LOUISVILLE, Ky (May 8, 2026): LOUISVILLE, Ky (May 7, 2026): This year marks a special tradition for Kentucky Native JD Shelburne as he and his wife Amy returned to their hometown roots to attend their 12th Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky native and fast-rising country artist is no stranger to the fastest 2 minutes in sports and walking into Churchill Downs on Derby Day. He’s walked red carpets, sat on millionaire’s row, interviewed with TV media across the globe, been featured in print and on national outlets, shook hands with Hollywood’s biggest stars, been invited to the city’s most prestigious parties during Derby Week, headlined & opened national concerts in town, and even had his outfits featured in the Kentucky Derby Museum 3 times, including one currently in the fashion exhibit now from 2025! To top it all, he even proposed to his wife on the Derby Red Carpet in 2016 on LIVE TV!!!
“This year was another spectacular derby weekend, and we are so blessed to be able to do all these things we get to do. We are thankful,” says Shelburne in a sit-down interview recently.
I took a moment and talked with JD Shelburne about his experience. JD, take a moment and tell us about your experience this year, take us inside your life those 3 days! Where do you start?
Where do I start? Wow! We arrived in town (Louisville) on Thursday afternoon to load into Hotel Borre’ Bonne for a show that night for the guests. The amazing hotel hosted my family and I for the entire derby weekend – we highly recommend staying there! I performed an acoustic show that night in the main lobby for all our friends and hotel guests while there. Several celebrities attended the show, including Bill Belichick, Bobby Flay, Skip Martin from Kool and the Gang, and Andrew Walker, the Hollywood actor, whom my parents love! It was great to see them all enjoying the music. From there, my wife and some friends of ours headed down to a private event at Jeff Ruby’s hosted by our friend, Bruce Zoldan, and family. I attend his events each year and spend time with him and his family. Bruce and I have been friends for 10 years. He is one of the most successful people that I know personally, and still so humble and grateful for his people. He had the Derby-winning horse in 2011, Animal Kingdom! He brings in his entire family to the derby and a long list of amazing celebrity friends! That guy can throw a party! We are thankful to be included. Met some great folks with his crew, including UFC Champ Stipe Miocic and his wife, who were so much fun to chat with! We ate amazing steaks, and I even got up on stage to perform with Robbie Bartlett while there. She is a legendary artist in the city, and she always invites me up (I am one to never expect this), and we performed 2 songs with her band. She’s a hoot! From there, we finally got into bed at 2 am after celebrating our first night in town. The next day, we were up and taken to the track by our hosts, Unbridled Eve Derby Gala, and attended the Kentucky Oaks. We took Amy’s mother, Debbie, this year, and she had the best time, and had never been. She even got to sit on millionaire’s row, eat amazing food, and spend time with Amy and I and celebrities like Bo Duke, Warren Moon, Danica McKellar, Nora Roberts and more. I think she is still on cloud 9. From there, we left and headed back to the hotel (thanks to our hosts) and started getting ready to attend our 10th Unbridled Eve at the Galt House Hotel! We arrived, checked in all our friends, walked the red carpet, interviewed with all the media, and prepped for my performance that night in the All-Star Jam. Unbridled Eve was a blast! We got to mingle with our friends who were our guests this year and see stars perform, such as Richie Sambora, Lorrie Morgan, Sugarhill Gang, and a few more. Overall, it’s the highlight of the weekend, and we are so grateful to Tammy and Tonya, who invite us each year. I loved performing again this year. This event raised money for Blessings in a Backpack, so it’s always rewarding to help out and talk about this charity. We also donated an Inclusion Brand gift set with my 2 signature series bourbons and a custom barrel in the auction, and I ended up meeting the highest bidder and signing the barrel for her before I left. We shut the place down and didn’t get to our hotel until like 2 am! Up early the next morning for Derby Day, our host took us from the hotel at 12 noon to walk the 152nd Kentucky Derby Red Carpet at Churchill Downs. That is always a huge honor, and our 12th time doing so. I am a proud Kentuckian to get these opportunities to walk the carpet on Derby Day, meet the press, and promote why I love this great state and what’s going on in my music world. This year, a friend from back home, Brandi at Rooted Rebel Studio, hand-painted the custom suit that I wore to Derby. It was a show stopper. I had so many compliments and interviews because of it. Thank you, Brandi! We attended Derby, mingled with so many friends, and this year sat with Lorrie Morgan, her manager Tony Conway, and friends. It was a great time sitting with her and talking about my Opry Debut, her career, her favorite moments in music, and just everyday life. She had some interesting stories that I adored. She did a duet with Frank Sinatra!!! She was so kind to Amy and I. We fell in love with her music all over again. Tony, her manager, was as well. He and I have known each other for years and grew up in neighboring towns in Kentucky. We left with a few losing tickets, a couple of derby glasses, and ended up getting back to our hotel at 8 pm. From there, we freshened up, kissed our son Jax in the hotel room (thank you to our babysitters all weekend!), and headed to dinner at the Louisville Pendennis Club. It was our first time there, and what a spectacular and elegant venue. Our friends, The Bennetts, invited us. Thank you, Michael! We had a delicious meal with his family, toured the facility, and went to watch the band play afterwards. It was a wild party!!!! Cassius Clay (ALI) fought his first fight there in 1964, and they took us to the floor where it happened and showed me the fight card! It was surreal to see that! Back to our hotel soon after and tucked in bed at 1 am. Whew, it was a whirlwind weekend, but we loved every minute of it. 6 events in 3 days, and we are already thinking about next year. I am so thankful to all the fans for following our social media posts that weekend, all the likes, comments, and shares! We are back in Nashville and rested up for our next stop on our journey. We will never forget Kentucky Derby 152. That was just a few moments of a jam-packed weekend. 🙂 PS. Thanks to Amy’s parents for watching Jax all weekend. We gave my parents a break this year. HA! Again, thank you to everyone, and especially Unbridled Eve!
Thank you, JD Shelburne, for sharing your time with us about your historical experience!
Let’s flash back to some memorable moments during his Derby Week festivities.
