On Saturday, Sept. 11, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Freshwater Folk Festival will take place at the White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery. It’ll be a day of fun for the whole family with live music by The Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys, Jim Snyder, and The Rust Brothers, plus food, crafts, exhibits and hands-on educational activities designed to foster understanding, appreciation and conservation of freshwater resources. It also celebrates the rich culture and natural history of West Virginia.
Live music will kick off with The Rust Brothers at 10 a.m. The Rust Brothers are George Piasecki on bass, Jim Wright on guitar and vocals, and Bob Ducharme on vocals, guitar and guitjo. The Rust Brothers perform music ranging from oldies to folk and pop with a bit of rock’n roll and blues tossed in, and they do it in a back porch, good-time kind of way. As DuCharme says, “Fun first, and lastly!”
At 11 a.m., singer-songwriter Jim Snyder will take the stage. His music runs the gamut from folk, rock, and gospel to blues and bluegrass. Besides being a performing artist, he is also the Director of the WV Winter Music Festival, the D Street Art & Music Series and Colesmouth Concerts. He’ll be joined by bassist Bob Riggleman and percussionist Scott Logsdon.
From 1 to 3 p.m. legendary banjo player Richard Hefner will be onstage with his band The Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys. Hefner is known for his high lonesome tenor, lead vocals and dynamic banjo style that is much like that of Ralph Stanley, Earl Scruggs and Don Reno. The band’s fiddler, Blaine Sprouse, is one of the top fiddlers in the US today. Sprouse began his career at the age of 17, playing with the “King of Bluegrass,” Jimmy Martin. Since then, he has played and recorded with top Bluegrass artists including the Osborne Brothers, Bill Monroe, The Dreadful Snakes featuring Bela Fleck, Peter Rowan and many more.
Roy Moose from the Cranberry Mountain Nature Center will be there with his “Snakes of West Virginia.” Displays and demonstrations ranging from wildlife presentations and scientific phenomena to educational exhibits that celebrate the rich culture and natural history of West Virginia will be presented by groups such as the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Hanging Rocks Raptor Observatory, the US Forest Service, WVSOM students, Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society, The Grotto, and the West Virginia Cave Conservancy. Tours of the fish hatchery will also be available.
Please join us on Sept. 11 at the White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery, 400 E Main Street. Admission is FREE! For more information, call 304-646-0602, visit www.freshwaterfolkfestival.org, or Freshwater Folk Festival on Facebook.
