Make a Whistlestop Saturday in Ashdown

Chris Golden
Chris Golden

ASHDOWN, Ark.-This year's Whistlestop Festival on Saturday brings live music, vendors and fun times for the family to Ashdown City Park.

With country, gospel and Americana singer Chris Golden headlining the music starting at 5 p.m., the Whistlestop Festival has an entertainer who served as a multi-instrumentalist for the Oak Ridge Boys on the road for 17 years. He's also performed with Alabama and Restless Heart, in addition to recording his own popular solo albums.

Along with Golden's music, the festival has food, games for kids, additional live music, a car show and more. It all starts at 9 a.m.

Jana Smith, chief volunteer for the event at the Little River County Chamber of Commerce, says they have vendors selling T-shirts and crafts, a gym on wheels, bounce houses, giveaways, a bass tournament, archery tag, a hog hunt and more. Admission is free.

"We're having a crawfish boil. We'll have crawfish for sale," Smith said. The car show will include both new cars and antiques. For the hog hunt, check-in is noon today at the chamber. There are two divisions for the hog hunt.

For the bass tournament at Millwood Lake's Yarborough Landing, registration is at 5:30 a.m. Saturday with the tournament running from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. A 5K and 1K runs start at 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. at the park that day.

Golden, based in the Nashville, Tenn., area, promises he'll bring 35 years of experience with him to the Saturday evening concert. He'll also perform at Hilltop Bible Fellowship on Sunday.

"I'm going to be doing songs off the last three or four solo albums that I have," said Golden, who's looking forward to playing in Ashdown. Raised in a small town, he likes them. "I'm all about small towns," he said.

Before joining the Oak Ridge Boys, he performed in a band with his brother Rusty. As The Goldens, they released work on both Capitol/SBK and CBS/Epic record companies. He also spent time on the Southern gospel circuit in his younger years.

The Oak Ridge Boys, with whom his father, William Lee Golden of the long beard fame, has played for many years, took him under their wing and he joined them to play the guitar, mandolin and other instruments, ultimately settling in as the legendary band's full-time drummer.

"It was more than just a job for me. It was the world I grew up in," Golden recalled of his work with the Oaks. He wouldn't trade that education for anything, he admits, and says it was kind of tough to jump off this "moving train" and go solo.

"Honestly, I'm glad that they're still going," Golden said.

But he'd been feeling the call to go solo for a while and never lost that desire to sing again. He even recorded solo material while with the band. On his own, he started devoting more time to gospel music about five or six years ago.

"I've been so blessed, I've been so blessed," reflects Golden, whose latest album is "Less of Me." He's been honored by Christian Voice Magazine and the International Country Gospel Music Association.

If you see him perform live Saturday night, you'll likely see him play many an instrument, an ability which he appreciates having developed. He shows this skill in recording.

"I'm proud of the fact that I've played almost every instrument on my albums," Golden said, professing his love for music and an ability to still enjoy his calling.

"As long as I have breath, I'm going to keep singing," Golden said. To read more about him, check out ChrisGolden.net.

(More info or vendor packets: 870-898-2758. Or check out the Little River County Chamber of Commerce page on Facebook.)

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