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    Local musician Kenny Huffman was born and raised in the coal country of Pennsylvania. This seems only natural, as the Quaker State transplant will light up the stage with his combustible rock ‘n’ roll energy at Huske Hardware in downtown Fayetteville on Friday, Aug. 25, as part of the city’s monthly 4th Friday celebration.
    Huffman, who has made Fayetteville his home for the past nine years, will play alongside backing  band Workhorse.
Huffman plays a brand of diamond-sharp folk-rock that recalls Bruce Springsteen, John Cougar-Mellencamp and Buffalo Springfield; however, his own personal music tastes run a wide and eclectic gamut.
    “I love rock bands, such as Boston and Steely Dan,” said Huffman. “But I have a variety of influences, like Robert Earle Keen.
    “I like to think of my form of music as ‘Americana,’ or ‘roots’ music,” added Huffman.
Despite his breadth of musical influences and the perceptions of others, Huffman has a style all his own. And to hone that style, Huffman has branched out with a multimedia packaging of his music that includes not only several CDs, but music videos. In fact, come Friday night at Huske Hardware, Huffman will debut a brand new video for the song “Pirate Days.”
   {mosimage} “It’s a collage of performances from Fayetteville and Sanford.” said Huffman. “And there are some clips from previous 4th Fridays, including the belly dancing troupe Shadows of the Fire.”
    Huffman says he’s excited about playing during the 4th Friday celebration. He says the event is indicative of a revived music scene taking root in Fayetteville.
    “I really like the Fayetteville music scene,” said Huffman. “I think the scene is really growing. I’ve talked to some of the older guys who tell me what it used to be like when the scene was hopping; I think we’re getting back to that and I think it’s related to how the downtown is blossoming.”
    And as the Fayetteville music scene blossoms, so does Huffman’s core of fans, which he says skews to the “over 30” demographic, though his music is timeless rock ‘n’ roll designed to appeal to all ages.
“It’s hard to build a huge following if you’re only playing weekends like we do,” said Huffman, who has a “day job” at Cross Creek Early College High School. He has worked as an educator for 15 years. “I want to appeal to as many people as possible when I play.”
    While his workdays are filled with the molding of young minds, his weekends are filled with helping mold his collaborative partners, Workhorse, into a well-lubed rock ‘n’ roll machine.
    “They’re great guys,” said Huffman. “And they’re not just great musicians — they’re really great human beings.”
Huffman has released two CDs with Workhorse, and says it was a “blast” to make the “Pirate Days” video. In fact, he enjoyed the filming process so much that he hopes to make another. And while he has embraced this new visual medium to get his musical messages to the masses, he has also seen the electronic scribbling on the wall when it comes to the intertwined future of music and the Internet — there are original song downloads at www.kennyhuffman.net.
    “We try to direct people toward our Web site rather than attempting to sell a lot of CDs at our shows,” said Huffman.
Jut like the Internet, Huffman and Workhorse will be “wired” and ready to go on Aug. 25 at Huske Hardware, with the music starting at around 10 p.m.
    For more information about Huffman, Workhorse, or the 4th Friday show, you can check out the Web site or e-mail Huffman at huffmani@hotmail.com.