Life

Rhythm&Brews named top new downtown event

By Bill Moss, Published: January 30, 2014

A year ago, Hendersonville's Rhythm & Brews Concert Series seemed like something of a high-risk idea.

A city-sponsored music concert offering beer and wine had never been tried before. After four concerts that got bigger every month and attracted a crowd of longtime local residents and tourists, the event ended its debut year an unqualified success. Now it's won a statewide award that validated its value.

The 2013 N.C. Main Street Awards named Rhythm & Brews the Best Downtown Special Event or Event Series, receiving an Award of Merit, the top prize in the category.

At the same time, the city announced that it is adding one more Thursday night concert. Now the series will run May through September.

The N.C. Main Street program's annual awards competition recognizes the outstanding achievements of particpating communities in categories reflecting the four areas of focus for Main Street: organization, design, economic restructuring and promotion. A panel that included staff from the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments, Appalachian Regional Commission, Office of Community Planning, Office of Urban Development and Davie County Community Development Corporation reviewed the nominations and selected the winners.

"We are thrilled that the success we had with this series in its inaugural season is being recognized at the state level,"  Lew Holloway, Downtown Economic Development Director, said in a news release. "The award is a reflection of the intense effort and dedication of the R&B steering committee members, Babs Newton, Mike Hall, Michael Ridenhour, Charlie Tucker and Ralph Freeman. Their efforts in partnership with the Downtown Advisory Committee, our series sponsors, the R&B volunteers and city staff helped bring about what we and the NC Main Street Center all recognize as a great new event in downtown Hendersonville."

Babs Newton added: "We set out to appeal to a wider demographic audience, to broaden the type of music shared in downtown and to build partnerships with city and county residents and businesses. This award is a reflection of our success in achieving those goals!"

The series line-up kicks off with two of last year's favorites. The Broadcast returns on May 15 and regional bluegrass boys gone big Balsam Range headline the June 19 concert. The series will finish with three acts new to the R&B lineup— Asheville based funk masters The Fritz on July 17, Charleston based rock grove ensemble Sol Driven Train August 21st and to close out the series, another act out of Charleston, the Americana group Blue Dogs on September 18th.

"Once again, from a music perspective we've got a little something for everyone and from an event perspective we are working hard to make the second year an even more enjoyable experience for our fans," Holloway said. "We will be in the Azalea Lot again this year along King Street, but the layout will be different, with changes designed to maximize our use of the space."

Last year, the only problems with the concert were that the beer lines were too long and the space was too small for the larger than expected crowds.

Historic Downtown Hendersonville is currently recruiting sponsors for the 2014 season and has limited opportunities available; don't wait to contact them about how you can get involved! Additional information about sponsoring the 2014 Rhythm & Brews Concert Series can be found by contacting Lew Holloway at lholloway@cityofhendersonville.org or 828.233.3216.