On Sept. 21 from 2-8 p.m., Raleigh Little Theatre and The Pour House Music Hall are coming together to put on their fifth year of Groove in the Garden at Raleigh Little Theatre. The live music festival intends to bring awareness to local artists while still being cheap and accessible for all.
According to Charles Phaneuf, executive director of Raleigh Little Theatre, there will be eight performances by local artists. The performers are Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, Kooley High, The Hot at Nights, Urban Soil, Arson Daily, Caseymagic, Clint Roberts and Into the Fog.
Adam Lindstaedt, owner and talent buyer of The Pour House Music Hall, said Groove in the Garden is a chance to give a platform to local artists who deserve or are on their way to a larger platform.
“It’s a nice selection of acts across genres,” Lindstaedt said. “We feel like they are either in the process of breaking, or have already broken or they’re on their way up to go beyond the local scene and make an impact, nationally and internationally, with their music. This is our opportunity to shine a light on the bands that we feel have the most promise.”
According to Phaneuf, this is the first year that Groove in the Garden will have a non-musical act in the form of a Caseymagic, a magician.
“We’ve got a magician for the first time,” Phaneuf said. “His name is Michael Casey. He’s performing at 5:15 on the Garden Stage, and Michael has performed for a who’s who of celebrities. He did Nicole Kidman’s birthday party last year. He’s a hugely successful punk rock comedian who people around here don’t know, but they should.”
Phaneuf said there has been a level of inaccessibility in local music festivals that he felt needed to be fixed. Groove in the Garden was designed to be cheap and accessible, but still give attendees the feel of a music festival.
“Nothing against Hopscotch or Moogfest, I mean I go to them, but for this event, tickets are $15 in advance and $20 the day of,” Phaneuf said. “We noticed that there wasn’t really anything in that price point, and there’s all of these people who love local music, but if you can’t drop $200 or more, sometimes you’re priced out of those events, and we felt like there was a really neat opportunity to fill in that area.”
Lindstaedt said this event is important to the growth of Raleigh because cities rely on the arts to attract visitors.
“I feel like the arts, not just music, are what in my opinion drive a city forward,” Lindstaedt said. “That’s what people are interested in and that’s what attracts them to those places, and it’s really what makes a place interesting. We’re super lucky in North Carolina, and more specifically Raleigh and the Triangle area, to have such a huge number of great bands to choose from. It’s really important for folks to be aware of these people.”
Lindstaedt hopes Groove in the Garden leads to continuing support for the local artists performing at the event.
“It’s a cheap way and a very accessible way to get a wide range or sampling of the talent that we have in this area,” Lindstaedt said. “I feel like folks that do come to Groove in the Garden will start coming into shows at the Pour House, at Kings, Red Hat, Lincoln Theater. I think the more we can get great music in front of people and let them know that it’s there, and we want them to be there and be a part of this whole movement we’ve got going on, it’s just another piece of the puzzle to making Raleigh a great place for live music.”
Tickets for the event are $15 until the day of the event when they will rise to $20. This year, attendees can buy a four-pack of tickets for the price of three. Tickets can be purchased from the Eventbrite page which also features more information about all of the artists performing.
