As the newest member of Old Crow Medicine Show, Mason Via is an enormously entertaining performer whose star is on the rise. The flat-picking guitar player was on the current season of American Idol. For this show in Cary, he’ll be with his flaming hot “new-grass” band, Hot Trail Mix. Mason grew up going to fiddler’s conventions and music festivals around NC and VA, where he was steeped in the rich Appalachian culture that surrounds the area. Picking and singing from an early age, Mason combines soulful high lonesome singing with virtuosic instrumental prowess. Mason’s lyrics are also considered by many to be the driving force behind his music, and his vocals back up the deep emotion that his lyrics possess. In 2016, he completed a Virginia Folklife Songwriting apprenticeship with his father, award-winning songwriter David Via. Mason has placed in contests and picked up ribbons at several conventions and festivals throughout Appalachia. He was named the 2019 Floydfest OTR competition runner-up and is a three-time winner of the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival’s band competition.
