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Music and Art Autumn Fest is Sunday in Chester

Steel Wheels to perform -- Contributed

CHESTER — Co-sponsored by Montani Semper Liberi — Music and Art and Bob Milby VFW Post No. 6450, Music and Art Autumn Fest 2021 will arrive in a spectacular way Sunday in Chester

Unfolding at Chester City Park, the event will feature several renowned national touring acts on the Davis Brothers Pavilion Main Stage, as well as a roster of talented young students to perform on the adjacent VFW stage.

The event will showcase an array of vendors, crafters and authors set up with products for display and sale. In addition, the downstairs of the VFW will be converted into a gallery featuring artists from the Top of WV Arts Council, plus other professional and student visual artists. Food trucks will be on hand to help make the event an all-day, family destination.

Music and Art Autumn Fest is scheduled to begin at noon, and admission is free.

Those interested in participating as a vendor or visual artist can call or text (304) 374-7474.

Headlining the list of entertainment will be the Steel Wheels, a Blue Ridge-based band that’s been together in one form or another since 2005, performing thousands of shows over countless miles across the country.

“Long at home in the space between tradition and innovation, they have formed a deep and undeniable bond with their loyal fan-base, a loyalty to each other that is on full display at their stirring live performances,” an event spokesperson noted.

The Baltimore-based Cris Jacobs Band will be another featured act at the festival. Somewhat of a legend among music peers for his technique as a guitarist, the singer/songwriter has expressed his emotional and artistic evolvement as a husband and father.

“I want to create a body of work that my family will be proud of one day and to show that I had compassion to the human condition and wasn’t just a self-indulgent show off,” he is quoted in a news release.

Raised in Clifton Forge, Va., and now Asheville-based, the “deeply introspective” Alexa Rose had her latest album described as “an enchanting new Appalachian voice wraps her rambling mind around a dream; it sounds like the soul child of Bob Dylan and Dolly Parton.” (NPR)

Born and raised in Morgantown, Ruby Hornsby began her classical training as a violinist at age 3 and continued it through her graduation from West Virginia University. Now based in Western Pennsylvania, her background in multiple genres has led to her self-described mountain soul music approach. The multi-instrumentalist has recorded on cello, mandolin, bass and piano and performs on violin, guitar, viola and ukulele in her live shows.

A well known figure on the local music scene, Bill Crawford selects songs from an extensive library of timeless and traditional tunes in his performances.

His appreciation of American Roots music is readily apparent in his “old-soul” delivery of acoustic gems. “It’s his heartfelt approach that sets him apart from others,” the spokesperson added.

The Davis Brothers main stage schedule is (times are approximate): Noon, Bill Crawford; 1 p.m., Ruby; 2:25 p.m., Cris Jacobs Band; 3:50 p.m., Alexa Rose (duo); and 5:05 p.m., the Steel Wheels.

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