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Outdoor Concert Series
Written By: Luke Osteen | Issue: July 2023
The sounds of Friday Night Live and Saturdays on Pine are Highlands’ official Summer Soundtrack. The concerts are family-friendly and handicapped accessible.
Shane Meade & The Sound
There’s nothing more satisfying than listening to a favorite song beneath the stars – unless it’s also on a cool, North Carolina mountaintop.
In Highlands, you can be there for free every Friday and Saturday night. From now through October weekends, tuck your lawn chair under one arm, snacks under the other, and head out to Friday Night Live and Saturdays on Pine.
The 2023 Friday Night Live concerts take place at Highlands Town Square from 6:00 to 8:30 P.M. Saturdays on Pine crank up at 6:00 P.M. at Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park, and close at 8:30 P.M.
The musical styles of Friday and Saturday concerts are heart-pumping, entertaining, and they feature regional artists, but stylistically, they’re a bit different. Friday is more traditional, and Saturday is all about popular music.
Here’s what’s in store during July:
Blaze in the City takes the stage on Saturday, July 1. With incredible vocal harmonies, funky dance rhythms and scorching guitar, Blaze the City captures audiences with its mix of pop, funk, Top-40 dance, blues, and Motown.
Lazrluvr
On July 7, The Foxfire Boys highlight Friday Night Live. This local Bluegrass favorite was formed in the early 1980s and is comprised of members of The Foxfire Fund’s Appalachian culture and music program in northeast Georgia.
On Saturday, July 8, it’s Bill Mattocks. He’s a true blues legend, hailing from the Pacific Northwest and settling down in Western North Carolina, where he and his harmonica deliver Chicago-style blues.
Curtis Blackwell Band headlines Friday Night Live on July 14. Since forming the band with Sam Cobb and others in 1960, Curtis Blackwell has led Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys and been honored in the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame.
With Lazrluvr, set for Saturday, July 15, you’ll want to break out your 3D shades, fingerless gloves, popped collars and teased hair, and get ready for and the best tributes to timeless favorites, straight from a page in your 1980s yearbook.
Carter Giegerich takes the stage on Friday, July 21. He’s a graduate of the East Tennessee State University’s Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music program, where he developed a love for the blending of musical tradition and innovation. That passion evolved into a unique musical style that blends contemporary and traditional sounds, drawing inspiration from bluegrass, old-time and Celtic music as well as funk, hip-hop and electronic artists.
The Foxfire Boys
On Saturday, July 22, it’s Back Porch Orchestra. While Back Porch Orchestra began their journey as a modern band, there’s no doubt they’re shaped by their homegrown, traditional roots. They prefer both originals rooted in blues, bluegrass, country, and classic rock, and covering your favorite hits from the 1950s to present day.
We Three Swing, a jazz collective based in Sylva, takes the stage on Friday, July 28.
Shane Meade & The Sound closes out the month on Saturday, July 29. He’s a gifted singer-songwriter and the catalyst behind the Tampa-based, soul-infused folk rock project Shane Meade & the Sound. The music captivates the imagination, and audiences connect to his inspirational lyrics and universal subject matter.
There’s plenty more to rock your Friday and Saturday nights this season, so keep an eye on the Chamber’s local calendar, visit highlandschamber.org, or call (828) 526-5841.
