Starting this weekend Music on the Square Café in LaFayette will host a string of talented performers on Friday and Saturday nights into next year.

With local and regional singer-songwriters and a Grammy-winning Nashville tunesmith booked, owner Mark Hise is hoping to keep up the interest in his unique venue, located at 101 E. Patton St.

“Since we started shows in September, every time we’ve had a professional act in here we’ve filled the place up,” Hise said. “We’ve even had to turn people away on a few occasions.”

The concerts will begin this Saturday, Nov. 11, with blues guitarist-songbird E.G. Kight, whom Blues Revue magazine determines to be “Like a Cass Elliott of our time … an unstoppable force.”

This is a return visit by Kight, who played the grand opening of the Café back in September.

The following Friday, Nov. 17, will see Nashville singer-songwriter couple Dave Gibson and Daisy Dern in LaFayette. Gibson has penned numerous Top 5 country singles including No. 1 hits like Alabama’s “Jukebox In My Mind” and Tanya Tucker’s “If It Don’t Come Easy.”

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Coming to Music on the Square


Saturday, Nov. 11 - E.G. Kight, 4 p.m. & 8 p.m. Tickets $10 (www.egkight.com)
Friday, Nov. 17 – Dave Gibson & Daisy Dern, 8 p.m. Tickets $10 (www.dave-gibson.com)
Saturday, Nov. 18 - Indiegrrl Songwriters Showcase with Martha Ann Brooks (www.marthaannbrooks.com), Vicki Blankenship (www.myspace.com/vickiblankenship) and Renee Mixon (www.reneemixon.com) 8 p.m. Tickets $6


Saturday, Dec. 2 - David Olney, 8 p.m. Tickets $10 (www.davidolney.com)
Saturday, Dec. 9 - Kevin Gordon, 8 p.m. Tickets $8


Saturday, Dec. 16 - Don Henry, 8 p.m. Tickets $10


Saturday, Jan. 6 – Roger “Hurricane” Wilson, 8 p.m. Tickets $10


For more information or to charge tickets by phone call Music on the Square at (706) 639-9250.

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The night after that come three performers, part of a national organization of independent female artists called Indiegrrls, who will share the stage at the Café. They are Martha Ann Brooks, a contemporary folk songwriter-guitarist late of Trion, Vicki Blankenship, a rock and Americana singer-songwriter from Dahlonega, and Renee Mixon, an acoustic folk rock singer-guitarist from Rome, Ga.

Through what Hise calls “the trickle effect” the ball could keep rolling to bring top-notch talent into town. “That’s when performers want to come play where their colleagues, and sometimes musical heroes, have played.”

Such is the case with two upcoming artists. According to Hise, when Don Henry got word that David Olney was going to perform in LaFayette Dec. 2, he had to come check the place out as well.

Olney, who has recorded 18 albums since 1981, has earned a reputation as “the songwriter’s songwriter.” He has had songs covered by Emmylou Harris, Linda Rondstadt, Johnny Cash and Steve Earle. Martha Ann Brooks will open the show for Olney.

The esteem of Don Henry, appearing Dec. 16, carries considerable weight, as for his part he earned a Grammy award for writing “Where’ve You Been,” which was recorded by Kathy Mattea.

Henry has also garnered awards from the Academy of Country Music, the Country Music Association and the Nashville Songwriters Association.

Rounding out the lineup into 2007 is Kevin Gordon, an ace lyricist and rockin’ bluesman from Nashville, and Atlanta’s own Roger “Hurricane” Wilson, a blues force to be reckoned with.

Because recording artists and touring musicians tend to have very busy schedules, Hise is working to book acts at the Café, which has very limited seating, well ahead of time. “I feel fortunate to get these acts on weekends, especially when they could be playing venues five or ten times as large.”

Dave Gibson says he likes the appreciation from smaller audiences he plays for outside of Nashville.

“It’s great to play for thousands of people, but Daisy and I really enjoy the smaller venues,” said Gibson, whose Gibson Miller Band earned the “Top New Vocal Duo or Group” award from the Academy of Country Music in 1993. “It’s a thrill to have that captive audience, to be close up and have more contact with them.”

The rather short-term notice of upcoming performers has so far worked out fine, but Hise acknowledges that he wants to book for the long term so music fans will be able to know who is coming and to get tickets. “Plus, selling out tickets way in advance definitely creates a buzz for the next show.”

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