In almost every interview with a person of notable artistic accomplishment, no matter the medium, there is of talk inspiration or the impetus for creativity. As fans, we are eternally curious about the artist’s muse.
All musicians pay it forward. Elvis stood on the shoulders of bluesmen, before The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Michael Jackson climbed up, and every one of today’s chart-toppers—Maroon 5, Luke Bryan, Tom Petty, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Eminem et al.—owe a debt to their predecessors. The connections throughout the family tree of popular music are exponential and have busted barriers on stage, on the airwaves, and in personal music collections. Just look at your own iTunes.
We followed this line of thinking to form our coverage of the four-day Lockn’ Music Festival at the Oak Ridge Farm in Arrington, Virginia, beginning on September 4.
The festival, now in its second year, was founded by music fans and business veterans Dave Frey and Peter Shapiro. Frey said that he and Shapiro bonded over the idea of “interlocking sets” for the festival and the opportunities for unique artist collaborations.
In exploring these intended connections, we asked artists on and off of the Lockn’ stages to tell us what moves them about their peers, mentors, and musical heroes. —Tami Keaveny