Featured Advertisers
Sat, Nov. 07  -   -  Mobile  -  RSS
  

Make a post about this story on FredTalk. Get a printer-friendly version of this page. E-mail this story to a friend.


Visit Jonas Beals's blog: Stafford County News and Notes

-

View More Images from this story

Visit the Photo Place

>> NEW CONCERT SERIES BRINGS THE BIG BOYS OF MUSIC TO THE 'BURG

Celebrate Virginia Live will bring top-notch national touring acts to Fredericksburg

Date published: 4/30/2009

BY JONAS BEALS

When it comes to getting mainstream live entertainment, most locals hit the road.

That might soon change. Tomorrow night, The Wailers (of Bob Marley fame) will bring their positive vibrations to Central Park. They are one of 10 national touring acts already scheduled for the Celebrate Virginia Live outdoor concert series.

It should be a welcome option for auditory locavores.

"I've had my eye on the area for three or four years," promoter David Peterson said. "It's been sort of a slow burn of watching Fredericksburg evolve, and I think the community is ready to step up."

Chew on this: Country music superstar Travis Tritt is on the lineup. So are Gin Blossoms, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Little Feat and local one-man jam band Keller Williams.

Every Friday evening from now until the middle of July, you have a reason to get out of the house, but not have to go out of town.

Peterson also promotes the Innsbrook After Hours concert series in Richmond. He said when the time was right to try to expand the Innsbrook series, Fredericksburg came to mind and he came up for a visit.

"I got there and said, wow, this place has become really vibrant.

"There's not a tremendous amount of empirical research to rely on," he said. "But I want to see if our model can work in communities that are somewhat under-served."

Fredericksburg certainly fits that bill. The local population has boomed, but entertainment options have struggled to keep up. Celebrate Virginia Live might be exactly what local residents want.

VIEW FROM DOWNTOWN

Fredericksburg has produced its fair share of famous players--Saffire, Keller Williams and The Seldom Scene come to mind--but the downtown music scene has sometimes struggled.

Talk to a group of local musicians and you learn that Fredericksburg is chock-full of talent, but it can be hard to get people to listen. When it comes to live music, there seems to be an invisible barrier between the city and the hundreds of thousands of people who live in the surrounding counties.

Central Park and Celebrate Virginia are technically part of the city. Philosophically, those suburban commercial centers are a world away from historic downtown.

Most of the active players and venues are downtown, but most of the potential ears are a gridlocked drive away.


1  2  Next Page  

Celebrate Virginia Live May 1: The Wailers May 8: Keller Williams May 15: Gin Blossoms and TONIC May 22: Toad The Wet Sprocket/Eddie From Ohio May 29: Little Feat June 5: Dark Star Orchestra June 12: TBA June 19: ZOSO June 26: TBA July 10: TBA July 17: Travis Tritt

Cost: $10-$35, depending on the show Where: Gordon W. Shelton Blvd., near the Fredericksburg Expo Center Info: celebratevirginia live.com



Follow us on
twitter
fredericksburg.com Facebook page


Date published: 4/30/2009


Most recent reader comments:

Viewing all 2 comments. (Sorted in reverse order, with most recent post at the top.)

Display comments on this page. | Sort:

PLEASE READ: These reader comments are not moderated. Each user is solely responsible for any message (s)he posts here. The Free Lance-Star does not endorse the views expressed within these comments. All users who post to this Web site must agree to the terms of the FredTalk User Agreement. We rely on our readers to police themselves, and report any content that violates our User Agreement. In accordance with our User Agreement, we reserve the right to remove any post at any time for any reason, and will restrict access of registered users who repeatedly violate our terms. Any reader can report inappropriate content by clicking the "Report this post to admins" link at the bottom of each comment. You need not be registered to report a post.

the burg (posted by kam43 , May 7, 2009 7:44 am)   
He is from the Burg??? wow did not know...he sings a mix of music eclectic?

KELLER (posted by kjernigan , May 3, 2009 4:11 pm)   
Definitely check out the Keller show on May 8. It should be a lot of fun to hear him playing to his hometown crowd!

What do you think?
Enter your FredTalk username and password to post a comment on this story. If you are registered on FredTalk or another part of this site, use that login here. Otherwise, you can just REGISTER here... .

Username: Password:

Post title:


Please keep it brief: (512-character limit)
Please make sure CAPS LOCK is off. Posts in ALL CAPS will be deleted.)


By checking this box, you agree to the terms of the FredTalk User agreement.