LOCAL ARTS & MUSIC EVENTS
The Mountain Mama Road Bike Challenge, which benefits the Highland County Recreation Commission, also features some evening entertainment at the Highland County Pool this Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. with the music of Crazy Chester.The band features Chris Seavers on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, Casey Armstrong on lead guitar, Zach Cash on rhythm guitar and back-up vocals, Nathan Puffenbarger on drums and Justin Dunn on bass.
I caught up with rhythm guitarist Zack Cash to talk a little bit about Crazy Chester's influences and where it got that name.
"After a couple months of wracking our brains, we really couldn't come up with anything, too amazingly creative," he says with a laugh. "So we actually play the song The Weight by The Band, and there's a line in there, I'm sure people are familiar with, that speaks about Crazy Chester a few times. That struck us as a good idea."
Crazy Chester plays a mix of rock and country covers, as well as some of its own original music.
"We cover a little bit of everything," Cash says. "One of our biggest objectives has always been to have something for everybody—those songs that you hear and haven't heard for a long time."
Cash says Crazy Chester's 'Something for everyone' repertoire can be chalked up to diverse influences of the bands members.
"It's funny because we're all into somewhat different stuff, but then we're all into a lot of the same stuff," he says. "I'm a huge fan of bluegrass and even the newgrass stuff and Yonder Mountain String Band, but there's guys into the Allman Brothers. Justin's a huge Slayer fan, so our own interests in music cover a really broad range. And I think it helps kind of gel everything together."
While Crazy Chester plays primarily in the Shenandoah Valley, they've also toured to North Carolina and Eastern Virginia. Cash says the members of Crazy Chester are looking forward to what will be their second performance in Highland County.
"We're really looking forward to Mountain Mama," Cash says. "Absolutely hoping everyone has a great time. Judging by the past few years, it looks like there should be a really good turnout. It's certainly for a good cause, so we're glad to be a part of it."
That's Zack Cash, of Crazy Chester—the band that will be playing this Saturday, August 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the Highland County Pool as part of the weekend's Mountain Mama Road Bike Challenge Festivities.
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