Alexandria, VA – The way many people define country music is that it is clearly, well, the Music of America. Country music is truly an amalgam, a definitive mix of the traditional and the modern, often focused on singing stories about working-class and blue-collar American life, largely a noteworthy mixture of ballads and dance tunes often played on fiddle, guitar, steel guitar, drums, and keyboards. In any event, the gleaming sounds of country music are plentiful and glorious, each in its own special way.
So with all those particular things in mind, get ready for a brand new bonafide country music treasure that will embrace Alexandria on Saturday, June 15, the first annual (and yes, free) Alexandria Country Music Festival at Montgomery Park from 12:00-5:00 pm, loaded up with a stellar lineup that is truly emblematic of this genre, a wonderful assortment of regional country-styled artists taking the stage, and including Zebra Press/Living On Music’s Steve Houk as emcee:
12:00 pm-12:50 pm: BILLY AND BOB CLASSIC COUNTRY BAND
1:00 pm-1:50 pm: DEDE AND THE DO RIGHTS
2:00 pm-2:50 pm: 340-WEST BAND
3:00 pm-3:50 pm: TY BRADDOCK & THE LOYAL INMATES
4:00 pm-5:00 pm: RELUCTANT PLAYBOYS
“Yes, the Alexandria Country Music Festival is going to be one that so wants to highlight all the types of country music out there,” said Festival Organizer Robert Gabriel, who is also the upright/electric bass player for the vintage country and honky tonk group Billy and Bob Classic Country Band that opens the show. “And it is especially fun to present some of the country bands in the area of which there are many good ones, and these five are no exception.”
There’ll also be food onsite, a fun offering of “beginning” country music dance lessons, and an arts and crafts festival one block away run by Pat Miller, who leads the Del Ray Community Partnership. She is holding an ‘ART MART’ festival, and the two events will be cross-promoting each other, being a block apart. It looks like a fun day full of music and art that sounds enchanting and pleasurable.
As far as the glowing musical content goes for this exciting debut country music festival, from its humble beginnings to its present-day prominence, country music remains a force to be reckoned with, telling timeless stories through its heartfelt melodies. That and more will soar throughout Montgomery Park and nearby on June 15.
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