A crowd danced in frontn of the Barnstock stage in 2012 (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

By JONATHAN COX
DavidsonNews.net

HUNTERSVILLE – Six years ago, Miles Brown and high-school friends turned their jam sessions in the Brown family barn into an outdoor music festival they called Barnstock, at the family’s farm off Black Farms Road. (Yes, there’s actually a barn.) Despite hints that last year’s festival would be the last, they’re planning one of the largest festivals yet this Saturday, July 19. And Barnstock is coming of age, by restricting attendance to 21-and-over and bringing in higher-profile bands to headline the event.

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Thursday will be another Open Mic Night at Kadi Fit in Cornelius. Here’s a shot from last year. (Serge Skiba photo)

Who would think that a mid-summer week could be packed so full? We would! Take your pick, because this week has endless options for you. You may find yourself at the NASCAR Hall of Fame as their Summer Driver Tuesdays kick off. Maybe you’ll be headed to W.A. Hough High School to for the Davidson Community Players’ hilarious production of “Unnecessary Farce.”

The Davidson public library offers several events for adults and kids. Flatiron Kitchen + Taphouse will host a wine pairing dinner. There’s an open mic night at Kadi Fit in downtown Cornelius and Historic Rural Hill invites you to their 2014 Food Truck Rally. Saturday  brings the 2014 edition of outdoor music fest BarnStock in Huntersville. How about a Shag Lesson? Yes, I said “Shag Lesson.” Read on for details and more events  – from music to movies to meetings. Continue Reading

From left, Bill Reilly, Lizzie Schwarz and Roger Watson star in “Unnecessary Farce,” opening July 17. (Davidson Community Players photo)

Davidson Community Players raises the curtain on its second production of the summer, “Unnecessary Farce,” running July 17-27 at a new venue for the theater company – W.A. Hough High School in Cornelius. Meanwhile, rehearsals are under way for a multimedia stage show called “Tales from the Great War,” which runs Aug. 1-3 at Warehouse Performing Arts Center in Cornelius. Continue Reading

A newly restored HD version of the film screens this weekend at Studio C Cinema at the Cornelius Arts Center. See below.

On the hot night of Aug. 19, 1964, when I was just 13 years old, the world changed. The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” was opening at Baltimore’s 1,275 car Timonium Drive-in Theater.

It’s hard to understand now, before 300-channel cable TV, Facebook, and Instagram, the speed that Beatlemania conquered the USA. Since 1962, the Beatles had had several #1 hits in the UK, and the music biz knew that something huge was happening over there. But in one of the dumbest executive decisions ever, the large US record companies had declined to issue the Beatles’ hit songs. They did not believe that “foreign music” would interest America’s teens.
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Welcome the weekend neighbors and friends! Our weekend calendar screams diversity this Saturday and Sunday. Whether it’s a barbecue or a farmer’s market, jazz or the blues, Shakespeare or comedy, we have something for all this July weekend. Continue Reading

Chasing Pedestrians performed at Barnstock in 2012 (Wes Harkins photo)

Click to visit the Barnstock website.

Having established itself as one of the leading cause-related music festivals in the region, Barnstock will be returning to Huntersville for its sixth year on July 19th, featuring an impressive line-up of live entertainment spanning funk, jazz, rock, hip- hop and other musical genres.
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