Also at Summit next week: Holiday party Wednesday with author Tony Brown
One hour of good music. One hundred bucks. Anywhere in the U.S.
That’s the deal for folk rock artist Jon Troast’s “$100 Tour” and it proved an offer that Natasha Rath Marcus of Davidson couldn’t pass up. She has promised the cash and will be bringing Mr. Troast (pictured at right) to Summit Coffee on Tuesday, Dec. 4.
Mr. Troast will play from 9 – 10 p.m. His concert will immediately follow another, unrelated, event at Summit — an informal talk that will serve as the grand finale to this year’s DavidsonREADS program of events for the book “The Bridge.”
Never heard of Jon Troast? That may be because he’s never played a concert in North Carolina. Mr. Troast is a folk rock acoustic guitarist and singer from Wisconsin. He has been featured on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” and always wears red Reeboks when he performs. His first CD is called “Second Story,” and he is working on a new CD timed for release in 2008, which (as his website points out) coincides with the presidential election. You can even order “Troast ’08” bumper stickers on his website.
The “$100 Tour” officially launched Monday with a concert at “somebody’s living room” in New Castle, Del. Summit Coffee is currently the eighth stop on the tour, designed to bring Troast’s music to audiences outside of Wisconsin.
According to Ms. Rath-Marcus, “He has great lyrics and catchy tunes.”
The concert is free and CDs will be available for purchase.
Prior to Mr. Troast’s performance, Summit Coffee will host an informal discussion of author Doug Marlette led by Mark Ethridge, managing editor of the Charlotte Observer during Marlette’s tenure there as a political cartoonist. Mr. Marlette, who died in a car crash in July, is the author of “The Bridge,” the novel chosen as the inaugural book for DavidsonREADS, the town’s community reading event.
FUND-RAISER WEDNESDAY
Also at Summit Coffee next week, a holiday party is planned on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 7-10 p.m., to benefit Levine Children’s Hospital. Summit will begin a month long new-toy drive for the children at the hospital, 
and local author Tony Brown (photo) will sell and sign his recently released book, “A Happy Guide to a Short Life” (www.HappyGuidetoaShortLife.com). In this book, Tony Brown responds to Anna Quindlen’s popular publication, “A Short Guide to a Happy Life,” engaging in a verbal debate between a best-selling novelist and a middle-aged father, who are both trying to make sense of the world. Thanks to Mr. Brown and Realtor Julie Lopez of Market Properties, 100 percent of the evening’s book and gift sales will be donated to the Levine Children’s Hospital.
