Local Country Artist Performs At Arts Spark Kids Fest

by Casey Westfall

Sugar Sand Park’s 3rd annual Arts Spark Kids Fest was held on Sunday, February 21, and featured various activities for the children and families who attended, including activity booths, hands-on workshops, and a live painting exhibition.

But these were not all the festival had to offer. This year, attendees were treated to a performance by Boca Raton’s own Maggie Baugh, a young country artist with huge aspirations.

While performing in front of a crowd consisting largely of middle schoolers and their families, Baugh performed her song “Middle School,” which addresses the topic of bullying.

“I was bullied many times before I came to Boca Middle,” she told CBS12. “I wanted to write a song to send a message to other kids that if you keep your head up and don’t give in to it, you’ll be fine. Middle school is just a passage of life.”

Baugh performed two sets at the festival. The first performance was at 12:15 p.m., and her final set was at 2:30 p.m.. Each set lasted around half an hour.

Despite being 15 years old, and a sophomore at Boca Raton Community High School, Baugh has performed on stage with acts like Charlie Daniels, plays over 80 gigs a year, and in 2015, released her debut album, titled “Only Good Things.” In addition, Baugh will perform at WIRK’s Rib Round Up Music Festival on Saturday, March 5.

Baugh plays the fiddle, guitar, ganjo, mandolin, and sings. She began playing the fiddle while she was 6 years old, and began playing guitar and performing three years ago.

During an interview with us last October, Baugh talked a little bit about her dreams and goals for her career.

“My ultimate dream is to play at the Grand Ole Opry,” she told us. “School-wise, I want to go to Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. I got accepted to their string program when I was 12…but now I want to go for contemporary songwriting.”