Aunt Jennie’s Festival this weekend
by Banner Staff Report
2 months ago | 665 views | 0 0 comments | 5 5 recommendations | email to a friend | print
Image 1 of 2
Glenville State College Bluegrass Band, under the direction of Buddy Griffin will perform at 8:30 Saturday evening. Each year, Griffin, 4th from left holding banjo, leads a group of students enrolled in the college’s Bluegrass Music Certificate Program in performing at various venues across West Virginia and around the country. Photo/Submitted
CHIEF LOGAN STATE PARK — Celebrate the Labor Day weekend with the Museum in the Park at Chief Logan State Park at the fifth annual “Aunt Jennie’s Festival.”

The celebration will include two outdoor concerts on Saturday from 4 p.m.-10:30 p.m., and Sunday from 1-6 p.m. The concerts will be held in the Liz Spurlock Amphitheater, located about one-half mile from the museum.

Logan native Roger Bryant, a musician whose roots are in the old-time and folk music traditions, will serve as emcee. Bryant also will perform as part of the weekend’s festivities. He is the grandson of local folk legend Aunt Jennie Wilson, for whom the festival is named. His career has spanned more than 30 years and 30 states, and he has shared the stage with Tom T. Hall, Tammy Wynette, Kathy Mattea and Kris Kristofferson.

Bryant achieved national attention in the late 1970s with his song “Stop the Flow of Coal” and has recorded four albums, the most recent of which is “On the Banks of the Old Guyan.”

The festival will include performances by many well-known regional musicians. Saturday’s concert will include Bryant, who will open the show; Glen Simpson, a folk musician from Hardy, Ky.; Elaine Purkey, known for her powerful voice and mountain singing and “The Friendly Neighbor Show” band from the weekly radio program on WVOW Radio in Logan; The Dick Taylor Band, a bluegrass group from Chapmanville; the Samples Brothers, an old-time music and bluegrass band from Duck; the Glenville State College Bluegrass Band; and The Street Players, a rock band hailing from Logan.

The Sunday afternoon concert will feature another Bryant set; Taking Flight, a gospel/rock group from Logan; The Earl of Elkview, George Daugherty, a trial lawyer who has traveled the world singing and talking about West Virginia; the West Virginia Bluegrass Gospel Review, a band from Man; the Stewart Family, a gospel group from Clear Fork; Robert Shafer and the Pour House Crew, a country band based in the Charleston area; and the Daddy Rabbit Band, a local pop band from Logan.

Refreshments and snacks will be available for purchase outside the amphitheater both days. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited.

Virginia Myrtle “Aunt Jennie” Wilson was born in 1900 in the “Doc” Ellis hollow of what is now Chief Logan State Park. She was one of the first women in the region to learn to play the banjo, and her music and storytelling made her internationally known for her preservation of Appalachian culture. Wilson died in 1992.

———

For more information about the festival, contact Elizabeth Williams, site manager at the Museum in the Park, at (304) 792-7229.
comments (0)
no comments yet
WEATHER
Sponsored by:



STOCK TICKER
Sponsored by:



featured businesses