The festival is a tribute to the legacy of Rappahannock County native John Jackson. Jackson was a recipient of a 1986 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
The purpose of the event is to develop a creative economy centered around the Cultural Heritage, Arts and Agriculture of Rappahannock County.
The Piedmont Blues is Black American Folk Music which was originally played at house parties in the segregated south.