By Elly Murray
Daily Tunes will be bringing you live music performances in the High Country area for every day of the week. Get out there and enjoy the cool breezes and relaxing music of summer before it’s over!
On a dazzling summer night in Blowing Rock, the stars are beautiful and bright as the Monday Night Concert Series in Broyhill Park begins. Excitedly hushed patrons take in the beauty of the park as they cross the little white bridge to arrive at the lily white gazebo on the edge of the water. They set up their chairs on the grass as the kids run around, investigating the nearby flowers and pond, and listen to the performers jam out from the gazebo.
Amy Young was one of the Appalachian students that started up the Blowing Rock Monday Night Concert Series when the Farmhouse restaurant, the inspiration for this music series, closed.
She says that this is the event’s 19th year and explains that, “it was based off of the Farmhouse restaurant that used to be in Blowing Rock. They had singing waiters. It was around for probably 60 years, and it was popular. And when it closed, a couple of the people that had worked there that were students at Appalachian started the show.”
The performances have evolved since they first began in 2000, and have gone from featuring college students to professionals. Young says that the music now is, “a variety of music, sort of like what the Farmhouse had. It’s musical theatre, jazz, country, just a little bit of everything so you have something for everybody in the show.”
Young is actually performing tonight, with her group. They are called Amy Marie Young and Friends, and Young describes their music as varied as well, saying, “We have some Patsy Cline music, we have a song featured from the Greatest Showman, we have some Adele. So it’s just a little of everything. We’re also doing some patriotic music tonight for the Fourth of July coming up, so we’ll have some of that as well.”
The concerts start at 7 p.m. every Monday in July, and admission is free, as is parking on Main Street or any other side street. This year’s concerts will feature vocalists and one jazz guitarist, each performing with friends.
There are restaurants all over Blowing Rock for patrons to grab some food and bring it to the concert. Young explains that the atmosphere is very family friendly and, “very relaxed. People come in their comfortable shorts, they bring picnics out to the park. People will arrive early and go get Kilwin’s…We have people that just walk around the lake while we’re singing, and enjoy that. So it’s very laid back, it’s very casual.”
Next Monday, Andy Page and Friends will be performing. Young says that, “He and his brothers, the Page brothers, they do a lot of jazz in the community.”
In the event of inclement weather, the concert will be moved to the American Legion Building off Park Ave. Seating is not provided, so you should probably bring a lawn chair or blanket to sit on as you enjoy the music.
Young and her group are pumped to perform for everyone tonight, “We’re really excited. We have been practicing our materials….We’ve just been singing around and we’re excited to start Blowing Rock up for the season, and to be here every Monday.”
So round-up your shopping, grab an ice-cream or snack from Main St. and make sure you don’t miss out on these great concerts!
For the lineup of the Blowing Rock Monday night concert series, weather updates, and any accommodations you may need, please visit:
http://amymarieproductions.com/monday_night_concert_series
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