Press Room: Winterfest

– You like Alison Krauss and Union Station? Old Crow Medicine Show? Leftover Salmon? Chris Thile and his mates in Nickel Creek? Credit John Cowan for pioneering a musical style that paved the way for these artists’ successes. As lead singer for the former New Grass Revival, bassist Cowan introduced a new generation of music fans to an explosive, experimental brand of bluegrass by fusing rock, R&B, gospel and jazz influences with country and bluegrass

Want the perfect remedy for the January blues? One part crisp mountain air filled with the sounds of three parts fiery…well, blues. On Jan. 25, the Hayes Performing Arts Center celebrates not the wintertime funk but all things funky with the Center’s first-ever Winter Blues Festival, welcoming a trio of singer-musicians prepared to burn up the stage. The event is part of the tenth annual Blowing Rock Winterfest, a city-wide weekend celebration