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Leading off the Main Stage show will be Highlands Pipes and Drums, the local bagpipe band that will also be a part of the festival's opening Parade of Many Colors.
Smoky Mountain Drum'n Bass, the band that rocked Sylva during last year's two big downtown events - Greening Up and Fourth of July - will take the stage at 3:30 to close the festival.
Members are banjo picker Henry Queen; fiddler Ian Moore of Sylva; Eric Mrozkowski of Johns Creek on percussion and washboard; Jonathan Wertheim of Tuckasegee on sampler and bass; Kyle Huff of Caney Fork and Brooks Butler of Cullowhee on guitar; and Denmon of Wayehutta on drums, electronic percussion and sampler.
The group has fond memories of last year's festival.
"Part of why these shows are so enjoyable to us is that we rarely play for people outside of our age range," said Wertheim. "It is always a pleasure to look out and see dancing children and smiles on the faces of our elders. However, the 17- to 35-year old set keeps the energy level up and the rest of the crowd pumped. I loved it last year on the Fourth when our fiddler, Ian, rallied the crowd to boogie with, 'Don't be scared, these people are your neighbors;' it was priceless. I had a blast at last year's festival. There were many points during the show when I wanted to leave the stage and join the audience."
"Beyond any personal or collective aspirations, we adore being Sylva's hometown band," said Denmon
Denmon and Wertheim regard Caney Fork's Henry Queen, the only Jackson County native in the group, as the band's link to the area's traditional music.
"Henry's list of accomplishments is long and would seem to betray a mountain music purist. However, the beauty of working with Henry is that he is open to experimentation and simply loves all types of music," Denmon said.
"Henry Queen is not only passing on a rich musical history by working with us, but he is also a brilliant singer-songwriter who is bringing mountain music to an increasingly broad audience," Wertheim said. "The members of Smoky Mountain Drum'n Bass feel privileged to know this man in addition to being able to create with him."
The group's love of Southern traditional, old-time, and electronic music has left them no choice but to reflect the typically unrecognized melting pot of the rural South, Wertheim said.
"We are not trying to update or preserve mountain music, it is doing just fine on its own," Mrozkowski said.
"It's high time to shake a tail feather with Jackson County's own 'Magnificent Seven,'" said Wertheim.
"Wild Bill Jones," the group's debut single, received significant airplay on WNCW, Spindale's National Public Radio affiliate station, Denmon said, and the group's first CD is expected to be available for sale Saturday.
The group cut and mixed their CD at Denmon's Dok Tari Studio in Cullowhee.
"It was difficult to translate our band's organized chaos into a full-length release, but our initial mission has been accomplished quite successfully," Wertheim said. "Like fiddling crickets keeping warm inside a video game, SMDNB's collision of old time and pop culture has remained intact."
Matt Stillwell, who switched to country after two years as a gospel singer, is scheduled to perform Saturday at 2 p.m. The WCU graduate turned to music after his dream of playing professional baseball failed to materialize.
Born and raised in Sylva, Stillwell was influenced by southern gospel, bluegrass and country music, though his first love was athletics. Stillwell was a four-sport letterman in high school and an All Southern Conference baseball player at WCU.
In Nashville, Stillwell studied at Belmont University School of Music and is now working with J. Gary Smith Productions, producer for country music luminaries like Waylon Jennings.
Stillwell is looking forward to performing for a hometown crowd, and festival-goers are sure to enjoy Stillwell's soothing, heartfelt, unique voice, said event organizer Sandy Lyon.
Stillwell is the son of George and Madge Stillwell of Sylva.
The Fiddling Dills Sisters, Amanda, 20, and Sharon, 16, will take the stage at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Appearing with them will be their usual backup band, the Cullowhee Valley Boys, featuring Charlie Shuler of Cullowhee on banjo and guitar; a father-son team from Sylva, Trevor Burns on guitar and his father, Bobby Burns, on mandolin; and bass-player Billy Joe Trantham of Haywood County.
The Dills have been performing as a duo for at least 10 years, said Amanda, and both started violin lessons before they began school.
Though both are full-time students (Amanda is a junior at WCU, and Sharon is a sophomore at Smoky Mountain High), they stay busy with their fiddling and are already booked at least twice a week through August. Most of their gigs are in Western North Carolina, Amanda said, but they will range as far as Georgia, Tennessee and Raleigh over the course of the summer.
The Dills Sisters and their band perform mostly old-time Appalachian fiddle tunes and some bluegrass, Amanda said. They have recorded four cassettes and one CD - The Fiddling Dills Sisters and the Cullowhee Valley Boys - that will be available during Saturday's downtown show.
Amanda and Sharon are the daughters of Leonard and Wanda Dills of Wayehutta.
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