News

Holiday weekend brings abundance of music

By Bill Moss, Published: May 20, 2015

Music fans can enjoy a harvest of plenty on Memorial Day weekend, from Southern rock to acoustic to beach music to pure folk.

Downtown Hendersonville kicks off a full four-day stretch with the first show of the popular Rhythm & Brews on Thursday night. The music doesn’t end until Underhill Rose sings the final notes at the Carl Sandburg Folk Music Festival on Monday afternoon. The weather will be nice throughout the weekend, with mostly sunny skies and highs in the mid 70s on Friday and Saturday and in the low to mid 80s on Sunday and Monday.
The first R&B concert of the season cranks up at 5 p.m. with local singer Emily Bodley in the singer-songwriter showcase. Pop The Clutch Band performs at 6 p.m. and the headliner Allen Thompson Band plays from 7 to 9. The event is at the Azalea parking lot on King Street between Third and Fourth avenues.
Brevard’s  White Squirrel Festival features Sol Driven Train, Blue Dog Acoustic, Hendersonville native Aaron Burdett and 13 other bands from Friday night through Sunday evening.
Jump Off RockThe highest music stage is in Laurel Park, where the Jump Off Rock Music Festival features the Night Crawlers and Dashboard Blue performing classic rock and beach music from 4 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Unlike in years past, the Laurel Park Civic Association event does not include a barbecue supper this time. Bring chairs or blankets and a picnic. Beer and wine are allowed.
Tickets are $10; admission is free for children under 12. Tickets are available at Laurel Park Town Hall and Laurel Park Wine Market and at Laurel Park Civic Association.

Finally, on Memorial Day, folk musicians from across the region will converge at Connemara for the 29th annual Carl Sandburg Folk Music Festival at the  Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in Flat Rock. Underhill RoseMusic is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the amphitheater. Here’s the lineup:
• 11 a.m. Jhon Akers shares anecdotes of Carl Sandburg’s life and his guitar-inspired passion for music.
• Noon. The 42nd Street Jazz Band performs good-time swing era tunes and nostalgic ballads.
• 1 p.m. John Emil, master of the slide guitar plays a unique show-stopping mix of delta and folk blues. Emil has supplied music for several prominent television shows such as “Dateline” and “The Voice”.
• 2 p.m. The Chuck Beattie band will perform Chicago Style Blues with his traditional old school charm.
• 3 p.m. Internationally recognized female trio Under Hill Rose performs a harmonic fusion of Americana, bluegrass, R&B and roots music.