Saturday, June 3rd & Sunday, June 4th, 2023
Hewick Plantation ~ Urbanna, VA
Arts in the Middle Fine Arts Festival
AIM MUSIC 2023
Saturday, June 3rd
Acoustic Stage
10:15 - 11:30 am Clayton Neal
11:45 - 1:00 pm Jeff & Sherry Wagner
1:15 - 2:30 pm Paige Melton
2:45 - 4:00 pm Gary Archer
Main Stage
10:45 - 12:00 pm Tom Euler Trio
12:15 - 1:30 pm The Members
1:45 - 3:00 pm Mare Wakefield & Nomad
3:15 - 4:30 pm George Robinson & The Gospel Robins
Sunday, June 4th
Acoustic Stage
11:30 - 12:30 pm Jeff & Sherry Wagner
12:45 - 1:45 pm Haze and Dacey
2:00 - 3:00 pm Justice Goldstar
Main Stage
11:30 - 12:30 pm The MelTones
12:45 - 1:45 pm Poisoned Dwarf
2:00 - 3:00 pm Bill & Pam Gurley
Headliner for 2023
George Robinson
& The Gospel Robins
George Robinson, AKA Singer Robinson, is a popular and well-known vocalist who has been sharing his musical talents with others for the past 66 years. A native of Deltaville, he is an active member of First Baptist Amburg Church. He has performed in a variety of settings including birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, funerals, church services and community events and for past 3 years has been joined in song by the Gospel Robins - Frauline Robinson; Chriscia White; Elder John Smith; Minister Shelia Madanat; and Frances Thurston. George enjoys singing all types of music, including gospel, contemporary, country, and soul, however gospel is his favorite. He is much-loved for his performances with local and regional choirs many of whom will be lifting their voices in song at Arts in the Middle this year.
Musical Performers 2023
Clayton Neal
Clayton Neal is a vocalist, guitarist, and harmonica player who has become a popular
musical fixture throughout the rivah country both as a performer, a coordinator of musical
artists at local venues, and through sharing his musical talents in support of community
and charitable organizations. He is the founder of Jumbo Lump Daddy and the Backfin
Boys who were voted Best Local Musicians by the readers of Pleasant Living magazine
eight years in a row. Clayton presently lends his talents to the FlatTones, a local 8 piece
band that performs classic tunes from the 60’s and 70’s. In addition, he continues to pursue
a solo career, entertaining audiences with a rivahdacious style of music that includes
Americana, country, rhythm & blues, folk, and rock’n roll.
Jeff & Sherry Wagner
Jeff and Sherry Wagner are a husband-wife duo who play acoustic Americana music. They blend modern folk, classic country, bluegrass and roots material with guitar, mandolin, and bass with tight vocal harmonies. Jeff and Sherry have delighted audiences with their entertaining performances as a duo for over 25 years in the greater Richmond and Central Virginia area. Jeff is an award winning songwriter and has recently finished his 3rd album of original songs.
Paige Melton
Paige is a classic folk musician known for her outstanding vocal and guitar arrangements delivered with an innocent "flower child" attitude that embraces the 60's and 70's. Despite her youth, singing songs from the Woodstock generation comes natural to Paige, whose repertoire consists of Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Janis Joplin and James Taylor in addition to a number of popular artists from more current decades. Paige performs at various clubs, coffee houses and concert venues throughout Virginia and Maryland. She is a graduate of VCU with a degree in Music Therapy and is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Music Therapy at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Gary Archer
Gary Archer is an accomplished and versatile musician who has been entertaining
audiences since he was a teenager. He has performed as lead guitarist and songwriter for
the popular, award-winning band “Jumbo Lump Daddy and the Backfin Boys”, as a solo
singer-songwriter, and in Richmond-based bands including “Union Pacific” and “The
Members”. Gary has utilized his musical talents for the past 20 years as a music educator
in Cumberland County Public Schools. His unique delivery of music basics and
innovative ideas continues to inspire students. A self-produced EP, "Gary Archer's Music",
featuring Gary playing all instruments and performing all vocals will be released soon.
Tom Euler Trio
The Tom Euler Trio is a progressive blues/rock group from Virginia that is known for their high energy and thoughtfully written songs. Often called the “young man with an old soul”, Euler takes influence from such guitarists as JP Soars, Luther Allison, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Bonamassa, and B.B. King along with many other greats across all genres of music. Euler is a 2016 International Blues Challenge Finalist as well as winner of the 2017 “Musician of the Year for the United States and Canada” Josie Music Award. The JMAs is the largest independent music awards show in the world and is held annually in Nashville, Tennessee. Tom’s bandmates in the trio include his long-time buddies, Wes Mallory on bass and “Smiling” Max Parker on drums.
