A Decade of Music on the Square
Amplify Decatur Music Festival Celebrates ‘A Decade of Music on the Square’ With Headliner Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
Tenth Outdoor Festival Features Four Days of Music June 4–7 with Events on and Around the Decatur Square, at Avon Theater, and Eddie’s Attic
The annual Amplify Decatur Music Festival returns Thursday, June 4 through Sunday, June 7, with its flagship concert scheduled for Saturday, June 6 on the new downtown Decatur stage.
The June 6 ticketed event — billed as “A Decade of Music on the Square” to commemorate the 10th outdoor Amplify Decatur Music Festival — will feature performances by Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, Dylan LeBlanc, Kyshona, and Georgia Mountain Stringband. The show runs 3-11 p.m. Tickets start at $75 with VIP packages available.
“Everyone with the City is thrilled to introduce our new stage to the people of Decatur as a place where art and music lovers can gather, listen, and share communal experiences,” said Andrea Arnold, Decatur’s City Manager. “That’s the very spirit that Amplify Decatur has embodied for a decade, so it’s fitting and exciting that they are presenting the first show on our new stage.”
The full four-day line-up includes:
Thursday, June 4: Penny & Sparrow with Eliot Bronson. 7 p.m. Tickets start at $53.89 with VIP packages available. Avon Theater, 106 North Avondale Road, Avondale Estates.
Friday, June 5:
The Sundogs Present: The Tom Petty Show with Canyonland. Silent auction benefitting Neighbor in Need. 6:30 p.m. Free. Decatur Square, 101 E. Court Square, Decatur. (Beginning at 5 p.m., pop-up performances at select restaurants on and around Decatur Square, including Brick Store Pub’s Beer Garden, O’Sullivan’s Pub, and more.)
Saturday, June 6:
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, Dylan LeBlanc, Kyshona, and Georgia Mountain Stringband with Reverend Hylton
Sunday, June 7:
Amplify Hall of Fame celebrating music from 10 years of Amplify Decatur Music Festival artists featuring Run Katie Run, Eli Blackshear, StoryGhost, Wyatt Espalin, Polly Holliday, and Mike Killeen. 8 p.m. Tickets start at $26.70. Eddie’s Attic, 515-B North McDonough St., Decatur.
Amplify’s June 5 show (The Sundogs Present: The Tom Petty Show with Canyonland) will mark the first official concert on the new downtown stage.
The Amplify Decatur Music Festival is presented by Lenz and produced in partnership with Eddie’s Attic. All proceeds from the festival weekend will be directed to Decatur Cooperative Ministry, the Decatur Education Foundation, and Neighbor in Need.
Amplify co-board chair Drew Robinson said, “Amplify has proven to be one of the best homegrown Americana music festivals around, with an incredibly talented and musically-diverse line-up that features national, critically-acclaimed artists as well as emerging local talent. We are proud to celebrate our neighbors at Decatur Cooperative Ministry and Decatur Education Foundation, are humbled by their work, and grateful for our wonderful partnership.”
Festival director and co-board chair Christine Mahin said, “This is a really special year for the festival and for me. It’s our 10th event and the first on the new downtown stage where so much great music will find a home for years to come. Personally, it’s also my 10th festival, and it’s been an honor to watch the community rally around Amplify, its music, and its cause over the last decade.”
Amplify My Community was founded in 2010 and is based in Decatur, Georgia. Its mission is to leverage the universal love of music to fight poverty at the local level. To date, Amplify has produced more than 140 concerts, and raised and donated more than $645,000 in unrestricted gifts to locally oriented anti-homelessness and poverty-focused organizations — including more than $430,000 in Decatur. Amplify has held concert series in Atlanta, Athens, Decatur, Suwanee, and Duluth, Georgia; Asheville and Charlotte, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Charlottesville, Virginia, and featured acts such as Indigo Girls, Lucinda Williams, Ben Harper, Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples, Blind Boys of Alabama, Old Crow Medicine Show, Melissa Etheridge, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Rodney Crowell, The War & Treaty, Patty Griffin, James McMurtry, John Paul White, Son Volt, Justin Townes Earle, Bruce Hornsby, Milk Carton Kids, Ricky Skaggs, Julien Baker, Drivin’ N Cryin’, Junior Brown, Amanda Shires, Bobby Bare, Jr., Lucero, Colin Meloy, The Mavericks, Shawn Mullins, The Lone Bellow, The Jayhawks, Jay Farrar, and Harold Holloway & Co.
Decatur Cooperative Ministry’s mission is to help families facing homelessness settle into safe, stable homes and build healthy lives filled with peace, hope, and opportunity. Founded in 1969, Decatur Cooperative Ministry (DCM) offers transitional housing, shelter, homelessness prevention, rapid re-housing, and permanent supportive housing programs. DMC’s programs span the entire spectrum of currently recognized homelessness interventions. To accomplish this, DCM partners with 35 congregations from 14 denominations as well as private foundations, universities and schools, government agencies, community groups, and local businesses.
Decatur Education Foundation works together with the City Schools of Decatur, Decatur Housing Authority, and City of Decatur to bolster community efforts and ensure that ALL students have the resources, opportunities, and experiences in order to foster their growth and ensure their academic success.
