Kentucky’s Own Josh Martin Returned Home To The Jenny Wiley Amphitheater!

For the second week in a row I find myself at the Jenny Wiley Amphitheater for a socially distant outdoor show. Yep, you read that right “for the second week in a row” take that 2020!!

For those that aren’t familiar with tonight’s venue, the Jenny Wiley Amphitheater is part of a Kentucky state park, the Jenny Wiley State Resort Park, located in Floyd County very near the town of Prestonsburg deep in the hills of eastern Kentucky. Prestonsburg is also home to another of Capture Kentucky’s favorite eastern Kentucky venues the Mountain Arts Center.

Josh Martin like last week’s artists (Brit Taylor and Adam Chaffins) call Nashville, TN home but all three are from right here in Floyd county Kentucky. So tonight was a homecoming show of sorts for Josh. He had family and friends (friends from as far away as Michigan!) in the socially spread out crowd. Josh said right from the start of tonight’s show that he wanted everyone in the audience to not think of this as a concert but rather as a group of family and friends sitting on a back porch playing music, laughing, maybe even drinking a beer or three. That was exactly the vibe that tonight had, Josh and bass player extraordinaire Austin Maynard made those of us in attendance feel right at home, like we were on that porch with them as they played and sang.

The set list Josh had picked for tonight was sure to please everyone! There were songs from him latest album “Nothing Holding Back” including “Hard Times (In Floyd County)” and “Longview” and a bluegrass cover of Dave Evan’s “Be Proud Of The Gray In Your Hair”. He even mixed in some gospel, a stellar a cappella rendition of “Amazing Grace”, then throw in some brand new music with “Cold Again” and you’ve got a killer set in just those five songs!
If you missed this show you really missed a great night out under the stars. As a music lover and a concert photographer I’ve been in a lot of different types of venues, but there was something that just felt right listening to music in this setting. The city of Prestonsburg and the Mountain Arts Center have big plans for this venue that I hope they get to realize sooner than later.
joshmartinofficial.com
MAC Arts