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Cultural Events

The 2010 Heart Of Virginia Festival was extraordinary, and the cultural events stages and performance areas on High Street provided a full day of delightful music and entertainment.  The schedule for the 2011 festival will be on this website in the fall, and instructions for applying to be considered to perform for cultural events may be found on the Information for Entertainers page

Until the information for the 2011 festival is posted, this is what we enjoyed this year:

Bicentennial Stage, Weyanoke Lawn, and Colannade Lawn
10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Sit back and relax while enjoying cultural music and entertainment.

 
2010 Schedule
 
Weyanoke Stage
  • 11:00 -12 noon    Tray Eppes
  • 1:30 -2:30           Carol And Dale
Colonnade Stage
  • 9:30 -11:00          Trey Pollard And Jimmy Masters
  • 12 noon - 1:30      Julie Clark With Larry Berwald
  • 2:30 - 3:30           The Honey Dewdrops
Colonnade picnic area
  • 10:00 - 12:00       Spiral (Hoop Artist)
  • 1:00 - 3:00           Teddy Spaghetti
Bicentennial Stage
  • 9:30 -10:50          The Demijohns  (Bluegrass)
  • 11:00 -12:20        M.S.G. - The Acoustic Blues Trio
  • 12:30- 1:50          The Demijohns With Harper Speagle-Price (Bluegrass)
  • 2:00 - 3:30           The Acoustic Blues  Trio
All times approximate/subject to change
 

Bicentennial Stage

M.S.G.

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M.S.G. is a blues trio comprised of Jackie Merritt (harmonica), Miles Spicer (guitar) and Resa Gibbs (lead vocals and percussion). They are the preeminent artists of Piedmont-style acoustic blues, and work very closely with their mentors, the legendary Cephas & Wiggins. M.S.G. can raise the roof with some old-fashioned houseparty tunes, make you laugh with their witty originals and then make you weep with blues ballads! They have performed at numerous regional festivals, including the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion, Bull Durham Blues Festival, Durham, HarborFest, Artscape, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and Bayou Boogaloo. They have also had the honor of performing twice at the The Kennedy Center. They are highly sought-after instructors at Blues camps throughout the United States, and their CDs are featured in constant rotation on XM Radio’s Bluesville.

The Demijohns

thedemijohns

http://www.myspace.com/thedemijohns 

The Demijohns are a Richmond-based band with five-piece bluegrass instrumentation who draw on a variety of influences that span bluegrass, newgrass, Dawg, jazz, Americana, and rock. Formed in 2007, the Demijohns mix original tunes along with traditional bluegrass and tunes borrowed from other genres adapted to the high lonesome. Nick Harlow, banjo, is a veteran of the Richmond bluegrass scene, one of the preeminent banjo players in central Virginia, and is also an active member of the Richmond-based bands Slack Family and A Good Natured Riot. Greg Harrup, bass, has played in a variety of rock, rockabilly, and bluegrass bands, and is also currently a member of the Slack Family Bluegrass Band. Jack Cowardin, fiddle, is a former member of the DC-based band Coup de Grass and the Charlottesville-based Cloud Valley. Dave Kuo, acoustic guitar, is a native of North Carolina and a former member of the Steep Canyon Rangers. Barry Lawson, mandolin, is a native of southwest Virginia, a former member of the bluegrass band Mill Run, and occasionally accompanies the Scottsville-based duo The Honey Dewdrops.

Harper Speagle-Price

harper

Harper Speagle-Price, now twelve years old, started playing mandolin when she was seven. Her band Harper & Co. has played the Virginia State Fair, Ashland Coffee and Tea, and the New Acoustic Music Festival. Harper opened for Wil Maring and Robert Bowlin at a JAMinc concert at In Your Ear Music and Recording. She is the 2009 Fiddler’s Grove Junior Mandolin Champion. Harper also enjoys playing basketball and hanging out with friends.

