Kinfolk Reunion brings lower overdoses, suicides and domestic violence
“The numbers for suicides, overdoses, domestic [abuse calls]… during the period around Kinfolk… they lowered.” –Prestonsburg Mayor Les Stapleton
BY PHILL BARNETT
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
PRESTONSBURG — Eastern Kentucky’s favorite country/folk-rock duo held their second annual Kinfolk Reunion at Jenny Wiley Amphitheater and Archer Park in Prestonsburg this past weekend in collaboration with the city of Prestonsburg and the Mountain Arts Center. Sundy Best headlined each night of the festival, which featured seven local acts and community activities including the Kidfolk Reunion, a music and craft mini-festival co-hosted by the Kent Rose Foundation.
Kristofer Lee Bentley and Nicholas Jamerson, the duo known as Sundy Best, are from Floyd County. Both currently reside there when they aren’t on the road as Sundy Best or traveling for other musical and artistic projects, including each of their own solo careers as singer-songwriters.
Sundy Best got their start playing music together in church and found great success playing small venues like restaurants and bars in Lexington before crowdfunding their first studio album “Door Without A Screen” through Kickstarter in 2011, leading to a 2012 summer release. The small stages available to them in the still-developing Lexington music scene at the time made it necessary to travel light, inspiring percussionist Kristofer Lee Bentley to opt for a cajon, a folk drum originating in Peru that resembles a box on which the player sits.
The duo signed with E1 Music in 2013 and continued to produce music that was met with critical acclaim and success in the charts. Their videos were featured on CMT, they sold out shows across the country and they helped inspire and pave the way for a generation of musicians from Kentucky.
Despite this commercial and artistic success, the duo announced a hiatus in 2018, which was officially broken in 2020 leading to their first fully public show together in approximately three years, Kinfolk Reunion 2021.
Just like last year’s inaugural Reunion, Kinfolk Reunion 2022 went off without a hitch. Thousands of locals and fans from far and wide poured into the enormous festival grounds of Archer Park to enjoy music from local acts, including Cole Chaney, a rising star in the Kentucky music scene from Boyd County, Sydney Adams of Corbin and Chatlin Jarrell from Pikeville.
Saturday morning featured a mini-festival co-hosted by the Kent Rose Foundation. Gina Rose and her team organized Kidfolk Reunion, an art, crafts and music festival for children and teens aimed at increasing participation in the arts and seeking ideas for future programming that would interest local youths.
The first two hours of the event were reserved for sensory-sensitive children to prevent overcrowding and overstimulation.
Kids under 18 who attended and filled out a survey received a raffle ticket that entered them into a drawing every 30 minutes until they won a prize or the prizes ran out. Prizes included over $5,000 in musical instruments consisting of several cajons, conga drums, electronic drum kits, and a guitar signed by Cody Johnson, among other instruments.
Prestonsburg Mayor Les Stapleton was on hand throughout the festival in both 2021 and 2022 emceeing and ensuring a safe, successful Kinfolk Reunion.
“When Nick and Kris came to me … they actually sent me a message last year and said, ‘We’re gonna start playing music again,’” Mayor Stapleton said.
The duo came to the city of Prestonsburg and the MAC with the idea for the first Kinfolk Reunion fully formed.
“And we did it. We pulled it together right here at Archer Park. We had over 3,500 people here one night,” said Stapleton.
The first Kinfolk Reunion came right around the one-year mark for the pandemic in the United States. A recent study published by the WHO found that the global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by around 25 percent during the first year of the pandemic.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline has added the new hotline number 988. Callers in many areas already have access to the Lifeline by calling or texting 988, and all calling areas in the United States will have access by July 16, 2022. The existing Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) will always work.
As mayor, Stapleton has access to weekly statistics on crime, deaths and others related to the welfare of the citizens of Prestonsburg.
“The numbers for suicides, overdoses, domestic [abuse calls]… during the period around Kinfolk, during the pandemic, they lowered some,” said Stapleton.
“People knew there was something coming. They knew they were gonna get out. They could socialize and still be safe. And the fact that those boys came to us, we were just excited to see them more,” said the mayor, expressing his excitement that two of Prestonsburg’s favorite sons were back at it, making music and inspiring folks from eastern Kentucky to dream big and have a good time without feeling the need to leave their hometown.