It’s been a music-filled summer in the Carbon Corridor, with Price Culture Connection leading the way providing nine free concerts throughout the summer leading up to Thursday, Aug. 15, when the final band of Culture Connection this summer, the Mikayla Paige Band takes the stage to kick off the Helper Arts Festival.

Castle Country Radio was joined by Ted Hinckley and Layne Miller to talk about Culture Connections, as well as the other bands performing as a part of the Helper Arts Festival from Thursday, Aug. 15 to Sunday, Aug. 18.

Starting things off, Miller gave a recap of last week’s rendition of Culture Connection with the Wayne Hoskins Band. “They probably interacted better with the crowd than anybody we’ve had this year.” Explained Miller,” They were a good group. They interacted well with the crowd and the crowd loved them.”

This week’s Culture Connection features the Mikayla Paige Band, who received the opportunity to play this show at the Battle of the Bands event at the Carbon County Fair. Miller explained the collaboration that went into this event,” They were picked during the Carbon County Fair. This event coming up this weekend is sponsored by Culture Connection. It’s the final Culture Connection on Main Street in Helper. And we’re part of the Helper Arts Festival. All three local entities are involved in this, which is really, really cool.”

The Helper Arts Festival also will be hosting 10 other bands throughout the event, providing attendees with a plethora of musical options. “My philosophy for all this stuff is something for everyone. So not everyone’s going to love every band, but I would be hard-pressed to find somebody who doesn’t love one of these bands.” Explained Hinckley.

Kicking things off on Friday, Aug. 16, at 4 p.m., Runaway Fire takes stage A,” They’re not a cover band and they’re very talented. And the kind of fun thing about Runaway Fire is I can’t say they’re kind of like so-and-so. They’re a totally unique entity.” stated Hinckley of the band.

Then at 5:15 p.m., Tom Bennet performs the first of his two sets, with the second being the same day at 7:30 p.m. “He’s a one-man band and does a lot of classic country stuff. I think people are going to enjoy Tom over on the B stage.” shared Hinckley.

Back on the A stage at 6:15 p.m. will be the Rustic Poets, who Hinckley described as,” kind of a country-rock group who also are very good at entertaining a crowd.”

Rounding out Friday is a performance from Jake and the Heist, which Hinckley spoke excitedly about,” They’re a very entertaining group fronted by a guy named Jake Chamberlain and a really fun band. And they’re playing for two hours and they play weddings and they know how to work the crowd. They are a talented, talented group.”

Kicking things off on Saturday, Aug. 17 at 2 p.m. will be the Hall Brothers Band,” they are a super talented family group.” Explained Hinckley,” Some of them live outside the state now, but they got back together to give us a show. They played in support of lots of groups, but they are really good, and I think people enjoy their energy.”

Then at 4 p.m. Liam Lars will take the stage with Hinkley describing him as,” a very talented singer and songwriter.”

Next at 4:30 p.m., Mesozoic performs, with Miller reminding everyone that the group’s frontman, Alan Titus is” a paleontologist by vocation.” Titus also has a dinosaur named after him, the Nasutoceratops titusi.

After Mesozoic, The Birdwatchers will perform at 6:15 p.m. “ These are three guys with ukuleles who sing harmonies. You may go, ‘ukulele? What are they, Don Ho’s kids?” Hinckley joked,” With various ukulele ranges, the three have managed to produce a wide, varied sound, and with an equally varied set list.”

Then at 7:30 p.m., Stone Company takes the stage, which Hinckley described as a very interesting group,” They’ll have three fiddles up on the stage because they’re too different. And so he does a lot of interesting stuff.” Hinckley continued,” The percussionist for Stone Company at some point will be playing a saw. And if you can’t get excited about a guy that’s going to play the saw, nothing will excite you.” Stone Company will also act as the closing band for the festival on Sunday, Aug. 18 at noon.

Closing out Saturday will be Lennon Roach, “ They do great covers and their original songs are fantastic,” explained Hinckley.

Ending our conversation, Hinckley shared his pride for this year’s Culture Connection slate,” we’ve had such a great time, it’s fun to put this stuff together and have people respond and like it … I’m proud of these groups and proud of these slates of shows. So I think it’s going to be terrific. But I’m thankful to Carbon County for all the music lovers that have come out.”

The Helper Arts Festival gets started on Thursday, Aug. 15 with a gallery stroll and the Mikayla Paige Band, and will continue to run through Sunday, Aug. 18. For more information as well as dates and times for festival activities, you can visit the Helper Arts Festival’s website or Facebook page.