Beginning at 10 am and ending at 10 pm daily, the Saturday and Sunday event at Hinton's City Sidetrack Park, "Festival of the Rivers 2008" remains FREE to the public. The festival features something for every member of the family and the City Sidetrack Waterslide will be open each day from 11 am till 7 pm.

Mike Seeger
Featured Headliner

The third of a musically gifted set of siblings including sister Peggy and
half-brother Pete, Mike Seeger established himself in his own right as
a prolific performer and a valuable archivist of traditional American
music forms. From 1958 to 1979, he directed the New Lost City
Ramblers, a performance collective devoted to the musical artifacts
of the traditional American South. In the eyes of many, however, Mr.
Seeger is at his best in solo performances when his wit resounds and
his compassion inspires.

He was exposed to traditional music through his mother and father, who worked with musicologists John and Alan Lomax. Mr. Seeger is an accomplished musician and a distinctive singer who plays autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, mouth harp, mandolin, and dobro. His influence on the folk scene is described at some length by Bob Dylan in his recent book, "Chronicles".

Mr. Seeger will perform both Saturday night, August 30, and Sunday afternoon, August 31. Saturday evening's 6:30 performance will feature a musical presentation on "America's Southern Industrial History" and "The Evolution of the Banjo's Sound: From Africa to Appalachia." Sunday afternoon's performance at four o'clock will feature material from his new CD release, "Early Southern Guitar Sounds," and "The Roots of Country Music: From Barbara Allen to Wildwood Flower."

Patrick O'Flaherty

Prior to Mr. Seeger's performance on Saturday will be appearing Patrick O'Flaherty. A talented multi-instrumentalist, he began playing the harmonica as a young boy in Connemara. Raised in Galway's Gaeltacht on the Rugged West Coast of Ireland, Mr. O'Flaherty is part of a select group of people whose native language is Gaelic. Today he is acknowledged as one of the truly fine practitioners of Irish mandolin and harmonica, and is also a highly respected player of the button accordion and banjo with a professional music career that has spanned nearly three decades.

Patrick has played in a multitude of venues including the National Press Club, the Smithsonian Mall on Solidarity Day, Notre Dame University, the National Geographic Concert Series, the Milwaukee Irish Festival, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. He has also performed for a variety of notable audiences including Pope John Paul II, President Reagan, President Herzog of Israel, and Speaker of the House, Tip O'Neill.

Mr. O'Flaherty tours as a solo act and with the Poor Clares, a nationally charted group, and the Celtic Folk. During his performance on Saturday, August 30, at 5:30 pm, he will play several instruments and sing in both Gaelic and in English. The show will include songs and stories from his homeland and information about each of the instruments played. To learn more about Patrick please visit his website.

Mary Dailey

This year’s Festival of the Rivers welcomes Mary Dailey of Green Sulphur Springs at
the 2008 Labor Day Weekend music event. On August 30th, Ms. Dailey is performing
a musical intermezzo at 7:30 between Mike Seeger’s Saturday night performances.
The performance will be a mix of original and traditional songs with instrumentation on
lap dulcimer, guitar, autoharp, fiddle, and bodhran.

Mary makes her home in Summers County and has appeared at coffeehouses, house
concerts, outdoor festivals, historic events, weddings, and venues such as the Purple
Fiddle, Mountain Stage NewSong Festival and the Kennedy Center. Her recorded music has aired on National Public Radio.

Ms. Dailey had her first exposure to traditional American music at the Appalachian South Folklife Center in Summers County near Pipestem State Park. Soon after she began singing some of the old songs and realized their connection to the old ballads of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Eventually Mary got a “hankerin’” to write songs after reading Woody Guthrie’s autobiography "Bound For Glory", which helped her recognize the power of song in the human story.

Ms. Dailey performs solo, as well as with South Mountain String Band, Flat Foot Holler, Whippoorwill Dulcimer Duo, and fellow songwriter David La Fleur who appeared last year’s Festival of the Rivers.

Rust Kings

On Sunday, August 31 at 7 pm, Rust Kings will blend bluegrass, mountain
music, old country, and rock & roll into a mixture they have dubbed
"Appalachian Stompgrass." An original West Virginia band, their songs are
culled from their experiences growing up in the Mountain State. Their last
CD, "Hotel West Virginia" was released on Philadelphia imprint Dren Records
and spent 13 weeks on the Roots America Bluegrass chart, reaching as high
as #9. They toured nationally in support of the album with performances at
The Rodeo Bar in New Your City, Connecticut, New Jersey, Boston, North
Carolina, Tennessee, and culminating with a showcase at the Americana
Music Association Conference in Nashville. They have also been featured in
many bluegrass festivals around the east coast as well as West Virginia
performances at the TAMARACK Theatre and the Purple Fiddle in Thomas.

