BORN & BRED MUSIC was created by Brendan Gallagher who started out with a desire to bring together all of the artists he grew up with in his hometown of Grafton, West Virginia. Grafton has produced a number of talented musicians and vocalists with a variety of styles and differing levels of success so it was a dream to bring them all together in one place. It would be a music festival of friends who were all born and bred in the riverside community of Grafton.

The idea was bounced off many people, all of whom encouraged the dream, before it became a reality. In a chance meeting at a friend’s house, Brendan threw this idea out to a group of friends who all agreed it was time to come together to make it a reality. The inaugural event happened in 2018 and highlighted the talented friends and musicians Brendan had hoped to pull together. The next year, the event morphed into a concert series which happened in the fall; the planning was under way for the second show to be held the following spring in 2020. And then, the world stopped. 

For the next few years Born & Bred sat dormant while waiting for things to return to some semblance of normalcy. In the following months, we were approached by the historic Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center in Clarksburg, West Virginia with a collaboration idea. The decision was made to house the concert series exclusively at The Robinson Grand going forward. The first of the new series was held in the fall of 2022. The concert series continues under the guidance of the team at the Robinson Grand with multiple shows per year highlighting local, regional and national acts from or based in the state of West Virginia.

So, what now? Born & Bred is excited to announce another addition to the brand that is intended to bring even more exposure to the amazing music that has been fostered by the great state of West Virginia. Born & Bred Music Magazine will be a multimedia approach to content, including an online digital magazine with audio and visual features and a quarterly printed product. The aim of Born and Bred Music is to highlight the artists and music adjacent businesses all across the mountain state. The team at Born and Bred Music is excited to give an opportunity for artists and readers alike to immerse and grow in the arts in Almost Heaven, West Virginia!