As we welcome the new year, there is a lot to look forward to in the local music scene. The options for enjoying live music in Chattanooga continue to grow in quality and quantity and 2020 should be remarkable, with new and improving music options on the horizon.
Probably the one that has gotten the most attention is Riverbend. The city’s largest music festival has new management and, as the saying goes, a new direction. Gone is the iconic but tired barge stage. In is the staff at Songbirds, who have partnered with longtime Riverbend management company Friends of the Festival to infuse new life and an updated lineup to the 39-year-old festival.
Instead of focusing so much of the money, and energy, on each night’s headliners, this year’s approach is to present four solid acts on the Coke Stage (which will now be under the Olgiati Bridge) and Bud Light Stage. It’s a similar approach to what the very successful Moon River Festival does across the river in Coolidge Park.
Here are some live shows to look forward to this month:
Charlie Starr with Benji Shanks – Jan. 10 at Songbirds SouthHayes Carll with Allison Moorer – Jan. 15 at Songbirds NorthJonny Lang – Jan. 15 at Walker TheatreKeller Williams – Jan. 16 at Songbirds SouthCitizen Cope – Jan. 21 at Walker TheatreTurkuaz with Neal Francis – Jan. 23 at Songbirds SouthWayne “The Train” Hancock – Jan. 23 at Songbirds NorthRandy Rogers Band with Flatland Cavalry – Jan. 24 at The SignalFrankie Valli & The Four Seasons – Jan. 24 at Tivoli TheatreJake Shimabukuro – Jan. 26 at Songbirds NorthIndigo Girls – Jan. 29-30 at Walker Theatre
It’s been done relatively under the radar, but the concession area at Memorial Auditorium has been completely renovated and fans will have a brand-new experience when they attend shows there from now on.
We are fortunate in Chattanooga to have several ways to contribute to the future of music and those who make it. There are several groups that are doing great work in those efforts and two of them are the Songbirds Foundation, which provides free lessons and guitars to area youth, and the newly formed Instrument Fund created by a partnership between Giant Steps Music and local nonprofit SoundCorps.
The goal of the fund is to raise $500,000 over the next five years for the purchase of new band equipment and repairs to old instruments.