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Surrounded by saguaro cacti and palm trees galore in the afternoon Scottsdale sun, Logan Halstead transported first time Dreamy Draw Festival attendees to the Appalachian foothills on Saturday (Nov. 4).
Taking over the Poncho Stage, the Kentuckian's performance felt more like a back porch acoustic set than a big production festival slot.
Backed by a stellar band including fiddler Ella Webster and armed with his trusty acoustic six-string, Halstead brought some eastern bluegrass charm out West, as festival goers were splayed out on the grass, enjoying the perfect weather and good music.
"I write a lot of real songs about real people, Appalachia and what we've got over there", Halstead noted, with much of his hour-long set shedding light on the lifestyle found up in his native of Kentucky and West Virginia, both of which Halstead paid tribute to with 'Kentucky Sky' and 'Mountain Queen', respectively.
Elsewhere, Halstead took the opportunity to share a couple of beloved covers from the likes of The Wood Brothers' howling 'River Takes The Town' and Hammertowne's lively, bluegrass-steeped 'The Roof Is Coming Down', which featured some crisp three-part harmonies from the rising entertainer and his bandmates.
Playing other celebrated cuts, like 'Far From Home', 'Coal River' and the lonesome 'Bluefoot', the crowd, which saw plenty of familiar faces like Nolan Taylor, Evan Honer and Nat Myers, ate up every second of Halstead's stripped down set.
"If you've seen me on YouTube, you've heard this one. This is the song that I pretty much owe it all to. It's gotten me out here to Arizona and everywhere else," Halstead noted before playing the mining anthem 'Dark Black Coal', earning a lively round of applause.
Before he called it quits, the ravenous crowd broke out into chants, propelling the young prodigy back onto the stage for one final song before bidding the Arizona crowd ado and clearing the way for Nolan Taylor to pick up where he eft off.
For more on Dreamy Draw 2023, see below: