"He had that successful house concert series, so I knew he had an audience and a roster of artists that were well received," David Johnson says of folk music guru Mike Shirkey. "He just needed a new venue."
That is what inspired the new Pickin' Post concert series that debuts at the Fayetteville Public Library tonight, explains the library's executive director.
FAQ
The Pickin’ Post:
Jack Williams
WHEN — Doors open at 6:30 p.m. today with music at 7:30 p.m.
WHERE — Fayetteville Public Library
COST — $15 at the door
INFO — Email Mike Shirkey at mshirkey@sbcglobal.…
FYI
The Pickin’ Post
Concert Series
Tonight — Jack Williams
Aug. 5 — Roy Bookbinder
Aug. 19 — Sad Daddy
September — TBA
October — TBA
Nov. 11 — John McCutcheon
Nov. 18 — Bill Hearne Trio
Dec. 2 — Austin Lounge Lizards
INFO — faylib.org
Even though there is music at the library most days, the new series will be different.
"It's going to be after library hours, with limited seating to about 150, and it's really our first ticketed event, where people actually have to pay," Johnson says. "During the 64 hours a week we're open as a library, I want everything to be free. But if we're going to try to find additional means for revenue, as long as it's not during regular operating hours, I can rest with myself as far as having a paid ticket."
The library will receive about 30 percent of the $15 ticket price, Johnson says, but more important to him is that the concert series is meeting the demands of patrons.
"If the library is responsive to the needs of its community, we're beginning to see that programming is the future," he says. "I was at the Public Library Association national meeting in March, and all the directors agreed the biggest challenge is how to meet the demand for programming when we don't have space. We're not designed to be bringing in 350 people -- and we had 900 for [author] Lois Lowry!
"Libraries understand connecting people to experience and materials is the future. If you can take a book, a DVD, a CD, and expand that material interaction to an experience with an artist or author or musician, it just takes it to that next level," Johnson says. "That's where we are as a community. People want to EXPERIENCE something."
Shirkey has been providing musical experiences with his "Pickin' Post" radio show since 1980, and for many years hosted the GoodFolk house concert series on Block Avenue. The library provides "a really good room," he says, and he plans to schedule two concerts a month through the rest of 2016. The opener tonight is acoustic guitarist and singer/songwriter Jack Williams, considered a "musician's musician," an "uncommonly unique" guitarist, a writer of vivid songs with a strong sense of place and a storyteller in an old Southern tradition.
The concert series is an experiment, Johnson reminds -- but if it goes well, he can imagine similar series featuring jazz or blues music.
"But we do know what we get with Mike, so it's a great place to start," he says.
NAN What's Up on 07/22/2016