Stokes County native Mason Via has been crossing horizons as a member of Old Crow Medicine Show, the GRAMMY-winning Americana string band outta Nashville, who’ll headline the inaugural Pilot Mountain Outdoor Adventure Festival & Expo at the Armfield Civic Center in Pilot Mountain on April 22

Running April 21-23, the festival aims to showcase outdoor recreation and highlight the town’s basecamp appeal in proximity to three state parks: Pilot Mountain, Hanging Rock, and Stone Mountain. Expo activities include a bicycle criterium, 5k run, and disc golf tournament; along with wellness workshops, guided hikes, and vendors geared toward outdoor enthusiasts.

Music festivities kick off with a Friday night block party from DJ Ish at the “Downtown Bandstand” on Depot Street. Saturday’s bandstand lineup features Cooks Wall, the Robertson Boys, Will Easter & the Nomads, His & Hers, and April B & The Cool. Old Crow takes the stage at Armfield that night. Michael Chaney and Stillwater Junction will play the bandstand on Sunday. 

The concert will serve as both a touring adventure and homecoming for Via, who’s been living in Nashville since joining the group in 2021. “It’s pretty dang cool,” he said, “to get some love from back home — it just feels, like, full circle.” 

Steeped in Appalachian tradition, waxing the philosophic with down-home charm, “We all just want to fit in,” Via said. “It’s part of our human DNA or something. We all wanna be loved. And as a musician, you feel that even more, you know? You’re being vulnerable putting out your art and you’re going for something.”

“It’s been an eye-opening experience with this band,” he continued. “And whenever I get to play close to home — and this’ll be the closest to home I’ve actually gotten to play with the band — I’m excited I can go back home and folks’ll be like: ‘I remember him when he was just playing at the local coffee shop.’” With reference to Pilot Mountain, folks might recall a high school-aged…