Music

• Historically, festival kicks off on Friday night with a performance by the Washington Symphony Orchestra.
• Then on the main stage at the Main Street Pavilion, musicians perform all day and night on Saturday.

Friday, July 11, 2025

Friday's music lineup starts with Dominque Theodore singing the National Anthem at 7 pm.

Then, the Washington Symphony performs in the Main Street Community Pavilion from 8-930 pm. The food trucks and Blue Eagle Tavern will be open!

For more information on the Symphony contact Cassandra Muhr, General Manager, (o) 412-512-1662, washsymgm@gmail.com | info@washsym.org.

Saturday, July 12, 2025

Saturday's music lineup is compete. More details to come but everyone is booked!

12:30 MVAA Fife and Drum Band

1:30 Dan Baker

2:30 Wolf Tones

4:30 Knob Road

6:30 Amanda Fish

8:00 The Commonheart

Saturday, July 12, 2025

MVAA Fife & Drum Band will not only be in the history march at noon, but they will take the main stage at 1 pm on Saturday, July 12th to kick off our music lineup! Mon Valley Academy for the Arts, Inc.

Dan Baker performs unique instrumental guitar arrangements of songs ranging from John Coltrane to John Mayer. He earned a BFA in Music Performance from The New School and attended Graduate Studies at New York University. Dan is currently based out of his hometown of Washington PA which is just south of Pittsburgh. He performs as a solo guitarist and with his trio regularly at breweries, distilleries, clubs, restaurants, festivals, weddings, cooperate and private events. In addition to a busy performance schedule Dan also teaches private and group guitar lessons. Dan has also been an adjunct guitar instructor and given masterclasses at the College and University level.

Wolf Tones

Knob Road. SW PA Outlaw Country/Southern Rock Music Band performs music hits from the 60's,70's and 80’s .
Knob Road consist of 6 members who are Mike Triplett (lead vocals) formerly of Southern Discomfort and The Toast Band , Dave Hixon (guitar and vocals), Mark Knapp (drums) , Tom Hollowood (bass and vocals), Reese Slater (lead guitar and harmonica) and Joe Laabs who is our full time soundman. All 6 Knob Road band members are very well seasoned members each having multiple years of experience in performing with live bands. Knob Road averages 30-40 dates per year. We have performed at Rally on Main, Wheeling Island Casino, Meadows Casino, Fredericktown River Fest, California University Riverfest , Scottdale Fall Festival, Pumpkin Festival ,The Annual Toys for Tots Benefit, Westmoreland Arts Festival, Bedford Fall Festival, Derry Railroad Days, Wounded Warriors Festival in Pgh and Annual Vet Jam in additional to performing weekly club dates in Penna and W. Virginia.

Amanda Fish. Amanda's music has been described as "a from-the-gut vocals belting out impassioned lyrics over swampy guitar and rock-heavy drums, with a driving bassline that locks in a groove the audience can't help but dance to" and it currently has more than 220k streams on Spotify, with over 4k monthly listeners worldwide and growing. Her 2015 debut album "Down In The Dirt" won a 2016 "Sean Costello Rising Star" Blues Blast Music Award, while her 2018 album "Free" debuted at #6 on the Billboard Blues Chart and hit #4 on the iTunes Blues Album chart, and won a 2019 Blues Music Award in the category "Best Emerging Artist Album". A recent video of our band performing "Feels Like Rain" live. We've extensively toured the US and Canada as a trio, playing legendary stages like Knuckleheads (Kansas City), Chan's (Rhode Island), Ground Zero (Mississippi), Buddy Guy's Legends (Chicago), Funky Biscuit (Boca Raton, FL), The Blue Note (North Carolina), The Rhythm Room (Phoenix), Papa Turney's (Nashville), and Blues on Whyte (Edmonton, AB) just to name a few. Our live performances have received critical acclaim at a number of high-profile festivals as well such as W.C. Handy Festival in Kentucky, Brigg's Farm Blues Festival in Pennsylvania, Michael Arnone's Crawfish Festival in New Jersey, Gloucester Blues Festival in Massachusetts, Big Sky Blues Festival in Montana, Blues Blast Festival in Arizona, Camping With The Blues in Florida, and more!

The Commonheart. “This band is therapy for me to bring myself back to being a better person, and I hope people come along with me,” says powerhouse singer Clinton Clegg of The Commonheart. The testimonial begins on August 16th when the 9-piece band issues its most potent and purposeful dose of grittily redemptive rock n’ soul, its sophomore album, Pressure (Jullian Records).

Clinton didn’t grow up in a Baptist church, and his soul machine of a band isn’t pushing religion. Live and in the studio, the Pittsburgh-based collective is offering feel-good positivity, Golden Rule messaging, and sweat-soaked performances that nimbly ease through blues, vintage soul, and rock.

The nonet is bonded by familial-like ties and a desire to foster spiritual uplift. Among its ranks are female backup singers, drums, bass, guitar, a horn section, and keyboards. Out front is Clinton, a lightning bolt charismatic front man with dynamically expressive pipes that effortlessly traverse bluesy pleading, and honeyed balladeering. Onstage and in the studio, Clinton evokes B.B. King, Al Green, Otis Redding, and Sam Cooke.

The Commonheart is known to have transformative powers. Case in point is the band’s own singer. During one gig, while singing “Do Right” from Pressure, Clinton experienced a revelation.

“Seeing the audience’s reaction to the positivity in that song made me feel like I was giving them something they may need.” He pauses thoughtfully, and then continues: “You know blues music is sad as hell, but it makes you feel good. I thought maybe my bad stories could make people feel good, and I could bring a little bit of love to the show.”

Previously, Clinton was in an eclectic indie band searching for some semblance of artistic focus. He had grown up loving B.B. King and soul music, and recognized the strength of his raspy emotive voice. After some soul searching, he and that band’s drummer decided to do a back-to-basics band centered around Clinton’s singing and a vintage R&B-informed aesthetic. At first the band’s name was a casual variant of The Commonwealth, as in “The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” but the moniker later accrued significance as the band began to explore the pent-emotionality inherent in its gospel-tinged tunes.

The Commonheart’s latest album, Pressure, is both rugged and refined. The 10-song album showcases raw-nerve soul musicianship pristinely recorded. The opening track boasts soulful sandpaper-y lead vocals, swoops of cosmic slide guitar, a driving Sly Stone groove, and rousing female backup vocals. It’s an up-against-a-wall tune about making a living while raising a family, and it speaks to the album’s title. The bluesy ballad title track, replete with pleading emotive vocals, drips yearning and melancholy redemption. “That’s about the daily grind—what it takes to maintain important relationships while you’re away from home, driving thousands of miles in van to pursue a dream,” Clinton confesses.

A spirit of a new-day optimism courses through the aptly titled “Different Man.” The song soars with stirring group backup vocals punctuated by Clinton’s vulnerable confessions. It’s a rousing and uplifting slice of R&B brimming with warm organs, clipped soul-guitar chanks, and triumphant horn melodies. “That song is about begging for a second chance, and building something beautiful after a sordid past,” Clinton reveals.

Pressure is an album by a band on a mission. “We are willing to take risks and to go at any lengths for this band,” Clinton says affirmatively. “We are ready to spread positivity and make a stretch of this thing.”

Knob Road