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Musician to replace Davisson Brothers at Homecoming

PARKERSBURG — After the cancellation of its original opening night act, officials with the Parkersburg Homecoming Festival have signed a new performer to open the 2018 Parkersburg Homecoming Festival on Friday evening in downtown Parkersburg.

Homecoming president Mike Cottrell said the Friday night show, originally featuring the West Virginia-based Davisson Brothers, will now feature rising country star Ryan Griffin taking the Main Stage at 9:30 p.m. Friday.

A singer-songwriter, Griffin has entered into a joint publishing and development deal with songwriter-producer Busbee and BMG Nashville. He was the co-writer on “Dibs,” a No. 1 hit for Kelsea Ballerini. As an artist, Griffin has amassed over four million streams on Spotify and was named a “Highway Find” on SIRIUS XM’s “The Highway.” He has opened for performers like Ballerini, Lady Antebellum and Old Dominion.

“As soon as we knew of the official cancellation of the Davisson Brothers, our talent team started the search,” Cottrell said. “We wanted a country act that was similarly appealing to the Davisson Brothers. Within a few hours, RMA Presents had a large list for our committee to select from.

“Ryan Griffin was the clear choice to best appeal to a young country crowd. The reviews and projections available were extremely strong. It is obvious this up and coming artist is going places. Country music fans won’t want to miss this show,” Cottrell said.

“Cancellations are never fun or easy,” said Rick Modesitt, president of Rick Modesitt & Associates and a homecoming board member. “But within an hour, we had a strong list of alternatives … Ryan Griffin was the perfect choice to fill the Davisson Brothers Band slot and they agreed to fill in within our budget. Deal completed on an email handshake. Ryan is on the way,” he said.

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