Concerts in the Park series begins with The Flowtown Band

FLORENCE – The Florence Regional Arts Alliance will begin its 2010-11 Season of the Honda of South Carolina Concerts In The Park Series with performance by The Flowtown Band from 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 1, in the Amphitheatre of Timrod Park. 

Presented in collaboration with the City of Florence Parks and Beautification and the Florence Museum, the Honda of South Carolina Concerts In The Park Series is an Arts Alliance programming initiative designed to showcase the performing excellence of local and area musicians while also celebrating community and providing free quality entertainment for the families of the Florence community. 

In its eighth year of operation, the Honda of South Carolina Concerts In The Park schedules free quality entertainment for the first Sunday of each month and provides programming from across the musical spectrum for the community at no admission charge.  Arts Alliance Executive Director Frank H. Crow Jr. said, “The Arts Alliance would not be able to provide many of its initiatives were it not for the generosity of good corporate citizens like Honda of South Carolina. They and the large numbe of other business and individual donors are the life blood of The Arts Alliance and its programming.

“An investment in the arts means support for the arts industry, an industry built on innovation and creativity, economic development, and the revitalization of America’s communities and downtowns.  When people invest in the arts, people generate tax revenues, jobs, and a creativity-based 21st century competitive economy.”

The Flowtown Band performs classic rock and R&B.  The band steams straight ahead just like the trains that made its namesake famous.  Begun as an acoustic duo featuring founding musicians Allen Johnson and Mark Humphries, the band has added members to create a fuller sound.  Johnson sings lead and plays electric guitar, fiddle, and mandolin.  Humphries also sings lead and plays acoustic guitar, keyboards and trumpet. The first member added by Johnson and Humphries was Bobby Roberts Sr., who brings soulful vocals to the equation and also plays trombone, trumpet, and keys. Eddie Glass was then added to keep the locomotive moving along with his tasteful drumming. The Flowtown Band was completed with Kevin Singleton, who stokes the engine with his driving bass.

Copies of the 2010-11 Schedule will be available at the Aug. 1 concert, and The Arts Alliance hopes members of the community—young and young at heart alike—will make the Honda of South Carolina Concerts In The Park a regular entertainment event on their schedule of activities.  Bring a chair or blanket to spread across the ground. Sit or lie back and enjoy the best talent the community has to offer. And don’t forget the children and even the family pets.  To stave off the munchies or the thirst, those attending can bring their own personal hamper or partake of an array of goodies offered for sell by the Timrod Neighborhood Association. The Arts Alliance hopes everyone will come and enjoy a wonderful afternoon with your fellow citizens from across the great community of Florence.