A diverse sampling of local and regional musicians are on tap to perform at the first Stateline Music Festival from noon to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Spring Lake Park.

Psylo, Giganto, Ms. Mac & the Groovetones, The Inside, Catfish Friday, Stone Rosevelt, CDX, and Joey and Ashley Moorhead are scheduled to perform at this free concert geared toward music fans of all ages.

Musicians and bands run the eclectic musical gamut from great covers to folk, and from contemporary country to power rock and harder edged rock.

The Stateline Music Festival project is spearheaded by John Goforth, a transplanted Californian now in Texarkana who owns the independent record label Covered Bridge Records. He’s been organizing volunteers and sponsorship to get the fledgling festival underway.

“The lineup’s really great,” said Goforth, who said he’s worked with the Texarkana, Texas, Parks and Recreation Department to get a stage set up for the show.

“We’ve got some commercial sponsorship,” said Goforth. That will help cover some of the costs involved. Bands are volunteering their efforts and people are giving of their own time to help spread the news in the Texarkana community, he said.

Goforth has been here for a little more than a year, having moved to Texarkana from Las Vegas. He is originally from Northern California. He started his own label years ago to promote regional artists.

Here in Texarkana, he sees a need for an all-ages music event.

High school students of today, he points out, are going to be the future leaders in contemporary music here. Goforth wants to establish a family-friendly, live music event that all folks of all ages can enjoy.

“They have so very little,” said Goforth about the all-ages opportunities to see live music. Texarkana venues like I Love Evelyn and the Darkslide Skate Park (now called Dave’s Skatepark) are the sole opportunities for that, he said.

Holding this kind of festival is also a chance to bring together different generations of music lovers. He noted that young bands even took top honors at the Quadrangle Battle of the Bands competition. Young musicians are the future and the future, he said, “is pretty much right now.”

He’d like the Stateline Music Festival to be nurtured and grown by young musicians.

“I don’t see any reason Texarkana shouldn’t have one,” he said about holding an all-ages music festival.



(For more information, check out the festival’s MySpace page: www.myspace.com/statelinefestival. You can also call 903-547-6961 or e-mail info@johngoforth.com.)