Salty Summer Sounds is back! Saline Main Street has confirmed to Sun Times News that they will be bringing twelve weeks of free live music to downtown Saline every Thursday starting June 10th.
“We weren’t sure if we could work all summer. I had booked about half the summer before shutdown last year. Part of it was easy, I could only contact her one more time to see what date would be good for her this year, and all but one group were still available, ”said Principal Organizer Jill Durnen.
Photo credit: Jill Durnen
The concert will take place on South Main Street in the heart of the main downtown restaurants. The attendees of the free concert will be invited by Saline Main Street to have dinner in the surrounding bars and restaurants. Like essentially everything in the inner city, Saline’s restaurants have been badly hit by the pandemic and it has been unclear for a while whether or not the series should continue. But now that about three-fifths of American adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine and Michigan begins easing its pandemic restrictions, the concert series is back on track.
According to the state of Michigan, just over half the state’s population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 43 percent of the population has received a second dose. The concert will stay open unless the federal or state government announces a new closure to respond to a new surge.
“If you meet up to get to downtown Saline, chances are you’ll see some really cool live act. We will introduce a lot of local talent. Everyone is really rare to prepare. I’m just happy that everyone wants to play here, ”said Holli Andrews, Executive Director of Saline Main Street.
Usually participants sat in long rows of folding chairs to listen to the performers. But because some people won’t be happy with the lack of social distancing, Durnen plans to simply make the chairs available so people can choose how close or far they want to be to others while listening to Holmes and her band.
Photo credit: Jill Durnen
The twelve family-friendly acts will return with their traditional sense of variety, according to Saline Main Street. Every week will be different, with acts ranging from classic rock to hip hop to indie rock, Andrews said. The first concert will feature the return of pop country star Kari Holmes and her band.
“I’m so excited. Last year was just crazy because I couldn’t preform that much,” said Holmes. When she and her band originally formed, “Saline was one of the first places I played with my whole band It will be great to be back and play my new music for you guys. It’s going to be a great time. ”
The editor of this newspaper, Chuck Colby, is a member of the band Three Men and a Tenor. They will perform on the second Thursday June 17th.
According to Durnen, the full lineup will be:
6/10/21 Kari Holmes – Land
6/17/21 Three men and a tenor
06/24/21 Sociable & mind full of ghosts – Singer Songwriter / Alternative Acoustic Rock Trio
7/1/21 pajamas – funk / rock
7/8/21 Fifty Amp Fuse – Lite Rock
07/15/21 Driving sideways – Rockabilly / Country
7/22/21 CEYX (stop) – Classic Rock
07/29/21 Corndaddy – Country / Rock
8/5/21 Saline Fiddlers Philharmonic – violin
8/12/21 Major Dudes – Steely Dan Tribute
08/19/21 Ben Daniels Band – Americana / Singer / Songwriter
08/26/21 Geezer & The Queen’s Revenge – Classic rock / pirate rock
Top headline credit: Saline Main Street.
