Summer Concert Series returning downtown

Summer Concert Series returning downtown News Staff Fri, 02/02/2024 - 9:26 am

• (ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Gary P. Nunn closes out the 2023 Summer Concert Series on the Graham downtown square. The Summer Concert Series is returning to the square with five free performances.
• (ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER) A visitor to the Summer Concert Series stands while listening to Gary P. Nunn who closed out the series in 2023. The series will be returning with performances to be announced.

Thomas Wallner editor@grahamleader.com

The Summer Concert Series will bring the music downtown again this year with five free performances held in partnership with Visit Graham and Graham Concert Association.

After closing out its inaugural concert series in August 2023, Visit Graham and the Graham Concert Association worked together to make it happen again this summer.

“It was a huge success and so we wanted to make sure that we figured out a way to continue it knowing that we needed more participation in the funding aspect,” GCA President Grant Ingram said. “So that’s why Graham Concert Association is contributing a significant amount of money toward this.”

Visit Graham funded the entirety of the 2023 event and worked to find other options this year while maintaining it as a free activity for the community.

“The idea was really born out of the Graham Concert Association and it has grown into a partnership between Graham Concert Association and Visit Graham and now (we are) bringing our title sponsor on board to help fund the event,” Visit Graham Manager Amanda Dulany said.

The 2023 series was an expense over $70,000, but Visit Graham wanted to test the waters to see if a free concert series could kick off in Graham and be something that would draw those from near and far.

“It’s a costly endeavor to bring in quality bands, rent the stage, provide the sound and lights. So there is a lot of money that’s invested into this Summer Concert Series and there is really no revenue stream,” Ingram said. “Visit Graham, believing that bringing people together for live music throughout the summer is a benefit to our community, they were fine with taking on the expense.”

With the exception of the first performance, Visit Graham tracked 7,000 in attendance total during last year’s event across all five performances.

“We saw such an incredible response to the event. …As the weeks went on, the attendance grew and grew and grew,” Dulany said. “I think word of mouth spread and the word really got out that this truly is a free event. You really can show up and have a great time. It was age appropriate for all. It was an opportunity to bring your kids, bring your friends, come down and really be able to (share) fellowship with your community.”

Ingram said the concert association wanted to help alleviate the burden of the financial strain of the Summer Concert Series along with the title sponsorship. The GCA president said making the event free to the public was also important.

“There’s a lot of things in town that have an admission ticket. With the economy the way that it is, the more that we can do for free (the more that) is going to bring more people out and they can enjoy it. They don’t have to spend money (and) they can come out and hang out with their friends and family,” he said.

Last year the bands were Sunny Sweeney and Max Stalling, Green River Ordinance, Boy Named Banjo, Uncle Lucius and Gary P. Nunn. GCA will be in charge of securing the talent for the event again this year as well as helping with stage rentals and sound production.

This year, five performances will be held starting two weeks after the Food Truck Championship of Texas and happening every other Saturday through Saturday, Aug. 10.

“We’re working right now to confirm all of our bands,” Ingram said. “That’s the process that I take on to try to bring top-quality artists that we can afford to bring in and make sure that people enjoy and they want to come out and listen.”

The dates for the concerts will be Saturday, June 15, Saturday, June 29, Saturday, July 13, Saturday, July 27 and Saturday, Aug. 10. Dulany said that they intend to make the event BYOB as it was during the inaugural year.

The GCA president said providing an opportunity for the community to come together on a Saturday on the downtown square watching the sunset is an experience like no other.

“Our community deserves good entertainment at no cost and so we’ve been able to figure out a way to make those numbers work where we can do it again,” he said.

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