The Members
The Members are a five-piece band that has been entertaining audiences in the Central Virginia area for three decades. They are crowd-pleasers, who perform music from the 60's, 70's 80's and much more. Band members include Brian Marron on lead guitar; Danny Cox on lead guitar and keyboards; Ray Tolson on rhythm guitar; Clark Robins on bass guitar; and Gary Archer on drums. All of The Members sing lead vocals on songs which include original compositions by Tolson and Archer. They perform their music at private and public venues including weddings, breweries and other fine establishments ..... always leaving their audiences insisting on encores! Listening to The Members transports you back to the era of the great classic bands like The Beatles; The Byrds; Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; Tom Petty; Creedence Clearwater Revival; and many others.
Mare Wakefield & Nomad
“Lovely vocals and even lovelier songs. Wakefield and Nomad are a little bit country, a lot contemporary folk a la Dar Williams or Patty Griffin” – New York Times
Mare Wakefield and Nomad are a Nashville-based, contemporary folk/Americana duo who perform a style of music reflective of their journey through life. Their critically acclaimed songs demonstrate their musical versatility and the hopes, struggles, and joys that emerge through their experiences. In 2015 and 2016 they were Kerrville NewFolk finalists and in 2015 were recognized by Falcon Ridge Emerging artists. The duo is currently working on a recording project with Grammy-winning producer Mitch Dane.
Haze & Dacey
Based in Richmond, Virginia, Haze & Dacey revel in lilting melodies, tight harmonies, and compelling rhythms that make toes tap and bodies sway. Original songs written by Haze are interspersed amongst covers both familiar and obscure. The duo skips nimbly from folk-pop to alt-country to roots-rock, creating a homegrown organic sound with upright bass, acoustic guitar, piano, shaker, tambourine, and mouth-horn. They cover artists as varied as Joni Mitchell, Queen, Patty Griffin, Guster, The Wiyos, and The Decemberists.
Haze & Dacey have been playing together as a duo since 2012. They combine their love of playing music with their love of travel, entertaining audiences at various breweries, wineries, and other venues throughout Virginia, and occasionally dipping down into North Carolina. They have had the pleasure of performing at several of Virginia's great state parks, including the "Music on the Cliffs" concert series at Westmoreland, the "Music in the Park" series at Hungry Mother, and the Caledon Art and Wine Festival. They have also ventured farther afield to appear at venues in New England, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Justice Goldstar
Beth Justice is a talented professional singer and Urbanna native, who since 2000 has managed and been the lead vocalist for Sweet Justice, a well-known, classic rock band which performs throughout Richmond and the Tidewater and Middle Peninsula/NorthernNeck area. She has been a valued musical participant since the Arts in the Middle Festival originated and a significant contributor to the quality of life in Middlesex County through her various civic duties. Beth has recently been creating music with Lee Goldstar, who accompanies her on guitar. Lee is an accomplished musician with extensive musical experience. He has been playing guitar since age 10 and prior to moving to Lancaster, Virginia had performed for over 30 years in the Tampa Bay and Central Florida area. Live music performance is in his blood. Together Beth and Lee form the Justice Goldstar duo.
The MelTones
The MelTones are a professional father/daughter musical duo consisting of Paige and Randy Melton. Randy is a seasoned musician, who has performed with many bands including The Janitors and The Monument
City Jazz Trio for over a decade. He is currently the keyboardist for the Michael Clark Band. Logging in over 9,000 gigs, he is used to entertaining an audience with clever arrangements and fiery performances.
Paige is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University and is currently attending Temple University where she is pursuing a Masters degree in music therapy. She is a popular local musician, who performs
throughout Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Her stellar vocal styling and complimentary guitar picking make her a sure sensation for weddings, clubs, private parties, and indoor and outdoor events.
Together they are The MelTones, whose total is greater than the sum of their parts.
Poisoned Dwarf
Poisoned Dwarf is a Celtic music group that plays virtuosic, innovative and passionate renditions of traditional Irish and Scottish music on acoustic instruments. Five talented musicians create a
driving sonic energy that has been captivating audiences for over a decade with whistles, flutes, violin, guitar, percussion and Uillieann pipes together with exciting and lyrical vocals. Poisoned Dwarf performs at a wide variety of musical venues from highland festivals to theaters, churches to sophisticated listening venues throughout the East Coast.
Members of Poisoned Dwarf include Thomas DeRose, Irish flute; Mei-Li Garcia, violin; Lance Pedigo, percussion and bodhran; Patrick Rooney, guitar and mandolin; and Stewart Pittman, bag pipes, Celtic wind instruments, including the Uilleann pipes.
Bill & Pam Gurley
Bill and Pam Gurley are a married couple with deep roots in the Tidewater area of Virginia. They started singing together on their first date and have been doing so ever since, much to the delight of audiences from Maine to the Caribbean. Bill is a multi- instrumentalist moving from guitar to banjo to fiddle. He also writes many of the songs that they perform together. Pam has a warm, captivating voice that listeners have found to be quite memorable. The Gurley’s make their home in the Northern Neck of Virginia and have recorded
several CDs over the years working with some of the best musicians in the region. Bill and Pam also front a bluegrass band known as “Fiddlesticks”, a group of talented friends that they have known since high school. The Gurley’s mix of folk, bluegrass, blues, and a good dose of humor makes for a fun evening of music not to
be missed!