News

Rhythm & Brews transitions to two longer acts

By Lightning Reports, Published: January 25, 2019

This year's Rhythm & Brews concerts will feature two longer performances instead of the three-band lineup the downtown music event has staged in the past.

The Friends of Downtown Hendersonville announced the 2019 Rhythm & Brews line-up on Friday. This year’s series begins on May 16 and runs every third Thursday through September. New this year is a 5:30 starting time, a half later than last year.

“We think this is going to help all our fans get out for the start of the music and with our line-up changes this year, we think a lot of people are going to be eager to do that," Downtown Development Director Lew Holloway said.

The concert has always featured three performers, the first two performing shorter sets to kick things off before the headliner closes the evening out. This year the concerts will feature two acts, which offers each a two-hour performance slot.

“If you’ll recall last year’s canceled May show featured Tellico as the headliner, this year we’ve been able to rebook them as our early slot performance (5:30 to 7:30) alongside Fireside Collective (7:30 to 9:30) in August," Holloway said. "We think this makes for a pretty incredible night of free live entertainment and we feel like we’ve repeated that dynamic for each of the five concerts.”
The season line-up includes a rocking kickoff to the season with the Screaming J’s and The Broadcast on May 16; followed by Big Daddy Love and The Travers Brothership in June; the Kenny George Band and the Colby Dietz Band in July; the Tellico and Fireside Collective in August, and the Rad Trads and Honey Island Swamp Band in September.

With the effort that has gone into the “Rhythm” part of Rhythm & Brews in 2019, you might expect that to be the focus for the year, but event organizers are talking about the Brews side of things too. When the event first started in 2013 the participating craft beverage producers and event organizers made a commitment to keeping it local. At that time that included Sierra Nevada and Southern Appalachian Brewery. Since then, Bold Rock, Flat Rock Cider Company and Saint Paul Mountain Vineyard have joined the event with their ciders and wine.

As the market in craft beer has grown over the past few years, event organizers have been watching and consulting with various members of the community about when and what made sense for the event. This season is shaping up to be the year that some of that investment in relationships will bear hops for event attendees. While details are yet to be finalized, event organizers are suggesting that you should stay tuned for updates as we move into spring.

Finally, expect to see many of the features that make this such a fun and family friendly event back in 2019. Crowd favorite on-site food vendors will be back, and organizers are working with HandsOn! to bring back the Family Zone, a kid friendly destination within the show, along with the popular face painting and hula hoop zone!