Summer Concert Series kicks off tonight!
One of the city’s favorite and most consistently attended activities has arrived for its 2023 summer installation. Beginning today, there will be a concert every Thursday night throughout the summer months until August 31st. The Downtown Summer Concert Series will be bringing out twelve different bands/artists in that time, touching on a wide variety of different sounds and musical inspirations. New for this year’s Series is the addition of youth musicians, who will be performing a small set in the intermissions of the concert.
Kicking off the Concert Series is none other than Adams County favorite, Hubie Ashcraft. The country/americana artist has made numerous trips to the area over the past year and will be doing a threehour set on Madison Plaza.
Ashcraft, a Fort Wayne native, began playing guitar at the age of twelve. When he was 15, he saw a Springteen show in Indianapolis and realized that music was his passion and calling. In 2009, he received his first big break when he recorded with drummer Chad Crumwell, who had drummed for many popular rock and country artists including Lady Antebellum, Stevie Nicks, The Beach Boys, Neil Young, and Miranda Lambert. From here Ashcraft went on to work in Nashville with award-winning songwriter Jeff Silvey and Grammy Award winner Kenny Greenberg.
Three of Ashcraft’s songs would go on to make the Indie World Country Charts in 2012, and these releases got him and his band featured on Grand Ole Opry radio. Ashcraft then won three consecutive Fort Wayne Whammy Awards for Best Country Group before releasing his first feature length album in 2015. He went on to share the stage with numerous popular artists, including Trace Adkins, The Band Perry, George Jones, and Randy Travis.
Ashcraft will be traveling in from Angola after performing at Monument Pizza Pub on Wednesday before coming to Decatur. The singer and his band will then be at the Country Heritage Winery in Laotto on Friday before taking a small hiatus.
The band Lola Spanks and the Pinkeyes, consisting of Vivian Garcia-Mendez, Addi Johnson, and Lucy Lichtle, will be the night’s youth band. They draw inspiration from The Runaways, Three Days Grace, and My Chemical Romance. The concert tonight will be at the Madison Street Plaza from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Food and drinks will be available for purchase.