Arts in the Middle Fest to feature varied musicians

Musicians to perform Celtic, bluegrass, jazz, rock, country, blues and Americana tunes

Arts in the Middle has a terrific music lineup for its upcoming festival, organizers say. The festival is set for Saturday and Sunday, June 5 and 6, at Hewick Plantation at 5123 Old Virginia St. in Urbanna. Its musical headliner is Jeff Little, a member of the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame. The Jeff Little Trio comes from the mountains of North Carolina.

Jeff Little adds his instrument to traditional Americana or Appalachian music, bringing classic tunes a special sparkle and color with his piano.

Backing Jeff Little up on vocals and with his five-string banjo and acoustic guitar is Steve Lewis, an award-winning musician with nationwide respect.

Luke Little, a young man with a mandolin, completes the trio. He has performed at the National Folk Festival, PBS Song of the Mountains, The Richmond Folk Festival and The Moss Center for the Performing Arts at Virginia Tech.

Well-known performers will bring many more styles and genres to the festival. 

The performer probably best known in Middlesex County is Clayton Neal, founder of Jumbo Lump Daddy and the Backfin Boys, the band voted Best Local Musicians by the readers of Pleasant Living magazine eight years in a row.

Visitors can expect to hear some light jazz from The MelTones, a professional father/daughter musical duo consisting of Paige and Randy Melton. Poisoned Dwarf is a Celtic music group that plays virtuosic, innovative and passionate renditions of traditional Irish and Scottish music on acoustic instruments. Margox is an indie-rock band from Richmond, fronted by songstress Colleen Christman. Paige Melton is a classic folk musician known for her vocal and guitar arrangements delivered with an innocent “flower child” attitude that embraces the 60s and 70s.

Numerous other groups will be performing…