Summer is not over!

By Sandra Tunnell

Hello, friends of downtown!  We know that some of you view August as a winding down month, as you prepare for school, or recover from a summer full of fun, or what have you.  When we were kids (yes, when dinosaurs roamed the earth), school started in September, so to us, August is still primo summer time for summer fun!  (Although, as a side note, Facebook informed us that kids in Indiana were starting school this week.  The first week of August?!  Good grief!)  So, anyway, back to Ohio, us, August, summer- let’s party!  Last year, you may recall we did a summertime concert series downtown, hosting concerts the first Friday of each month during the summer.  What we noticed was that people loved the idea and came out in droves…if they remembered.  A lot of people didn’t remember from one month to the next, and so missed out on some Ashland Main Street fun (always a bummer, for sure).  So, this year, to make it easier on everyone (and, frankly, to not compete with the 50 bajillion things happening in June and July around here), we decided to hold our summer concert series every Friday this month.  Not only does that mean a month of music downtown, it also means a bonus fourth concert, since there are four Fridays in August!  Can we get a woot?  

And, deserving of a paragraph all its own, we will have a cash bar for our concert series. Now back to your regularly scheduled article.

First up for our Sundown Sounds concert series is EKG.  You have probably heard of them before because they are A., from Mansfield, and B.  amazing.  In case you have missed them, they are a duo who have opened for national acts and played all over Ohio and the U.S.  Dennis and Dean play an eclectic mix of folk, rock, and country, featuring hits from the 50s, 60s,70s and 80s.  In summary- they sound fantastic, and you will probably end up singing along with at least 75% of the songs they play. 

So, here are the details: our concerts are from 5-7 every Friday night in August (as in, the work week is over, come celebrate with us downtown!)  We are at our favorite stomping grounds, PNC Park, located at Main and Orange, smack in the middle of downtown Ashland.  (You may think Center Street is the middle, but actually, Orange Street was the main north-south corridor in Ashland’s first century and a half, and you know how we like to go old school.)  The band will play and you will be thrilled.  We will have beverages available for purchase.  In summary, an amazing evening is waiting for you here in our downtown, so come on up and check us out!

And then next week, another amazing evening, this time with Jimi Vincent and Two Trains Running, with his incredible guitar and blues sound.

And then Jeff Ritz the week after that.  And then Tom’s Kitchen Table.  So much grooviness downtown we just can’t stand it!

We’ll be looking for you tonight and every Friday this month- summer isn’t over yet, no matter how many back to school ads we see!  Come have fun in the sun with us in downtown Ashland!