Life

LIGHTNING PHOTOS: Rhythm & Brews is back

Caitlin Krisko performs with The Broadcast at the first Rhythm & Brews concert of 2014.

By Bill Moss, Published: May 15, 2014

Emily Bodley strummed the first note on a ukulele and launched into a sweet cover of Melanie's 1971 hit "Brand New Key," kicking off the second season of Hendersonville's Rhythm & Brews concert series in a blackberry winter blend of gray skies and spittin' rain.

Shorts and T-shirts that have been the dress of choice gave way to jeans and parkas. The spirit was high if the crowd was small.

There were a couple of firsts. Miss Bodley started the music off at a minute after 5, the first of the new "tweener" set that starts the show. The headliner was The Broadcast, which kicked off the Rhythm & Brews last year with a rousing bluesy show that the audience loved. Many people asked organizers to book the band again, Downtown Economic Development Director Lew Holloway said.
"This is good," Holloway said, adding hopefully that weather radar had shown clouds breaking up. "We knew we'd probably be a little calmer tonight. We were very fortunate to dodge that bullet last year."
Opening night of the third Thursday series that will be extended this year into September was vastly different from the one a year ago, which was the first time the city had sanctioned the sale of beer and wine at an outdoor downtown event. Crowds loved it, and showed up in larger numbers that anyone projected.
Michelle Thompson, a Kilwin's employee, stood ready to whip up a glass of fresh-squeezed lemonade. She had no customers. When someone said it was not the best day for a cold glass of lemonade, she answered brightly, "It's not the worst day."
A native of Washington state, she moved here eight years ago. Why? "The weather," she said, rolling her eyes.
Among the changes to create more space was moving the stage from the Third Avenue to the Fourth Avenue end of the Azalea parking lot. New beverages available this year are Naked Apple hard cider, made in Flat Rock, and Burntshirt Vineyards, joining the orginal lineup of Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards wine and Southern Appalachian and Sierra Nevada craft beer.

Holloway estimated the total crowd at as high as 700. The first R&B concert a year ago drew a crowd of 1,500 to 2,000, and the Balsam Range concert in July drew about 4,000.

But spring and summer in the mountains, you set up the amps, do a sound check and take your chances. So Year 2 kicked off. Rain or shine, as the saying going, but it was not quite either. By the time The Broadcast kicked off its set, the rain had quit and clouds broke up just enough to reveal a patch of blue to the northeast. The crowd grew. The band rocked. Volunteers pulled tap handles for Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale and Southern Appalachian's Copperhead Amber. Old friends greeted one another. Rhythm & Brews was back.