Band members feature Allan Sizemore on guitar and banjo, Jeanne Hoffman on bass, and Mike Zimmerman on percussion. Rust Kings are currently working on a ten-year retrospective album that will feature songs from their previous albums, reworked and remastered as well as a full album of new material to be released in 2008.

The Wild Rumpus

This year’s Festival of the Rivers welcomes the Wild Rumpus on Sunday for the
2008 Labor Day Weekend music event. Hailing from Fayetteville, WV, the Wild
Rumpus is an original string band led by singer and songwriter, Andrew Adkins.
Forging a sound that has one foot stomping in the past and the other stomping in
the present, their debut album “Love, Trains & Home” on WV label Mudbone
Records rolls together bluegrass, swing, country, and rock & roll for a style that is
uniquely their own. Their influences range from Leonard Cohen to Jimmy Martin
and touch everything in between while managing to hold together a sound that is
instantly recognizable and will start your legs to dancing on their own. They have
been playing shows in WV in advance of their summer CD release to rave reviews
and the dancing has been spontaneous and instantaneous.

The Wild Rumpus performs prior to and following Mike Seeger’s appearance on Sunday, August 31. Their first performance at three o’clock will feature bluegrass and traditional country material before Mr. Seeger’s “Early Southern Guitar Sounds” and “The Roots of Country Music” shows.  The follow-up appearance at six o’clock highlights the both the band’s traditional country heritage and their contemporary alt-country sound. It should be an outstanding transition from Mr. Seeger’s roots music to the neo-country sound of Sunday night’s headliner, the Rust Kings.

Johnny Jones

Born and raised in West Virginia, Nashville veteran Johnny Jones started playing the guitar, singing, and writing songs around the age of 14. While in the U.S. Air Force his off-duty hours were spent playing clubs and entertaining at many different functions. Eventually, Mr. Jones was selected as one of several Air Force men and women for the "Command Performance," a variety show that toured throughout the United States, entertaining the troops at different air force and army bases.

After his tour of duty, he returned to his home state where Mr. Jones was soon in demand for performing clubs and a variety of social events as a single act, as well as doing some recording. During this time he was a regular on a Saturday morning radio show as well as making frequent television appearances on "The Country Jamboree" in Bluefield and a guest appearance on "The Bonnie Lou & Buster Show" out of Knoxville. Mr. Jones has performed on the same stage with acts like Dave Dudley, the late Mel Street, the Glaser Brothers, and Tom T. Hall. He eventually moved to Nashville and formed his own band which toured throughout several states and western Canada.

Upon returning to West Virginia Mr. Jones began performing with different bands as well as working as a single act. He recently started his own record label, Singing Crow Records, to promote the material on his CD, "Mowing Grass While Dressed Up In A Suit," a collection of self-composed songs meant to “put a smile on your face.”

Mr. Jones performs at 1 pm on Sunday, August 31st, immediately following All Nations Praise Gospel performance at noon and prior to Hans Creek String Band’s 2 pm appearance. His work can be heard at  http://cdbaby.com/cd/johnnyjones.

Spontaneous Combustion Project

The Spontaneous Combustion Project (SCP) was born at the RiffRaff Arts
Collective in Princeton, WV. Singer/Songwriter Briddy Morris regularly played
Open Mic at The Room Upstairs and was eventually joined by Lori McKinney
(drums, vocals) and Robert Blankenship (lead guitar, banjo) both from Option
22 (O22), and Clayton Blankenship (bass) to volatilize the combustible formula
centered around the songs of Morris. Her songwriting focuses on life’s experiences and problems listeners can relate to including racism and injustice. There are also plenty of incandescent tunes to amuse the audience. The music that supports the lyrics is a full, spontaneous explosion of sound with fine banjo picking, smooth bass lines, and driving drum beats plus some sweet background vocals to fire up the ultimate KABOOM. SCP will ignite the stage at 2:15 on Saturday, August 30th. They will be followed by Option 22 at 3:20.

