The Stave Fest is coming back.
The Summer Concert Series is also coming back and with it will be an appearance by Nashville-based and Taylorsville native JD Shelburne.
Mayor Troy Young announced the return of the concert series Monday afternoon, saying he knows people are ready to get outside and have some fun, considering most events during the past year had to be canceled.
“We are definitely looking forward to this summer when things will hopefully be a lot more lenient,” said Young, referring to current COVID restrictions. “People are ready to get out and we’ve got just the venue to do that.”
Young said each of the three concerts, scheduled for June 18, July 16 and Aug. 6, are on Fridays and will coincide with a Food Truck Friday.
Young launched Food Truck Friday to great success two summers ago when about a dozen food trucks serving a variety of food set up on the Green and drew huge lunch and supper crowds.
He said the summer events will culminate Sept. 10 and 11 when the Stave Fest returns, which will be coupled with a bicentennial celebration of the city’s 200th birthday that was also canceled last year.
JD Shelburne, Aug. 6
Shelburne, who was slated to perform here last year before COVID wiped out his concert and numerous other events, said the timing for his planned Aug. 6 concert couldn’t be better.
“We’re going to be playing from our catalog of albums, plus I’ll be introducing music from my new album, “Straight from Kentucky,” that is due out in June,” said Shelburne, who last year had a number one video on CMT but decided to delay the album’s release due to the pandemic.
“This is going to be my first full-length album, with 11 songs plus a bonus track,” he said. “I’ve spent a lot of time recording new music.”
Shelburne will perform a three-piece acoustic set, and said he’s thrilled with returning for another show in Lawrenceburg.
“We always love to come to Lawrenceburg,” he said. “I have a lot of fans and great friends there in that town, and, being from Taylorville, it has become a second home.”
Shelburne said the past year has been difficult, noting that he had to cancel nearly 90 shows due to the pandemic.
“Despite a crazy year of cancelations, I was able to play 100 shows and record a new album, so I consider myself very lucky.”
Grayson Jenkins, July 16
Country artist Grayson Jenkins is scheduled to perform July 16th.
“I’m really excited to come to Lawrenceburg,” he said. “I’ve been there a couple of times, including the Burgoo Festival, just to hang around the Cattleman’s station, and of course I’ve been to Lovers Leap Winery and Wild Turkey.”
Jenkins said people should expect a feel-good, high-energy show.
“We’re country-folk rock,” he said. “It’s a little different than some of the mainstream stations … more outlaw country with 70’s rock influences.
“It’s an easy-going vibe with a little dancing and story-telling meshed into a good show.”
Jenkins said he’s certainly looking forward to returning to the stage.
“I usually do 100 to 150 shows a year,” he said. “Last year, we did 15, and most of those were early in the year. The summer is opening up pretty quickly.”
Inspired by the likes of John Prine, Kris Kristofferson, Sturgill Simpson and more, Lexington-based Jenkins is a native of western Kentucky who left a full-time job in Lexington in 2017 to chase his dreams of being a full-time musician.
His most recent album, Cowboy Dream, features musicians who play with Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers and others.
Zack Attack Band, June 18
Cincinnati-based Zack Attack Band will open the summer series June 18, bringing with it a high-energy danceable music ranging from R&B and hip hop and alternative.
“Our tagline is we are the great throwback party band ever,” said Brian Banschbach, the band’s leader, who said the band began playing about eight years ago as an homage, of sorts, to the 1980s, but has since added in music hits from the 1990s.
“We’re a cover band with a DJ mentality,” he said. “We get in and get out with a verse and a few of the choruses to keep people guessing. We’ll play anything that will get people up, dancing and singing.
Asked who in the band is Zack, Banschbach said they all are.
“We’re all a Zack,” he said. “It’s an homage to the show, Saved By The Bell, which starred Zack Morris.”
(Note: This story was written by Ben Carlson, editor of The Anderson News, and is being shared here with their permission.)
Additional details about Food Truck Fridays and other upcoming events will be listed as they become available on the tourism office’s calendar of events