This weekend’s Fun in Kannapolis starts tonight
KANNAPOLIS — All movies and concerts are free to the public and are held downtown at Village Park or Veterans Park.

6-9 p.m. tonight: July 12: Thursdays on Main-Evening features The Embers at Veterans Park.
The Embers laid the groundwork for what has become known as ‘Beach Music.’ They consider the genre as “music with a memory” — heart and soul, rhythm and blues, feel good music — and have been creating lasting memories since its inception in 1958.

7:05 p.m. July 14-17: Kannapolis Intimidators home games with the Hagerstown Suns.
Fireworks follow the game on July 14.
Purchase tickets at the gate or www.intimidatorsbaseball.com

1-9 p.m. July 14: Cruise-In Downtown Kannapolis

7 p.m. July 14: Concerts in the Park wtih Starship, at Village Park
In 1985, Starship released the album that would come to define the 80s, Knee Deep in the Hoopla.Starship music is featured in the soundtracks for “Rock of Ages,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Skeleton Twins,” and most recently on the popular TV series “Glee.”
Michael Tracy is the opening act. Tracy combines straightforward American Rock and Roll with poignant lyrical themes, and together with his band has shared the stage with Bon Jovi (garnering him a featured article in Billboard Magazine), Poison, George Thorogood, Styx, Foreigner, Don Felder, Jefferson Starship, Dokken, and Zach Myers (Shinedown).

Free admission. Children 18 and under must be accompanied by a parent/guardian. No pets or smoking. Download the summer’s entire schedule at www.kannapolisnc.gov

 

Live collaborative painting demo: Visual Strategies
CONCORD — Mikel Frank and longtime collaborative painting partner Gerard Amsellem, the The Visual Passion Duo, will present a 5-hour live painting collaboration to live music by local musician Noel Freidline. The public is invited to come watch at Clearwater artist studios, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, July 14. This is the second live event associated with the exhibition.
‘Visual Strategies: A Collaborative Project” is a guest exhibit and set of events taking places at ClearWater Artist Studios this summer, organized by two collaborators: local artist and curator, Mikel Frank, and collaborating curator and artist, Carl Heyward.
Frank is now an adjunct art instructor at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and Gaston College; Carl Heyward is an artist and founder of the Global Art Project, and lives and works out on the West Coast.

Coming next: 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Aug 11: Family collaborative painting day.

Learn more at www.clearwaterartists.com or 704-784-9535. The Studios are located at 223 Crowell Drive NW, Concord.

 

17th annual NC Blackberry Festival
Lenoir — July 13-14: Featuring the world’s largest blackberry cobbler, The Blackberry Parade complete with the NC Panthers PurrCussion Drumline, blackberry eating contests, The Blackberry Pageant, live music, vendors, food trucks, Bites, Brews and Blues and more.
The Festival begins on Friday at 5 p.m. in downtown Lenoir and continues through Saturday at 9 p.m.
The world’s largest patchwork blackberry cobbler is assembled in the town center and is given to more 300 people until gone.
On Saturday evening renowned Blues artist Sandra Hall and the King Bees will close out the festival.
More than 35 food trucks will be on site plus 230 vendors. Chick Fil-A Blackberry Patch will have a children’s area with bouncy houses, face painting, crafts and games.
For more information, call 828-726-0616 or visit www.ncblackberryfestival.com
Highlights:
Friday
• 5 p.m. Festival opens
• 6 p.m. Blackberry Pageant
• 7 p.m. Blackberry recipe contest
• 7:45 p.m. Blackberry singer-songwriter competition
• 8:30 p.m. Blackberry GLOW Run

Saturday
• 10 a.m. Live music by Rooted
• 11 a.m. Live music by Melissa Reaves
• Noon Blackberry eating contest
• 12:30 p.m. Presentation of Colors, The National Anthem, Introductions
• 12:45 p.m. Colossal Blackberry Cobbler Parade
• 1 p.m. World’s Largest Patchwork of Blackberry Cobbler
• 1 p.m. Live music by Shelby Rae Moore
• 2 p.m. Live music by King Bees
• 3 p.m. Live music by Bob Sinclair and the Big Deals
• 4 p.m. Singer-songwriter contestant winner
• 6-9 p.m. Sandra Hall, “Empress of the Blues,” and the King Bees
Lenoir is about an hour and a half from Salisbury.

 

Award-winning artists bring music of all genres to Winston-Salem
WINSTON-SALEM — University of North Carolina School of the Arts hosts “UNCSA Presents: American Music Series” in Winston-Salem’s downtown historic Stevens Center, originally a 1929 silent movie theater. The series explores the juxtaposition of a full range of American musics— folk, Latin, Americana, bluegrass — in the magnificent setting of this neoclassical theater.
• Las Cafeteras, July 26
• Anna & Elizabeth, July 28
• Josh Ritter, Aug. 2
All events start at 7:30 p.m. at UNCSA’s Stevens Center, 405 West Fourth St. Tickets are $17-$78 at https://www.uncsa.edu/performances or 336-721-1945.

 

Lumbee Tribe cultural performance
MOORESVILLE — At 3 p.m. July 13, join Ryan Dial-Stanley, a Lumbee Native American, for music, dancing, and storytelling at the Mooresville Public Library.
All ages are welcome to this free presentation.
Mooresville Public Library, 304 South Main St., www.mooresvillelibrary.org