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John Jackson honored at annual festival

by | Sep 30, 2026

Bobby G and the Heavies performing with Mike Parker.
Aristotle Jones talks with a patron after all the performers played on stage at the finale at the John Jackson Piedmont Blues Festival at Castleton Meadows last Saturday. (Photo/Luke Christopher)
Michael Coy, Bobby G, Erin Harpe, Aristotle Jones, session saxophonist, and Jim Countryman close down the show at the John Jackson Piedmont Blues Festival at Castleton Meadows last Saturday. (Photo/Luke Christopher)
Nap time between sets at Saturday’s John Jackson Piedmont Blues Festival at Castleton Meadows.
Dancing under the tent during Aristotle Jones’ set.
Aristotle Jones and his band perform through the rain.
A man walks through the rain past a lawnchair blown over by strong wind Saturday afternoon.
Bobby G and the Heavies performing with Mike Parker.
Volunteer Jan Makela
A jam session at Saturday’s John Jackson Piedmont Blues Festival.
Mike Parker and Bobby “G” Gasker singing a mashup of “Tennessee Whiskey” and I’d “Rather Go Blind” together to close out Parker’s set at the John Jackson Piedmont Blues Festival Saturday.
Bobby Glasker of Bobby G and the Heavies dancing during Mike Parker’s set.
The Piedmonsters performing at this year’s John Jackson Piedmont Blues Festival.
Tom Walbank of The Piedmonsters, a Piedmont blues band based in Washington, D.C., playing harmonica at Saturday’s festival.
Mike Parker, a singer from Warrenton and former contestant on American Idol, singing at Saturday’s John Jackson Piedmont Blues Festival.

Late afternoon wind and rain didn’t stop the fun last Saturday at the John Jackson Piedmont Blues Festival, celebrating the musical legacy of the Rappahannock native. 

The annual festival, now in its seventh year, drew blues fans from across the region to Castleton Meadows for a day of music headlined by “Appalachian Soul Man” Aristotle Jones.

Photos by Ireland Hayes and Luke Christopher

Author

  • Ireland Hayes

    Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner.
    Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.
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By Ireland Hayes

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Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.