Summer music returning downtown

Thiel

By: LAURA GRAFF | Winston-Salem Journal
Published: May 09, 2011

Winston-Salem's downtown summer music series is coming back.

The series kicks off June 4, after the Salute! wine festival, with a free concert at the Salute stage by Corey Chisel and the Wandering Sons, a Wisconsin-based blues-and-gospel-influenced singer-songwriter band that is scheduled to play this summer at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn. Both Salute! and the summer music series are put on by the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership, a nonprofit that promotes downtown.

"This will be our 14th season," said Jason Thiel, president of the partnership. "And clearly, we're excited about the summer music series coming back …. We have a lot of community support."

The series is mostly the same — free jazz concerts on the second and fourth Fridays of each month, free concerts on Trade Street every Saturday. The Thursday night concert, though, is changing, Thiel said.

In the past, the partnership hosted free concerts every Thursday night. But attendance at those concerts was not high. This year, Thiel said, the partnership will host one free Thursday night show each month at Winston Square Park, on Marshall Street.

"They're going to be – hopefully – events where the bands will bring a very good attendance," Thiel said. "With the way attendance fell off last year, it was time for a fresh beginning."

The partnership has scheduled two bands to play Thursday night shows: Brother Josephus & the Love Revival Revolution Orchestra will play in June, and the Mantras will play in July.

Friday Night Jazz returns to Corpening Plaza, near First and Main streets, starting June 10 with Brian Simpson, a jazz keyboardist who has played with such pop superstars as Janet Jackson.

Summer on Trade, the Saturday-night series on Trade Street, starts June 11 with the bo-stevens, a Winston-Salem honky-tonk band.

The partnership has budgeted about $110,000 for the summer music series this year, to pay for bands, sound production, insurance, permits, staffing and other costs. About $90,000 of that came from sponsorships. The partnership expects to make the remaining $20,000 through on-site revenue.

The concerts typically draw between 1,000 and 2,000 people on Friday and Saturday nights, Thiel said.

lgraff@wsjournal.com

(336) 727-7279

Summer music series

Here's a schedule for the downtown summer series. Admission to the concerts is free. For more information, go to www.dwsp.org.

Special kick-off concert

June 4: Corey Chisel and the Wandering Sons, at the Salute Wine Festival stage, after the festival concludes.

Summer on Trade (7-10 p.m. Saturdays at the corner of Sixth and Trade streets)

June 11: The bo-stevens (honky tonk)

June 18: Westend Mambo (Latin)

June 25: Vagabond Saints Society (tribute band, performing music from Woodstock)

July 2: Matt Walsh (rockabilly)