It’s almost Friday again and that means the Downtown Dalton Summer Music Series is back and this week we have a great Live Music performance in store for you. Opening will be Dobro player, Lou Wamp and all the way from Nashville, Tennessee, The Arcadian Wild will be headlining. 

Lou Wamp has played some kind of instrument as long as he can remember. Born at Ft. Benning, GA, he grew up hearing his grandfather play “Travis style” guitar and became enamored with stringed instruments. He studied music at Cadek Conservatory in Chattanooga, and fine art at the University of Tennnessee (BA, 1980). In the late 70’s he fell in love with the resonator guitar (dobro) and, like Jerry Douglas, began to explore it as an instrument without creative limitations.

He became a close friend of the late Gene Wooten (Osborne Bros.) in Nashville and credits Gene with much of his stylistic formation. He has since toured in bands Hiwassee Ridge, James Monroe and the Midnight Ramblers, The Dismembered Tennesseans, and Blue Moon Rising, and now manages performing bands, Swing Shift, Bluetastic Fangrass, and The Von Wamps.

He has performed across the Southeast and beyond for over 30 years including the 1982 World’s Fair, IBMA Showcases, Memphis in May, Riverbend Festival, 3 Sisters Festival and many others. In 2009 he was asked to be on the faculty at Reso Summit in Nashville, along with Rob Ickes, Mike Witcher, Sally Van Meter, Cindy Cashdollar, and other fine players.

In 2005, he released “ResOlution”, a CD project of mostly original music produced by Butch Baldassari.”It’s my favorite recording of my work so far,” says Lou, “because it showcases the fact that my style can’t really be pigeon-holed. Byron House came up with a great description of it: ‘ArtGrass’. That pretty much says it all”. 

The Arcadian Wild began when three choir kids from Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN got together after class to jam for the afternoon. 4 years, 1 album, 4 singles, scores of shows, a few million digital streams and downloads, and about 20,000 miles later, the band consists of guitarist Isaac Horn, mandolinist Lincoln Mick, and fiddler Machaela Nesler. With all three members contributing as songwriters, vocalists, and players, the band explores a unique acoustic sound, one simultaneously unified and diverse. Inspired by artists who seek to blend folk and formal music, The Arcadian Wild offers up songs of invitation; calls to come and see, to find refuge and rest, or to journey and wonder.

The FREE Friday night concert starts at 7:30PM at Burr Park, located right in the heart of Downtown Dalton at 101 S. Hamilton Street. There will be plenty of beer on hand, sold by the Downtown Dalton Development Authority. Visit them at the beer tent. Kona Ice will be there, serving up cold ice treats that everyone loves. 

The Downtown Dalton Summer Music Series is sponsored by BB&T Bank and Insurance Services, the Dalton Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Community Foundation of NWGA, the Downtown Dalton Development Authority and the Creative Arts Guild. Special thanks to all of our staff and volunteers who make the Summer Music Series such a great event to attend. 

So, come early on Friday evening, bring your blankets, lawn chairs, family and friends, it’s gonna be one heck of a show. 

For more information check out DaltonEvents.com. 

See you Downtown!