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Appalachian Trail Days Festival
​2023 Music Lineup

THURSDAY, MAY 18
at Laurel Creek Park
6:00-8:00pm - Into the Fog
FRIDAY, MAY 19
12:30-2:30pm - Anthony Childress Experience
3:00-5:00pm - Joey's Van
5:30-7:30pm - The Maggie Valley Band
8:00-10:00pm - The Tan & Sober Gentlemen
SATURDAY, MAY 20
12:30-2:30pm - Swim in the Wild
- Hiker Parade, Live Auction, and Hiker Talent Show -
5:30-7:30pm - Jeremy Short
8:00-10:00pm - Fritz & Co.
SUNDAY, MAY 21
12:00-2:00pm - My New Favorites
​2:30-4:30pm - Phantom

FREE concerts all weekend! Live music is located at the gazebo in the middle of the Town Park.
Bring your own lawn/camping chair or picnic blanket and stay awhile!
6:00-8:00pm Thursday at Laurel Creek Park - Into the Fog
for the Backpacker 50th Anniversary Celebration
Into The Fog is a magnetic, genre-jumping string band hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina. With its members having various backgrounds ranging from bluegrass, country, rock, to funk, Into The Fog creates a musical melting pot of sounds in an acoustic/newgrass setting. “While purists might label their sound as Newgrass, those in attendance respond to the gospel they are preaching and seem perfectly content with the foggy genre, since the sound is so clear.” - Donna Davis (The Daily Reflector). Into the Fog has opened for Sam Bush Band, Ghost of Paul Revere, Town Mountain, Keller & the Keels, Larry Keel Experience, Jon Stickley Trio, Songs From the Road Band, Fireside Collective and more. Past festivals include Floydfest, Merlefest, NC Homegrown Music Festival, Rooster Walk, Front Porch Fest, and IBMA World of Bluegrass.
12:30-2:30pm Friday - Anthony Childress Experience
Hailing from East Tennessee, Anthony Childress Experience brings familiar sounds in an unfamiliar way to connect with artists, performers, and listeners alike. Childress yields a big, booming voice that delivers soulful and funky melodies that leave you wanting more. With James Bowman on piano and Chris Guffey on drums, this group of performers show off their talents on a slew of amazing covers and originals too!
3:00-5:00pm Friday - Joey's Van
Joey’s Van is a cover band based out of Bristol, TN playing a wide variety of 90’s/00’s popular covers. The band all started around the idea to try and appeal to people in their 20’s and 30’s that grew up on bands like Blink-182, Paramore, Green Day, and so on - just like they did! The goal was to
create a pleasant nostalgia in the crowd from when they were angsty teens. And while that’s how it all began, they also noticed people of all ages started showing up enjoying the shows simply because the music is super fun and upbeat!
5:30-7:30pm Friday - The Maggie Valley Band
​The Maggie Valley Band is a diverse approach to Appalachian music intertwined with a heavy sixties influence. TMVB is a refreshing band from Asheville, NC, led by sister-sister harmonies and laced with various instruments. Their music is a combination of traditional folk tunes and originals.  From Meeghan Kane, Auntie Bellum Magazine: “Whitney and 
Carolina Miller of the Maggie Valley Band have a fresh take on an old country sound. Their brand of  ‘dark Appalachian music’ will simultaneously crush your soul and send your heart soaring.”
8:00-10:00pm Friday - The Tan & Sober Gentlemen
​Born and raised in the North Carolina backcountry, The Tan and Sober Gentlemen began taking in the songs, stories, and tunes that make up their beloved state’s heritage before they could talk. Despite having played music together in some form or another for most of their lives, the band was officially formed in the summer of 2017. Past performances range from the Cat’s Cradle, Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival, Appaloosa Festival, and IBMA’s World of Bluegrass in the States to Spraoi Festival, Whelan’s, and the Roisin Dubh in Ireland. The band aims to explore the Irish and Scottish roots of North Carolinian music, and to play it with as much energy as humanly possible. Tan and Sober hangs their hat on the fact that, no matter the venue or the crowd, their live show will have the audience engaged, smiling, and drenched with sweat. As far as folk music goes, they’re about the best dancing band you’ll find.
12:30-2:30pm Saturday - Swim in the Wild
Swim in the Wild is the Adventure Alternative band of the Carolinas. A new Rock-Folk-Americana fusion with so much East Coast energy that it needs its own  identity. SITW is a soundtrack to adventure, an outdoor drama, and a party by nature. Led by dual front men (The Hall brothers) who switch back and forth on drums and strings, the band is notorious for their spirited performances and big harmonies. Most often being complimented for their original sound, the band does get some comparisons to notable rock groups like Young the Giant, Kings of Leon, My Morning Jacket mixed with folks flavors of the Avett Brothers.
5:30-7:30pm Saturday - Jeremy Short
With an orange mustache, golden voice and cherry red Gibson ES-335, Eastern Kentucky Space Funk artist Jeremy Short has quickly risen to the top shelf of must-hear players on the scene. Having garnered significant recognition for his masterful, yet seemingly effortless guitar playing, “Kentucky’s Jeremy Short is one of the top 30 blues guitar players in the world.

