Summertime (In The Triad) And The Listening Is Easy

The summer music season is about to take off in earnest with dozens of free concerts throughout the Piedmont and High Country. There's Arts Splash in High Point, Greensboro's Music for a Sunday Evening in the Park, Downtown Jazz in Winston-Salem, and Mid-Day Mountain Music at the Blue Ridge Music Center. And each one of these live performance series brings something unique.

Need a quick escape from city life? The Blue Ridge Music Center near Galax, Virginia is just about an hour from Winston-Salem. There you'll find Mid-Day Mountain Music with free live performances every day they're open through October. 

Program Director Richard Emmett says the BRMC might just be the oasis for which you're looking.

“You're on the Blue Ridge Parkway looking at the mountains, but you're hearing some authentic Blue Ridge mountain music performed by local traditional musicians that have been doing it for a long time and represent some of the great traditions of the mountains,” says Emmett.

“You're sitting in a setting — it's like on a front porch. People are telling stories about the music, the musicians that created that music, and we have a great museum at the music center and some hiking trails. It's just a great setting for a quick day trip out of Winston-Salem.”

Maybe Bluegrass and Old Time aren't your thing, but you still like your music homegrown and outdoors. From mid-June to the end of August, it's Greensboro's Music for a Sunday Evening in the Park (MUSEP). 

Director Jennifer Hance says MUSEP is celebrating its 40th year of free public concerts.

“It's really a unique series because we do focus on our local talent; what we have here in Greensboro,” says Hance. “We're really blessed as a community to have these amazing local musicians, and we're excited to be able to highlight those and the beautiful parks and facilities that we have in Greensboro.” 

The city's home to more than 100 parks. Concertgoers bring blankets and chairs to sit on as well as food and drink. Hance's favorite venue? Linley Park.

“It's a big open green space and we have two playgrounds on that site as well,” she says. “So, while people are listening to concerts, kids can play at our playgrounds. And that is actually attached to our arboretum, which is one of our four gardens here in Greensboro as well. It's just this really beautiful, shaded, lush green park that we have here in Greensboro.”

And if you're someone who enjoys your live music performed in a variety of eclectic venues, Arts Splash in High Point runs from mid-June to mid-August with free performances in eight different genres of music, from R&B and Country to Funk and Venezuelan Tambor.

“One of the things that makes it unique is that we hold it in different parks. It's at the museum and the library and the plaza. And the purpose of Arts Splash — splashing it around town — is to make the arts accessible to everyone in our community,” says Lumpkin. 

This year Arts Splash will kick off with the soulful sounds of Hustle Souls.

“I'm really looking forward to this one,” she says. “They're out of Asheville. They've got a totally different sound — their own sound. They're very energetic. And you can dance to it." 

"You can even shag to some of it," she laughs. "That's a selling point in the Carolinas.”

With Reggae, Latin, Swing and more on the menu, dancing is a big part of the Summer Music Series in Winston-Salem. Summer On Liberty features weekly free concerts downtown at 6th and Liberty Streets from 7-10 p.m. beginning this month through the end of August. 

Downtown Winston-Salem's Jason Thiel says the highly anticipated event, now in its 23rd year, reintroduces people to the resurgent Liberty Street area.

“It's sunny outside. People are kind of sweating. But as the sun goes down everybody starts to dance," says Thiel. “You know it's just everybody from the entire community and beyond is there. There's a rich diversity of people from every walk of life and it makes you so proud to be a producer of it.”

And Winston-Salem's Downtown Jazz series takes place in the large urban park — often filled to capacity — known as Corpening Plaza.

Sharing live music experiences with fellow community members in beautiful outdoor venues for free — folks in the Triad and High Country have lots to look forward to this summer.

SOC