Music Under the Maples
Concerts on the Lawn series returns to Jones House June 6th

By Jeff Eason

Nothing says summer in the High Country quite like sitting in a lawn chair listening to some great live music on the front lawn of the Jones House. Every year, from May through September, people gather under the giant maples trees at the Jones House Community and Cultural Center in downtown Boone every Friday afternoon for a free concert. It’s also a fantastic way to visit with your friends and neighbors and catch up on that weekend’s activities.

The Lazybirds performing on the front porch of the Jones House in 2007. The band will return for this year’s Concerts on the Lawn series on Friday, July 25. Photo by Jeff Eason.

This week the Watauga Arts Council released its entertainment scheduled for the 2008 Concerts on the Lawn series. The live entertainment begins around 5 p.m.

One of the new wrinkles in this year’s series is a bi-weekly fiddlers competition. The competitions will be held on June 27, July 11, and August 8. Winners of the fiddlers competitions will perform in a finale at the Daniel Boone Days Festival at Horn in the West Amphitheatre in Boone on September 6 at 12:15 p.m.

Here’s a look at this year’s Concerts on the Lawn schedule:

June 6: The Worthless Son-in-Laws (Americana)

June 13: Lisa Baldwin & Dave Haney (folk, singer-songwriter)

June 20: Songwriter Showcase feat. Monica Woodward, Nathan Taylor and Crys Matthews

June 27: Blue Notes Dixieland Jazz Band

July 4: Watauga Community Band, Steve & Ruth Smith, and Beech Mountain Echoes

July 11: The Neighbors

July 18: The King Bees (blues)

July 25: Lazybirds (swing, blues, jazz), and Sugar Grove Sweet Talkers

Aug. 1: Songwriter Showcase with Jeff & Benares, Melissa Reaves and Matt Rue

Aug. 8: Amantha Mill (bluegrass)

Aug. 15: Southern Accent (bluegrass & gospel) and Surefire

Aug. 22: Echo Park (classic rock) and Jessica Presnell

Aug. 29: Community Dance with the Elkville String Band

Sept. 5: Barbershop Quartets and The Forget-Me-Nots

Sept. 12: Harris Brothers and Meade Richter

Sept. 19: Songwriter Showcase with Deborah Jean Sheets, Shay Lovette and Jay Brown

Sept. 26: Brian Yerman (old time songs)

For more information on the 2008 Concerts on the Lawn series, call the Watauga Arts Council at (828) 264-1789.