Anderson closes music festival

"It's been more like a family reunion than anything else," Fortune said.

For Sunday's Grandstaff performance, family was certainly an ongoing theme. As Fortune joined the stage for the last song, band members Wil and Langdon Reid, whose fathers are Harold and Don of the Statler Brothers, were greeted with a round of applause, and post-show they were greeted with a long line of fans.

Barry and Gary Conner, twin brothers from Staunton, carried their acoustic guitars up to the table to get autographs from the band. Barry estiimated he has about 26 autographs, with Gary not too far behind.

"We're just collecting a bunch of artists we like," Barry said.

Both had collected all four Statler Brothers' signatures and the brothers were making their way up to the Cochran Pavilion to try and catch John Anderson, the festival's last performer.

"It's been a lot of fun," Barry said. "It's good to see them bringing country music and bluegrass back to the area."

Fortune estimated that while many in the crowd were from the area, a lot were coming from out of state for the weekend, himself included.

Fortune now lives in Nashville, where he has been focusing on songwriting.

"I'm so proud of Staunton and the Frontier Culture Museum," he said. "And this gives me a chance to come back and give back to those who gave so much to me and the Statler Brothers."

Christa Smith and Kendall McCall were visiting the festival from Williamsburg. They said the main draw was seeing Lori McKenna, but that all the music had made them think about coming back next year.

As Anderson took the stage to an applauding crowd under the shade of the Pavilion, Smith and McCall said their first year visiting Fortune Williams had been a success.

"Everyone has been wonderful," Smith said.

"That's the number one thing that's made it great, is the people," McCall said.

"We're coming back next year," Smith said.