Musicians Corner has kicked off its fall season in unprecedented fashion. Coinciding with the Nashville Street Food Awards, the weekly Centennial Park event saw record numbers come out to see Jon Troast, The Nashville Symphony Quartet, Chelsea Gill, Jeremy Lister, Anthony Snape, Karen Elson, The Carmonas and the legendary Blind Boys of Alabama.
The event is sporting a slightly different look this season, turning the stage 180 degrees due to a Centennial Park tree that is rather old and at risk of coming down. Yet that didn’t stop the crowd from piling in and trying food from the street vendors and beer from the beer and wine garden.
As a special treat for the season kickoff, Jon Troast performed an acoustic pre-show at 2:30. Immediately following, the crowd was treated to the classical stylings of The Nashville Symphony Quartet. As the name suggests, this foursome is made up of members of the Nashville Symphony, yet – as they explained – it is a rotating group of four, and could be entirely different members each time you see the quartet play.
Following a Lightning 100 Acoustic Stage performance by Chelsea Gill, the main stage welcomed Jeremy Lister. Jeremy has gained some notoriety by participating in NBC’s hit show The Sing Off with his a capella group Street Corner Symphony. Today, however, Jeremy showcased his singer/songwriter side with his full band, though he did treat the crowd to an a capella song with three other band mates.
Anthony Snape, who had finished up his newest album not hours prior was next on the Acoustic Stage. Following his performance, British singer Karen Elson hit the main stage. With wonderful passion and energy (and a fabulous accent), Karen encited pure enjoyment, complete with children running around in front of the stage.
The Blind Boys of Alabama
Last on the Acoustic Stage was the Belmont University group The Carmonas, who led way to Mayor Karl Dean. Mayor Dean is a tremendous supporter of Musicians Corner and Centennial Park, and is no stranger to introducing legendary performances at the event. Today it was Blind Boys of Alabama.
Not only did they interpret some of the greatest gospel songs of all time, but The Blind Boys also had a Musicians Corner first: an encore. The crowd went nuts when Executive Director John Tumminiello came out on stage and asked how everyone enjoyed the group. And then, wouldn’t you know it… lead singer Jimmy Carter came out into the crowd to sing.
The fall season is off to an incredible start indeed.
Musicians Corner is a non-profit program of The Conservancy for the Parthenon & Centennial Park. The spring season of runs every Saturday through June, and features great artists, special guests and fun activities. For additional information and the entire spring schedule please visit www.musicianscornernashville.com.
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