Festive
Up-and-coming country singer to headline annual festival
Staff writer
Nate Smith, the main musical act for Chingawassa Days, has known bad times.
He lost everything in a 2018 fire in Paradise, California. He also struggled for years to try to make it as a musician in Nashville.
Now, Smith is an up-and-coming country singer whose song, “Whiskey on You,” reached the top of the country charts.
Booking Smith was a good get for Marion, Clayton Garnica, chairman of Chingawassa’s planning group, said. This is the festival’s 25th year, and organizers wanted to mark the occasion with a widely-known main act.
Sony Music, Smith’s label, describes his sound as a mix of “gritty backwoods soul, rock ’n roll swagger, and velvet-thunder vocals.”
His debut self-titled album came out earlier this year. A former worship leader, Smith centers faith in his life, which is obvious in his lyrics and in interviews.
He will perform at 9 p.m. Saturday at Central Park after Sam Shilts at 6:30 p.m. and Tyler Braden at 7:30 p.m.
A Chingawassa button will get fans into the concert.
Chingawassa Days will begin Friday with a barbecue and ice cream social. Dylan Delk will perform at 6 p.m., followed by Roy Patton at 7 p.m. Southern Accents, a Tom Petty tribute band, will take the stage at 8:30 p.m.
New this year are two sanctioned events: a Kansas City Barbecue Society competition Sunday and a cornhole tournament Saturday.
Rhino’s Den, the main beer garden, will be open 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday. Cornhole Beer Garden — a new feature — will be open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.