Music, particularly blues, has been with musician and Mojo Saturday Night producer Kevin Chisnell since childhood.
“I heard a guy playing a harmonica, and I made my sister go to the music store with me, and we bought one. And I drove everybody nuts for quite some time trying to blow and learn on that thing,” said Chisnell, who after high school joined a band and went on the road for two years to give a career in music a go.
“And then I decided that music was a good hobby,” said Chisnell, who kept on playing, albeit privately, for himself and occasionally friends, after entering the work world, before being asked to join local favorite Crystal Armentrout on stage at a concert 15 years ago.
The impromptu live jam session got Chisnell hooked on performing again, and since then he’s found a way to balance his music with his responsibilities as the pavement manager at the district Virginia Department of Transportation office in Staunton , where he’s responsible for the maintenance of 2,000 miles of roads and $30 million to $50 million in surfacing contracts annually.
Chisnell added to that balancing act last summer with the debut of the monthly Mojo Saturday Night series. The series has grown in appeal to the point where the concerts are now regularly played before sellout crowds.
“I think the show can really go somewhere,” Chisnell said. “Blues fans travel. They travel all over. You get them to come in, and we can make a mark. I really think Mojo Saturday Night can be a really, really cool thing for years to come.”
More on the Wayne Theatre Alliance online at http://waynetheatre.org.
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Chris Graham
