Country singer latest performer in concert series
Published 5:42 pm Thursday, February 16, 2017
- BANKING ON IT: Award-winning country singer/songwriter Victoria Banks will play at Washington High School Performing Arts Center Friday night, the latest concert in the Beaufort County Concert Association’s season.
The Beaufort County Concert Association is bringing country music to a local stage in the latest in a series of performances.
Victoria Banks is slated to play Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Washington High School Performing Arts Center. Banks is of the caliber musician that she’s been on tour with country music stars Reba McEntire, Wynonna Judd and Randy Travis, but it’s songwriting that is her first love, according to a press release from Live On Stage Inc., the booking association with which BCCA works to bring national acts to the local stage. She wrote Sara Evans’ award-winning “Saints & Angels” and Jessica Simpson’s “Come On Over,” and is the most-nominated female artist in Canadian country music.
According to BCCA President Alma Friedman, Banks’ invitation to perform represents a departure for BCCA for two reasons: the concert is on a Friday night, which was the only opening Banks had; and BCCA is hoping to reach out to a wider audience.
“We’ve never, to my knowledge, had anything country, and basically that’s what she sings,” Friedman said. “Everybody seems excited because we don’t have a lot of country music in our lineup.”
Friedman said the BCCA board is constantly seeking feedback from its members and others who come to performances solely to get a better idea what acts people want to see.
“We depend on members to tell us what they like,” Friedman said.
As a prelude to picking acts for the next year’s season of concerts, select BCCA board members attend the annual convention in Nashville where potential performers are showcased. After, Live on Stage representatives pay a visit and the BCCA board watch videos of a narrowed down field of entertainers — thus the entire board has a role in picking out the acts for next year’s season. But picking out performers is not an easy task, according to Friedman.
“It’s like drawing straws — ‘Is this the kind of music people like?’” Friedman laughed.
While the BCCA membership fee, which includes five shows, is $60, anyone who wants to attend tonight’s concert can do so: tickets are sold at the door for $25 each.
For more information about BCCA, visit BCCA.org.