Cruise Downtown and Enjoy the Tunes

Starting this Saturday and running the first Saturday of each month through August, the Downtown Development Authority begins its Summer Concert Series in conjunction with the Tom Clayton Memorial Car Cruise.  And maybe the best part about this monthly downtown offering – it’s free.

The concert series will kick off Saturday at 7 p.m. with Myke Carroll and Arc Light.  It has been said the group is one of the best kept secrets in the north Georgia mountains. Hailing from Blue Ridge, this three-man band plays an eclectic mix of music, from big band and jazz to blues and hard rock to country. What they like to call it — take tunes from the 60s and the 70s and "twist them up a notch."

Myke Carroll once said, “I have worked with a few famous people and a lot of infamous people.” Perhaps the most notable groug with whom Carroll played was the Black Crowes, an Atlanta band that has opened for various rock acts including Heart, Robert Plant, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and more.

In June, the concert series features a return of The Tams. This American vocal group, also from Atlanta, enjoyed its greatest chart success in the 60s and 70s.  Some of the hits include, Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me, What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am) and Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy. Thanks to the late 80s film Shag, the group also enjoyed a rise to the top 25 charts in the UK with the 1987 song, There Ain’t Nothing Like Shaggin.

Another group making their way to the concert stage in Friendship Plaza in July is the Jimmy Buffet tribute band, Parrot Island Band, also founded in Atlanta. Concert goers can don their Hawaiian shirts, straw hats and flip-flops and enjoy some of the classic Jimmy Buffet hits such as, Margaritaville, Come Monday, Cheesburger in Paradise and Fins.

To close out the Summer Concert Series in August is a local band very familiar with Bartow County, Babe’s Bayou from Adairsville. Having played many venues both here and around north Georgia, the group describes its sound as a jam band mix of country and southern rock. The playlist will undoubtedly contain the hits Wild Women, Redneckville, Finally Dawned on Me and Who I Am.

And, as mentioned above, each concert performance will be held in conjunction with the Tom Clayton Memorial Car Cruise, which begins in the early afternoon and continues through to the end of the musical act.

If you are looking for some great family-friendly entertainment that is completely free to the public, mark your calendars for the first Saturday of each month to come down to historic downtown Cartersville. 

If you would like to come out and volunteer to help with these community events, call the Downtown Development Authority at 770-607-3480.  You can also visit its Facebook page, Fall In Love With Downtown Cartersville, to stay informed of all of the DDA’s activities and to post photos of and comments about the events you attend.