Life

Tonight's R&B concert features bluegrass, bluesy rock and brews

A crowd enjoys the band at the first Rhythm & Brews concert on May 16 in downtown Hendersonville. [Photo by Edward Ward]

By Miranda McFalls, Published: June 13, 2013

The second edition of the successful Rhythm and Brews concerts sponsored by the city of Hendersonville cranks up at 6 p.m. tonight with some organizational changes, an all-girl folk and bluegrass band and a bluesy rock band.

The concert features the Swayback Sisters, an all female trio from Asheville, and the Lefty Williams Band, a blues influenced rock band.

Sponsored by Hunter Subaru and hosted by Sierra Nevada, the new outdoor concert series is held in the Azalea parking lot between Third and Fourth avenues along King Street from 6 to 8 p.m.

The series attracted a large crowd when it debuted last month. The only complaint was the length of the line for beer and wine tickets. Tonight's show will include a second ID check table at the north end of the Azalea lot where patrons are issued wrist bands to buy beer and wine.

The event will start at 5:15 p.m. with the Pardee Main Street Mile Fun Run sponsored by Foot Rx. Runners may register for the race here: fun run registration. The Blue Ridge Bicycle Club will host two guided bike rides to the show, one from Jackson Park and the other Laurel Park. Go to the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club website for more information.
Another addition is the Rhythm and Brews family zone. Sponsored by Hands On! and the Family and Children Resource Center, the family zone will provide an assortment of kid friendly activities within the concert venue.
The Swayback Sisters play old school country soul, Appalachian folk ballads and acoustic blues.
The Lefty Williams band will crank things up with a rock-n-roll show.
"A lot of people think, oh Lefty's a blues guy, and the name Lefty doesn't help, but the reality is that my band is really a rock band," Williams said. "Most often I get compared to Led Zeppelin and the Allman Brothers, so there's definitely blues there. The Brothers and Zeppelin were both influenced by the blues, and I was influenced heavily by both of those bands, but we're really just a rock band."
The Rhythm & Brews Concert Series is sponsored by the City of Hendersonville's Historic Downtown Hendersonville Advisory Committee, Hunter Subaru, Sierra Nevada Brewery, Southern Appalachian Brewery, Green River Adventures and the Gorge Canopy Tours, Blue Sky M.D., Mountain Inn and Suites, FootRx, Boyd Chevrolet, Falderal Winery, Saint Paul's Mountain Vineyards and Norm's Minit Mart. Event partners are the Friends of the Ecusta Trail, the City of Hendersonville, Pardee Hospital and Henderson County Recycles. Media sponsors include WNCW, WTZQ, WHKP, the Hendersonville Lightning and the Hometown Value Guide.