The Triad Music Festival 2016, Sept. 1-3, will include a Kick-Off Party, Songwriter Stand-Off and performances featuring Caleb Caudle and Wurlitzer Prize, among others, in various locations around downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
According to organizers, the main event will be the N.C. Regional Gear & Music Expo, which will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 3, at the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts.
The following post also ran on The Huffington Post here.
If you weren’t at Pop’s Farm in Axton, Virginia, the home of Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival, under the stars on Saturday, Aug. 20, you missed an incredible high-energy performance by the incomparable Southwest Virginia native Josh Shilling and his band, Mountain Heart.
I first discovered The Genuine, a Winston-Salem-based progressive, folk rock group, thanks to Phuzz Phest a few years ago.
And I can tell you that the band doesn’t stray far from its name. Their sound is genuinely unique and I am not alone in my thinking. In fact, The Genuine were recently voted “Best Band”in Smitty’s Notes 10th Annual Best of Winston-Salem Awards. Fans are in for a treat on Friday, Aug. 26, when they can catch the Genuine band members — Matthew Allivato, Katelyn Allivato and Devin Forkel — perform at Stonefield Cellars Winery in Stokesdale, North Carolina, as part of its Friday Flavors Concert Series.
This post also appears on The Huffington Post here.
The first time I heard folk, alt-country Americana singer-songwriter Gillian Welch perform live was at MerleFest in 2004 on the heels of the popularity of the Grammy-award winning movie soundtrack for “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” on which she was an associate producer with the illustrious T-Bone Burnett and performed on two songs. It’s a performance that has stayed with me through the years.
The following was also published on The Huffington Post here.
Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia-based alt-folk band Annabelle’s Curse isn’t so much a curse as a happy accident. A series of accidents actually.
One of the original group’s founders guitarist Zack Edwards explains that he showed up on the porch of the other co-founder Tim Kilborne (vocals, banjo, guitar) six years ago after being introduced through mutual friends at Emory and Henry College.
“We started playing music and I just never went home,” Edwards remembers. “We did that for a little while, writing songs on the front porch and playing open mic nights.”
The fourth annual Blue Grass Valley Music Festivalwill be held at the beautiful Potomac Farm in Highland County, Virginia. The farm is located on Rt 641 Ruckman Lane in Blue Grass.
The festival includes camping, local food, craft beer by Three Notch’d Brewing Co. Harrisonburg Taproom, arts and crafts, a farmer’s market, kids area and lots of other activities, according to organizers.
Visit the website for ticket information here. Kids younger than 13 are admitted free with paid adult.
Red Wing Roots Music Festival attendees know The Judy Chops, self-described as a mountain swing band, put on one heck of a live performance. I’m not sure what you call the group’s unique blend of swing, blues and rock with shades of classic country thrown in, but I call them a good time.The group is currently touring to promote its newest EP, “Bad Like Me.”
If you haven’t had the chance to catch one of the band’s shows, this weekend provides you with two opportunities if you are in or near southwest Virginia.
Fans of Mountain Heart and Annabelle’s Curse can catch both acts at a special show on Saturday, Aug. 20, at Pop’s Farm, the home of Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival.
Among the 30-plus acts in the lineup are Hackensaw Boys, Fake Flowers Real Dirt, Annabelle’s Curse, The Church Sisters, Will Jones, Highway 249, Another Roadside Attraction, The Mastertones, The New Ballard Branch Bogtrotters, Changing Lanes, Mickey Galyean & Cullen’s Bridge, Mad Iguanas, Firecracker Jam, Backporch Bluegrass, Josiah & The Greater Good, Tara Mills & Jimmy Stelling, The Loose Strings Band, Gipsy Danger and more to be announced, according to organizers.