Opera House will host Music in The Mountains Old-Time Festival

The Pocahontas County Opera House is starting its 2014-15 season with two days of old-time music and old-fashioned fun during the Music in the Mountains Old-Time Festival.

Born Old will kick off this celebration of traditional music and dance on Friday, July 18, at 7:30 p.m.

Born Old is Paul Gartner – banjo, guitar and vocals – and Doug Van Gundy – fiddle, guitar, banjo-mandolin and vocals. The duo previously performed as part of the Opera House’s annual Opry Night in 2012 and was featured on West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Mountain Stage in 2010.

Gartner and Van Gundy play traditional old-time music, drawing from the influences of West Virginia masters like The Bing Brothers, Melvin Wine and the Hammons family, as well as early country classics from the great artists of the 78 rpm era, including The Carter Family, Charlie Poole, Uncle Dave Macon and more.

Gartner and Van Gundy have been making music together for 15 years, giving performances that are both traditional and informative without sacrificing a very high energy, raucous fun factor.

Tickets for Friday’s concert with Born Old are $8. Youth 17 and younger are admitted free of charge.

On Saturday, from 2 to 6 p.m., the festival will feature the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame Traveling Museum and recording studio, an old-time music jam, antique truck and tractor show, artisan demonstrations and a cornbread contest. A cornbread and beans dinner, for $5 per person, will be served 5 to 7 p.m., followed by a square dance at 7:30 p.m. Square dance admission is $5. Youth 17 and younger will be admitted free of charge.

The Music in the Mountains Old-Time Festival is a West Virginia Mountain Music Trail event. The Mountain Music Trail promotes the traditional music, dance and folkways of the Allegheny Mountain region of West Virginia in Monroe, Greenbrier, Pocahontas, Randolph and Tucker counties. A complete schedule of Mountain Music Trail Events is available at mountainmusictrail.com

The Pocahontas County Opera House is located at 818 Third Avenue in Marlinton. Performances at the Opera House are informal, family-friendly and open to all. The entrance and main seating are accessible to persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities are encouraged to attend; special accommodations can be arranged upon request by calling 304-799-6645.

The Opera House Performance Series is presented with financial assistance through a grant from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts. Support is also provided by Pocahontas County Drama, Fairs and Festivals, the Pocahontas County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Pendleton Community Bank, the Law Office of Roger D. Forman and Brightside Acres.