Nashville-based Blane Howard will be the featured performer at a free music concert this Saturday at the Mound City Amphitheater.
By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com
Update: Because of the colder than expected weather, the outdoor concert scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 14, has been moved by organizers to the gym at Jayhawk Elementary School. Use the north door to enter the gym.
MOUND CITY – The newly formed Mound City Business Coalition is the sponsor of a free two-hour concert this Saturday, Oct. 14, at the city’s amphitheater park on Main Street just east of Fifth Street.
The outdoor show features independent recording artist Blane Howard. The songs of Howard, who is based in Nashville but travels across the country, include his own unique take on country music with a contemporary twist.
Trevor Holman and the Haymakers, a regional band from eastern Kansas, will open the show.
The music begins at 7 p.m. with a half-hour set by Holman and his band and a acoustic performance by Howard that is expected to last for up to 90 minutes.
People who attend should plan to bring lawn chairs or a blanket to sit on.
Vendors could be set up at tables on Fifth Street, although organizers aren’t yet sure how many vendors there will be.
Marsha Wunderly, who was recently hired by F&M Bank in Mound City to do public relations, said that bank president Jeff Dawson was interested in getting businesses in the Mound City community to sponsor more events, including a music show.
This will be Howard’s second visit to Mound City. Last year, local filmmaker Sue Vicory and videographer Taylor Snyder created a music video for Howard that was shot on location in Mound City.
Vicory made the connection and worked to set negotiate the particulars of the performance. Howard and his band initially wanted $5,500 for the performance, that was a little too steep.
However, Vicory negotiated a deal that includes an acoustic set with Howard and another guitar player for $2,750 plus $400 rental of the sound equipment.
Wunderly, who saw Holman perform at a recent festival in Kincaid and asked Holman the price for opening for Howard. Holman offered to do it at no charge.
The Mound City Council voted unanimously to donate $1,000 toward the cost of the event, and Mound City businesses pitched in to pay for the remainder.
The concert, which coincides with the first evening of the Sugar Mound Arts and Crafts Festival at the fairground just north of Mound City, is the first of what Wunderly hopes are many events that the business group will sponsor.
The group had its initial meeting in September. Wunderly was hoping that at least eight business representatives would show up. Instead, 28 business leaders attended and they were enthusiastic about wanting to do something as a community. The group plans to meet quarterly, and its next meeting is Nov. 16.
However, Wunderly said, their goal was to have a business association instead of a chamber of commerce similar to chambers in La Cygne and Pleasanton. She said that chambers of commerce have too many rules and a less structured coalition of businesses seemed to fit the community better.
At its inaugural meeting, coalition members agreed to a proposal by Matt Casner of Redlogic Inc. to build a website that could display information about coalition members and their events.
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