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Musings on folk, Americana, country, bluegrass and newgrass


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Labor Day Weekend 2018 offers myriad music festival opportunities for fans in Virginia, North Carolina

Listen up music festival lovers: Labor Day Weekend 2018 has plenty of opportunities in North Carolina, Virginia and beyond. Continue reading


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Front Porch Fest celebrates 10 years of music, memories over Labor Day Weekend 2018

Tired of listening to the same old music? Front Porch Fest, held at the picturesque Spirit Haven Farm in Stuart, Virginia, over Labor Day weekend, may be just the ticket. You’ll not only be exposed to some new tunes, you’ll also have the opportunity to support some great causes.

“Front Porch Fest is a great place to hear someone you have never heard of and leave with new music in your heart,” festival Executive Director Chris Prutting told me in 2015. “I’ve grown up with music and friends playing in bands. I love the bands no one has heard of. If you come to Front Porch Fest, you will leave with a whole new catalog of music. We’ve always prided ourselves on getting bands right before they make it.”

Among the acts lined up for Front Porch Fest set for Aug. 30 – Sept. 2 include Perpetual Groove, Zach Deputy, the Larry Keel Experience, Big Daddy Love, Annabelle’s Curse, the Couldn’t Be Happiers, Urban Soil, Slick Jr. & the Reactors, among others. A distinctive feature of this festival, which attracts a few thousand attendees, are its three stages with no overlapping sets so music lovers don’t have to miss a beat.

I personally love the laid back feel of this festival that is smaller more intimate version of some of its neighbors including FloydFest and Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival.

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Tickets for 2018 Appaloosa Roots Music Festival featuring Mandolin Orange, Town Mountain are half price through April 30

Appaloosa Roots Music Festival  has announced the initial lineup for Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 2018, will include not one, but three, of my personal favorites — North Carolina-based Mandolin Orange, Town Mountain and Fireside Collective — thanks in part to a grant from the state of Virginia’s tourism folks, otherwise known as “Virginia is for Lovers.” Continue reading


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Eddie From Ohio, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen to headline Scythian’s Appaloosa Roots Music Festival on Sept. 1-3, 2017

Eddie From Ohio and Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen will headline the third Appaloosa Roots Music Festival, hosted by MerleFest fan favorite Scythian, on Labor Day Weekend, Sept. 1-3, 2017, in Front Royal, Virginia.

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