Option 22

O22 performs an eclectic, all original mix of rhythmic grooves and transcendental
melodies that create an experience that lifts its audiences to higher ground.
Dubbed by one listener a “new age jam band,” their flavorful style is flexible,
ranging from funky and rhythmic sounds to mellow and melodic, with each
member bringing into the equation affinities for jamband music, funk, folk, world
sounds, newgrass, trance, reggae and rock. Lori McKinney (vocals, djembe,
spoken word) and Robert Blankenship (guitar, percussion, banjo, samisen) began writing and playing together in 2004. Albert Perrone (lead guitar, percussion) came into the picture shortly thereafter and the music flowed like water between them. Briddy Morris (percussion) and Clayton Blankenship (bass) of SCP recently rounded out the group. They bring a passion for global change through music and the arts. The music reflects their strong desire to spread a message of love and respect. With extensive backgrounds in theatre, performance, healing arts (yoga/meditation), and visual arts, the group comes together with an artistic mindset and a vision for a better world.

Option 22 has performed at Culturefest’s ‘04-07, Earth Day Festival ‘04-’07, Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg, and the Purple Fiddle in Thomas. O22 frequents venues in the region like the Vandalia Lounge in Charleston, Fire Creek Tavern in Fayetteville, and the RiffRaff Arts Collective in Princeton. With four albums of original material, their second studio release is due out this fall.

Hans Creek String Band

The Hans Creek String Band was started in the early eighties. Two of the
original members, Bert Ellison (banjo and tenor harmony) and Addison Dobbs
(mandolin and harmony), are cousins and both live on Hans Creek in Monroe
County. The current fiddle player is fifteen-year-old Rebekah Campbell. She
is from Ballard and has already won four awards in fiddle competitions. Stanley
Asbury, Jr. plays upright bass and started playing at the age of fourteen and
lives at Peterstown. Stanley Asbury plays guitar and lead vocals, and lives at Greenville. Their homegrown sound demonstrates the continuing importance of the oral music tradition in rural West Virginia.


Hinton, West Virginia

Hinton is the county seat of Summers County WV. The town and county are rich in outdoor activity with superb fishing, two state parks, rail and coal history, and home of the Legend of John Henry, The Steel Drivin' Man. For more information on Hinton and the surrounding area visit the Summers County Convention & Visitors Bureau website. Beginning with the Gay 90's of the nineteenth century, the community experienced explosive growth. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the historic district includes over two hundred architecturally distinctive buildings. Styles encompassed are American Gothic, Classical, High Victorian, American Foursquare, and Greek Revival. The community is literally a living architectural exhibit.

Hinton, West Virginia Website

Flannagan-Murrell House

The free festival is held by the Flannagan-Murrell House, Inc. (FMH),
a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation dedicated to using the arts for the
benefit of the people of Hinton, Summers County, and West Virginia
in general.  FMH is maintained through community support and staffed
by volunteers. For more information on the organization please call
publicity coordinator, Gregg Wingo, at (304) 646-3960.

Flannagan-Murrell House, Inc. (FMH) was founded in 1990 with the
purpose of preserving the oldest extant house in the Hinton National
Historical District. A group of concerned citizens of Hinton and Summers County banded together and obtained a loan to purchase the abandoned house in order to save it from being razed. The cost of an annual membership in the organization is $15 for an individual, $25 for a family, or $50 in in-kind donations or services. FMH also offers lifetime memberships for $1000 and welcomes support for the continuing restoration of the building and program development in the arts. For more information contact Fred Long at hinton1000@aol.com.


Festival of the Rivers is sustained through the ongoing support of the State of West Virginia, corporate sponsors, and private donors.


  • Anyone wishing to be considered for this year's festival should contact event and publicity coordinator, Gregg Wingo, at gwingo@usa.net or call (304) 646-3960.

Rust Kings
Mike Seeger
Festival of the Rivers
This coming Labor Day Weekend, Festival of the Rivers 2008 features over thirteen music acts including six-time Grammy nominee, Mike Seeger. The free festival is located in Hinton WV at the confluence of the Greenbrier, Bluestone, and New rivers. As the "Gateway Community" for the New River Gorge National River, the community and festival are near both the National Park Service's New River Visitors Center on Interstate 64 and the breathtaking beauty of Sandstone Falls.
Mary Dailey
The Wild Rumpus
Hans Creek String Band
Option 22
Spontaneous Combustion Project