Musicians playing folk, pop and ragtime music will grace the stage during the first Winter Concert Series at the Lee Street Theater and Performing Arts Center.
“We have a great lineup,” said Justin Dionne, Lee Street’s managing artistic director. “We’re hoping to draw people not just from Salisbury, but cities like Charlotte and Winston as well.”
Folk pop band Bombadil played to a full house last Friday in the new space. Life Size, a group of Catawba College students, opened the show.
Woody Pines is up next in the series, performing at the venue Dec. 20.
The band, based out of Nashville, Tenn., performs ragtime, viper jazz and country blues.
“A lot of these bands people won’t recognize off the top of their head and Woody Pines is probably the least known out of all of them, but his sound is one that Salisbury and Rowan County will love,” said Dionne. “He puts on a really fun show.”
The series will continue Jan. 17 with David Wilcox.
The Cleveland, Ohio native has released a total of 17 folk albums since becoming inspired to learn guitar after hearing a fellow student in a college stairwell.
“I’ve loved David Wilcox since I was in college; he’s an amazing storyteller,” Dionne said. “Anyone who likes James Taylor will absolutely love David Wilcox.”
Singer-songwriter Chris Trapper will bring his classic pop sound to the stage Feb. 7.
The Boston-based lead singer for The Push Stars wrote “This Time,” which was featured on the Grammy-nominated soundtrack of the film “August Rush.”
“He’s touring Europe right now with Colin Hay from Men at Work,” Dionne said.
Dionne said Lee Street is still working to book the March band.
Over time, Dionne said his goal is bring even bigger acts to Lee Street, while continuing to book local bands as the openers.
“I don’t want forget my roots,” he said. “Bands talk, it’s a small world. Our hope is that bands come and play and have such a great experience with our audiences, our community and us as an organization that they go back and tell their friends.”
Although Lee Street’s performance space was built using concrete, Dionne said the acoustical blocks makes it a great venue for music.
“The room sounds great,” he said. “It doesn’t have echo and the sound doesn’t get muddy.”
Ticket prices for each show will vary, but Dionne said all seats are general admission, which provides more flexibility.
“There are no assigned seats,” he said.