 

Weyanoke Stage

Carol and Dale

carolandale

 

Husband and wife team Carol and Dale have a sound that is a unique blend of harmonies, creative guitar work, and out of the ordinary lyrics. Dale Whitehead grew up here, met Carol Warren in Richmond in the ‘90s, and they now reside in Nashville, where they have a music studio, host an annual music festival, The Blackberry Jam, and write, record and perform. Dale has toured with Clint Black, Phish, and many more, and, in addition to teaching piano and guitar, Carol serves on the faculty of Kids On Stage.

Tray Eppes

trayeppes

http://www.trayeppes.com

Farmville’s own (Darlington Heights, actually!) talented multi-instrumentalist has been entertaining audiences since he was twelve. With guitar, harmonica and his bluesy vocals, tray is truly a one man band, covering classic rock and pop from the past fifty years, plus his own witty compositions.

 

Colonnade Stage

Jimmy Masters and Trey Pollard

jimmymastersandtreypollard

http://www.jimmymasters.com
http://www.myspace.com/treypollardmusic  

Jazz aficionados will appreciate the passion and proficiency these two artists pour into their music. Their synergy and simpatico is evident from the first note played. Jimmy Masters, acoustic bassist, has spent decades exploring jazz and perfecting his craft. Performing regularly with world-renown jazz musicians, he is sought-after in other genres as well, performing with Americana artists Bill and Pam Gurley, singer/songwriter and Kerrville Folk Festival winner Julie Clark, and guitar virtuoso Stephen Bennett, all of whom have been featured in prior years at the Heart of Virginia Festival.
Trey Pollard, guitarist extraordinaire, brings a lifetime of performance and recording experience to the stage. Partner in Richmond’s Songwire Studios, he has composed for and performed with the region’s finest jazz players, including Modern Groove Syndicate, singer/songwriters Jesse Harper and Dean Fields.

Julie Clark and Larry Berwald

julieclark

http://www.julieclark.net
http://www.myspace.com/larryberwald

Currently touring nationally in support of her second full-length cd of original music, CHANGE YOUR MIND, Julie’s songs of hope and love, strength and resiliency have put her at the top of the class of today’s singer/songwriters. She won the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival (joining a who’s who of prior winners which includes Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle, Nancy Griffith and Shawn Colvin), The Great American Song Contest, Virginia Music Awards, Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Contest, and many, many others. Her hauntingly crystalline lyrics and sparkling voice and guitar will charm, entertain, and remain with you. Julie will be joined by amazing guitarist Larry Berwald, a Billboard top ten recording artist (twice!), former lead guitarist of the iconic rock group wet willie, and master of electric, acoustic, harp and slide guitars.

 The Honey Dewdrops

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http://www.thehoneydewdrops.com

From their hometown just down the road in Scottsville, Virginia, husband and wife team Kagey Parrish and Laura Wortman rose to national prominence as the winners in Garrison Keillor’s “People in their Twenties” contest on National Public Radio, bringing their special blend of bluegrass, folk, country and old-timey music combined with modern-day sentiments to audiences nationwide. Touring in support of their new and critically-acclaimed cd, If the Sun Will Shine, they bring to this year’s Heart of Virginia Festival their haunting, melancholic and altogether charming music. 

 

Colonnade Picnic Area

Teddy Spaghetti the Clown

20080503_078

Teddy’s Technicolor personality, balloon tricks and juggling have made him a Heart of Virginia Festival favorite with young and old alike. Just as engaging and enthralling for grandparents and parents as for the little ones, Teddy will be found in the center of a crowd wherever he is at the Heart of Virginia Festival 2010 (in the morning at the Childrens’ Stage, in the afternoon at the Colonnade). He WILL bring a smile to your face, and a spring to your step (and you may even leave with a balloon hat!).

Simply one of the greatest hoop artists in the world, she’s performed at festivals and arenas for enormous crowds (Bonaroo, Floydfest, etc.).  These are not your parents’ hula hoops….a mesmerizing, hypnotic, acrobatic phenomenon, featured at the Colonnade area in the morning, the Children’s area in the afternoon and the Airport stage Saturday night. 


 

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