At the inaugural FairWell Festival in 2023, I showed up early on the first day to catch a set by West Virginia country-folk singer Charles Wesley Godwin. Given the scale of the event — three days, tens of thousands of people, mega-watt headliners — and the time of Godwin’s set — 5:30 p.m. on Friday, when many people were still parking or walking in — I figured the crowd to see him would be relatively small.

Boy, was I wrong. A mighty throng was already there waiting for Godwin, whose recorded music is a fairly mellow mix of modern, tuneful Americana and the deeply rooted traditions that echo through the hills and hollers of Appalachia. Then, his band ripped through a bunch of great songs like a high-energy rock band, and I thought I knew why Godwin had attracted such a sizable audience — because they were terrific live. And that is probably a big part of why Godwin’s star is rising fast, to be certain.

Later, though, his pal Zach Bryan — who headlined FairWell that weekend — came out and sang a duet with him, and I realized that many of the people around me either knew Bryan would make a cameo, hoped he would, or had discovered Godwin through his association with the biggest, brightest star in Americana music. No wonder his set was swarmed.

Similarly, his show Sunday at the Midtown Ballroom in Bend is soooooooold out. It should be quite the scene.

Charles Wesley Godwin, with Richard Simeonoff: 8:30 p.m. Sunday, doors open 7 p.m., SOLD OUT, Midtown Ballroom, 51 NW Greenwood Ave., Bend, midtownballroom.com.