April 5
The 23-year-old Oklahoma native has captivated critics and a rapidly growing fanbase with raw and honest lyrics carried by an uncomplicated red-dirt country sound. He closed 2024 by releasing his debut studio album, “Welcome to the Plains” (Island Records), and followed that up with a beautifully rendered Tiny Desk concert in November, and in December made his debut as a headliner at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium with a sold-out, two-night run. Music critic Jayme Foltz of the Nashville Scene cited Flores’ “sincere storytelling, magnetic stage presence and undeniable connection with his fans” in a rave review. “Flores came out beaming, and by the time he launched into the anthemic ‘Little Town,’ his infectious energy had the crowd hooked. From his bright smile to the way he confidently worked the stage, it was clear he was here to leave a mark. And the audience wasn’t just singing along — they were a full-blown choir, belting every word in sync with Flores and his flawless band.”
Lanie Gardner
2:40 p.m. Sunday, April 6
The North Carolina native is probably still most widely known for her pandemic-era TikTok cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” which went viral (nearly 60 million views), got a thumbs-up from Mick Fleetwood and encouraged a breakout remix by DJs David Guetta and Morten. But that notoriety soon may be eclipsed by her work on debut album “A Songwriter’s Diary,” which put her on the list of Grammy.com’s “25 Artists to Watch in 2025.”
Don Henson/Courtesy
Country singer Lanie Gardner is one of Grammy.com’s 25 Artists to Watch in 2025. (Don Henson/Courtesy)
Kashus Culpepper
3:35 p.m. Sunday, April 6
The arbiters of country-music cool at the web magazine Holler Country, in compiling their list of the “25 Best New Country and Americana Artists for 2025“, put it like this: “If Southern soul legend Al Green and vocal powerhouse Chris Stapleton had a love child, it would be Kashus Culpepper.” Where do you go from there? A Navy veteran born in Alexander City, Alabama, and raised in a musical church, Culpepper has created a stir with a series of singles, including “Who Hurt You,” “Out Of My Mind” and “After Me?” — a version of the latter posted last week by Country Music Television’s CMT Studio Sessions on YouTube.
For more information on all things Tortuga, visit TortugaMusicFestival.com.
Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Instagram @BenCrandell and X @BenCrandell.
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