Don’t take it from me — take it from the judges at Memphis’s International Blues Challenge, where Short semi-finaled in 2016 and 2017. “ “A little bit Marvin Gaye, a little bit Grateful Dead and a little bit Tyler Childers, Jeremy Short’s jam-fueled Appalachian soul music proves that there’s a lot more than country and bluegrass music radiating from the Eastern Kentucky mountains...His unique blend of Appalachian soul music is incredibly effective and authentic because Appalachia is such an integral part of his own soul, and always will be.” (Matt Wickstrom)
8:00-10:00pm Saturday - Fritz & Co.
​Fritz & Co is helmed by Abingdon based singer-songwriter Logan Fritz. Anchored by Elizabethton-via-Asheville Amanda Hollifield on the drum kit and Joshua Cavinder on all things keys, founding member of Holy Ghost Tent Revival Matt Martin on bass guitar and vocals, and Wise County
native McKenna Blevins on vocals and auxiliary percussion, the band brings the fun with genre- defying exciting original material and a few beloved covers. Fritz & Co have been a staple at Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, Appalachian Trail Days, The Howling, and have played extensively throughout the Tri-Cities and surrounding area. Logan and his band mates
have opened for(most recently) The Wallflowers, Amythyst Kiah, Caroline Rose, Brent Cobb, The Wood Brothers, The Broadcast, and 49 Winchester.
12:00-2:00pm Sunday - My New Favorites
​My New Favorites feature a mix of Appalachian music and honky-tonk that is authentic enough for purists and progressive enough for folks who are ready to hear the Allman Bros. played on the old time clawhammer banjo.
Led by award-winning songwriter Jeffrey Benedict, MNF is danceable, fun-loving and funny. They feature top-notch fiddling from virtuoso Westley Harris, and sweet vocal harmonies from bass-player Amy Benedict. Jason Carpenter, a one-man-band percussionist, rounds out the sound.
2:30-4:30pm Sunday - Phantom
 Perennial favorite Phantom will fill the air with its energetic renderings of 70’s & 80’s rock and roll. The band has been at the top of southwest Virginia’s music scene since the early 90’s. Their popularity dates back to high school days when they won the regional “Battle of the Bands” decades ago, and they’ve remained a major staple at fairs, festivals and celebrations across the region, even topping newspaper polls as the region’s best several times.

The band has maintained a “dance and party” playlist over their time on top, and have appealed to a garden salad of musical tastes and social circles. “The variety we play is our best asset”, say founders Proffitt and Atwood, who assert that the band tries to capture the essence of thirty-five or forty different artists in a show’s work. “We’ve adopted a style that’s never repetitive”. Phantom promises a serving of familiar favorites that makes this home-grown group a welcome chill.