We are pleased to announce the next installment of The Born & Bred Concert Series! As many of you know, Born & Bred started as a music festival in Grafton, West Virginia and shifted to a Concert Series at The Robinson Grand after the pandemic. From there, we expanded to yours truly – Born & Bred Magazine – and now we are so excited to be presenting to you another lineup of talented West Virginia artists! We want to extend a huge thanks to The Robinson Grand for collaborating with us!

 

Clarksburg, WV – The Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center is excited to announce the return of The Born & Bred Concert Series on Saturday, September 9, 2023, at the historic Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center located at 444 W. Pike St. in Clarksburg, WV.

The Born & Bred Concert Series was created by Brendan Gallagher and debuted as a music festival in Grafton, WV. In its new concert series form, The Robinson Grand will be producing multiple shows a year featuring talented musicians and performing artists that have been shaped by the Mountain State. The September 9 show is the second to include radio personality and musician, “Appalachian Soul Man,” Aristotle Jones as the host! Jones is also the curator of the concert series, and with his involvement, The Born & Bred Concert Series has elevated into a variety show-type of production with a similar tone to the radio show Jones hosts, Sounds Good to Me with Aristotle Jones.

“What Aristotle is creating for us here is a Mountain Stage-esque style show,” said Jason A Young, program manager at The Robinson Grand. “We are elaborating and elevating the production values above standard concert levels.”
Headlining the September 9 edition of The Born & Bred Concert Series is John Inghram.

Born and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, John Inghram was steeped in the historic music of the region. His mother’s side of the family were church musicians, and he was exposed to bluegrass, country, gospel, and old-time music as a kid. But for Inghram, it is neither the past nor the future that piques his interest. On his self-titled debut album, John Inghram, the accomplished bass player seizes the present moment to step into the spotlight as a front man. With a collection of 60s and 70s psychedelic rock tunes, Inghram sets modern experiences to vintage sounds, allowing his listeners to feel time as circular in nature, hitting on the right now with both nostalgia and innovation.

Joining John Inghram on the Grand stage on September 9 are the Lords of Lester, a high energy jamgrass band centered around the songwriting of band leader Jamie Lester, combining folk influences with country, bluegrass, and klezmer. Lester is originally from Oceana, West Virginia, a small mining town in Wyoming County. He is more widely known for his visual art, specializing in bronze monument sculpture and fine artwork. Lester’s award-winning bronze sculptures have shown in galleries in West Virginia, Maryland, Arizona, New York, and Massachusetts. Jamie Lester is also the founder of the Love Hope Center for the Arts in Fayetteville, West Virginia and is the definition of a true renaissance man from West Virginia.

John Inghram and the Lords of Lester will be joined on September 9 by Corduroy Brown. The 2023 winner of the Best Album Award from the Appalachian Arts Association, Corduroy Brown is a feel good, poppy, rock performer from Huntington, West Virginia. The music uses sounds from the 90s and 2000s, and a focus on self-worth. In February of 2021, Corduroy Brown danced with death in a Morgantown, West Virginia ICU due to a rare reaction to COVID called MIS-A. After being revived and placed on life support, he made a full recovery. Being faced with mortality reset his perspective. Now themes of mental wellness and willingness to live life to the fullest are represented in the music for his second time on the Earth.

“This is going to be a huge night with huge talent,” said Young. “A great follow-up to the first two shows in the new series at the Robinson Grand.”

Tickets for The Born & Bred Concert Series start at only $17 and go on sale to “Friends of the Robinson Grand” on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, and to the general public on Friday, June 30, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. All tickets can be purchased online at tickets.therobinsongrand.com or by calling the Robinson Grand ticketing center at (855) 773-6283.