Music & Vendors

THE JOSH MCCAA BAND

Six Fingers, One Guitar (Columbia) – Drive through Five Points or the Vista and on any given night you can find live music, if you're lucky you'll run into a guy named Josh McCaa, a guitar playing singer-songwriter who you could say rewrote his life. If he had it his way, Josh McCaa would play... every night. Tonight it's his own music, others it's the Beatles, Ben Harper, the Rolling Stones - it really doesn't matter, he loves it all. "My dad always let me listen to a lot of good music as a child and I guess that gave me the desire to want to play the kinds of things I had heard," Josh says. So, when he was 14, Josh started picking and strumming. He got serious his first year of college - fueled by what happened in between. "My senior year of high school, I was leaving school one day, riding with a buddy of mine in his Jeep. We had the top off and a car pulled out in front of us. We slammed on brakes to avoid running into the car and the vehicle flipped and it rolled across my hand and severed all the fingers on my right hand," remembers Josh. Adds his childhood friend Joal Rush, "I remember him saying - at least it wasn't this hand. You need all your fingers on the left hand if you're a right-handed guitar player to be able to fret the guitar." Doctors were able to reattach just one finger - his index finger - as his pinkie. As soon as he could, Josh picked up his guitar and started getting reacquainted. "At first they made a prosthetic thumb that I could strap on to try and strum with, but it sounded horrible and I would play so much that it would burn holes in the plastic," says Josh. Eventually, he had a custom pick made and - over the years - was able to bridge the gap. Now sounding so good with six fingers, he's had ten gigs in just 12 days. "A lot of people don't notice it at first, but then I'll introduce myself and shake their hand and they're like - oh, wow, you know?" Josh says. "He's very comfortable and secure about it," adds Joal. "He made all the negatives a positive. He has a way of doing that, looking at things in a positive light." It's in that way that you could say Josh's life is like his music - a tune so unexpectedly upbeat you can't help but sing along.
WLTX – Ashley Monts

Vendors

Interested in showcasing your company to several thousand beer enthusiasts?

Vendors of the Upstate International Beer Festival will receive a 10¹x10¹ booth space.

Please note the following requirements:

  • All worker personnel must be 21 years of age and have a valid I.D.
  • Your booth space MUST remain open the five hours of the festival (1pm – 6pm)
  • All vendor categories are exclusive – so submit FIRST!
  • Vendors supply their own tent. If you do not have a tent, you can rent one from the festival for $130.
  • Vendors are allowed to retain 100% of their sales
  • Pricing Statement: prices for item to be sold in your booth must be approved by event staff