Welcome to the South Music Festival on Nov. 6
Country music singer-songwriter and native son of South Pittsburg, Corey Layne, is producing with the assistance of sponsors, Martin & Company, Collins Building Materials and US101 (WUSY-FM/100.7 in Chattanooga) and WEPG, the River (104.9) the Welcome to the South Music Festival. This outdoor music festival will be held Saturday, Nov. 6, in downtown South Pittsburg. It will feature established country music artists Texas Hill, Corey Layne, Dave Fenley, Kyndal Inskeep, Chase Wilson and Brent Michael Wood.
The six-hour music festival is being billed as a celebration of Layne’s hometown, South Pittsburg, and as a show of support for healthcare workers and first responders after Layne suffered a serious bout with COVID-19. Held within days of Veterans Day 2021, the festival will also honor and provide time to reflect on the sacrifice of the nation’s veterans and active military.
Texas Hill is composed of bandmembers Craig Wayne Boyd and Adam Wakefield of The Voice, and Casey James from American Idol, whose overlapping musical tastes and distinct voices have formed a signature sound easily recognizable as a bold harmonic trio that brings out the best of each of their Southern-rich voices. Boyd and Wakefield placed first and second on separate seasons of NBC’s The Voice, while James placed third on ABC’s American Idol.
Layne is the driving force for this music festival. A soulful singer songwriter with a recent single titled “Excuse Me,” Layne and special guest Chase Wilson both met on The Voice and have parallel backgrounds and aspirations. Layne’s singles, “Let’s Take Tonight” and “Stay with Me” have garnered the attention of the Nashville music scene and elicited fans nationwide. Dave Fenley, a contestant on Season 15 of the Voice, was eliminated in the Top 10, but not before he made believers across the nation of his diverse musical abilities as part of Team Blake. Rounding out the festival will be the ethereal music by Kyndal Inskeep, also a former contestant on The Voice and Brent Michael Wood, a talented Nashville based singer/songwriter recently returned from Denmark, whose music is a tasty mix of rock, blues, country and soul.
Food and beverage vendors include the local American Legion Post, the South Pittsburg Area Revitalization Quest (SPARQ), and Uncle Curt’s Burger food truck.
Layne said, “I love my hometown. We are known mostly for our National Cornbread Festival and the Lodge cast iron foundry and store. As with many small towns, the last two years has been rough on small businesses and our primary fundraiser to help local nonprofits has been cancelled two years in a row. The National Cornbread Festival typically brings in 30,000 visitors, so this has been a big hit to all our main street businesses. This festival allows me to do something in return for my hometown and promote some fabulous new talent along the way.”
As a celebration of the sacrifices of our active military and veterans, Waypoint Vets will attend the festival sharing information on how to support their mission to provide adventures free of charge to veterans. Open to all branches of service, founder Sarah Lee started this 501(c)(3) nonprofit with the mission of uniting and empowering veterans through activities and adventure. Struck by the number of veteran suicides, Lee first took a 4,010-mile coast-to-coast cycling journey to bring attention to the need to support veterans. Today, more than 100 veterans have completed adventures free of charge with more to be completed by year’s end.
Tickets will only be sold on the day of the event beginning at 10 a.m. The event is being held from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. The price for admission is $20 per person and children 10 and under are admitted free of charge. All healthcare workers, first responders, veterans, and active military (all branches) will be admitted to the show at half-price for $10 with a valid I.D.
Donations are being planned from the net proceeds from the event to benefit two nonprofits: SPARQ formed to cultivate the community’s economic, social and cultural growth; and the South Pittsburg Ministerial Association that assists the homeless and underserved.