Cowboy Mouth to headline 14th Annual Salem Smiles Twin City RibFest

The 14^th annual Salem Smiles Twin City RibFest produced by AKA Entertainment & Media, will be held at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds June 7-10, 2018. The 4-day event features six rib teams from NC, SC, and Ohio – Off the Bone (OH), Gullah BBQ (SC), Dem Boyz BBQN (NC), Fine Smoke (OH), Mac’s Speed Shop (NC) and Killer Q (NC).

As always, there will be a full line-up of regional and national music acts, headlined by New Orleans-based Cowboy Mouth who will wrap up the festival when they perform at 5 PM on Sunday, June 10^th. Also performing will be Rose Cora Perry & The Truth Untold, who will be performing on the 2018 Canadian Van Warped Tour. Local favorites playing include The Bo-Stevens, Possum Jenkins and The Luxuriant Sedans. Other activities include a vendor market, a Kids’ Zone and arcade.

The 14^th annual Salem Smiles Twin City RibFest produced by AKA Entertainment & Media, will be held at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds June 7-10, 2018.

Recognizing the year-round community need, three local media outlets are partnering with the Salem Smiles Twin City RibFest to conduct a food drive at the event to be held at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds on June 8, 9 and 10. YES! Weekly, WXII TV 12 and The Wolf 93.1 radio station will all be promoting a $2 discount off the $8 admission fee with a canned food donation at the RibFest, with the collected food being donated to the Northwest North Carolina Second Harvest Food Bank.

In addition to the food drive discount, other special admission deals include free admission between 11 AM and 5 PM on Thursday, June 7 and Friday, June 8, and $3 admission for all on Thursday after 5 PM.

About Cowboy Mouth

For over two decades, Cowboy Mouth has dished up its unique style of rock & roll gumbo, mixing a rowdy spirit reflective of the band’s hometown — New Orleans — with the fierce firepower of a group that lives on the road. These Louisiana natives have played more than 2,500 concerts and launched their signature song, “Jenny Says,” into the upper half of the Billboard rock charts. Above all else, they earned a well-deserved rep as a raucous, redemptive, live music experience.

Formed during the glory days of grunge music, Cowboy Mouth forged a different sound from the very start. It’s a sound rooted in rock, punk, blues, and the attitude of the Big Easy, a town known for its week-long parties and swampy, southern vibe. Bandleader Fred LeBlanc, who’d previously sharpened his teeth with the punk band Dash Rip Rock, pulls double-duty as the group’s frontman and drummer, leading the charge with his larger-than-life personality and percussive attack. During the band’s early days, record companies warned him against singing and drumming at the same time, claiming that audiences would never go for it… but by the mid-’90s, those same record companies were clamoring to sign the band to a major-label deal.

In other words, in a decade filled with angsty alt-rock, Cowboy Mouth stood out for all the right reasons.

The band released its original music with MCA Records, then Atlantic Records. Once the 2000s kicked into gear, the band released music on its own label, cutting out the middleman and focusing on the biggest thing that’s kept Cowboy Mouth afloat since 1990: the audience.

About AKA Entertainment & Media

Allen McDavid, and AKA Entertainment & Media are both well known around the state, having produced festivals as far west as Asheville and as far east as Wilmington. AKA’s Twin City RibFest in Winston-Salem has been featured in “Bon Appetit” Magazine and on MarthaStewart.com. In recognition of the success of his ArtsAlive! Series in downtown Greensboro Allen was named one of “20 who shaped the Triad arts scene in 2003” by GoTriad. In 2004 Mystic Karnival was named one of the “Top 10 new cultural events in the Triad” by GoTriad. AKA’s 2006 Eden RiverFest was recognized by the NC Department of Commerce Main Street Program, as the “Best Downtown Festival of 2006”.