Highlands Weekend Music Magic

Written By: Luke Osteen | Issue: 2020/04 - April

If you ask a native Highlander of a certain age what he or she used to do for entertainment in this seemingly sleepy town, chances are they’ll look to a faraway horizon for the briefest of pauses, get a wry smile on their face, and softly mention Helen’s Barn.

That structure, it really was a barn, was a roadhouse for all the things that make a quiet Southern town spring to life on Saturday nights.

Local bluegrass bands would show off their licks, precision teams of local kids would demonstrate their clogging talents, adults and their offspring would square dance with abandon, and enthusiastic sets of buck dancing would spontaneously erupt. 

This writer knows three people who were conceived in that parking lot. 

Well, as you’d imagine, the shuttering of Helen’s Barn in the early 1980s left a gaping hole in the town’s social calendar. 

That’s why the Highlands Chamber of Commerce has, with fanfare and more than a bit of local pride, introduced its twin concert series –  Friday Night Live, and Saturdays on Pine.

Friday Night Live concerts take place at Highlands Town Square from 6:00 until 8:00 P.M. Saturdays on Pine are at Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park on Pine Street and also begin at 6:00 P.M. These concerts offer the chance to hear some of the finest music the region has to offer and are free to everyone.

Friday Night Live features traditional mountain music, and an opportunity for the audience to participate by singing, clapping, tapping their feet, or dancing if the mood strikes.  It’s audience participation at its best and the bands feed off the energy.        

Saturdays on Pine is rock and roll, often mixed with a dash of country goodness or smooth soul.  It’s a delirious opportunity to bring a blanket, open the picnic basket and enjoy the sensations of live music under a pristine nighttime sky. 

And though the Chamber has made every effort to capture all the wonderful things that made Helen’s Barn a Highlands institution, keep the peach bounce at home.

For more information about Saturdays on Pine or Friday Night Live, visit highlandschamber.org or call (828) 526-2112.

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The Highlands Chamber of Commerce’s twin concert series are still slated to launch in May. We’ll let you know about any changes.

May 

May 22    Friday Night Live Concert – Silly Ridge Roundup

May 23    Saturdays on Pine – The Caribbean Boys

May 29    Friday Night Live Concert – Trudition

May 30    Saturdays on Pine – Ashley         Heath & Her Heathens

June

June 5    Friday Night Live – Byrds & Crow

June 6    Saturdays on Pine – Eli Mosley

June 12    Friday Night Live – Frank & Allie

June 13    Saturdays on Pine – Hurricane Creek

June 19    Friday Night Live – Johnny Webb Band

June 20    Saturdays on Pine – Americana Jones

June 26    Friday Night Live Concert – Trudition

June 27    No Concert

July

July 3    Friday Night Live – Foxfire Boys

July 4    Saturdays on Pine – The Wobblers

July 10    Friday Night Live – Southern Highlands

July 11    Saturdays on Pine – Kurt Thomas Band

July 17    Friday Night Live – Mountain Dulcimers

July 18    Saturdays on Pine – Shane Meade

July 24    Friday Night Live – Sycamore Flats

July 25    Saturdays on Pine – Silly Ridge Roundup

July 31    Friday Night Live – Byrds & Crow