The String Kings plan on grabbing their guitars and entertaining any Gainesville resident who decides to come out to a free Friday concert.
The classic rock band will play from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the Downtown Community Plaza as part of the city's six-month-long Let's Go Downtown "Free Fridays" Plaza Series.
The String Kings are known for covering songs by Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Eagles and Johnny Cash as well as playing some originals.
"We've all got day jobs," guitarist and vocalist Danny Brasher said. "This is our hobby, but we've gotten a real good response playing the era of music that we have chosen to play."
A free concert will take place every Friday through Nov. 2 at the plaza, located on University Avenue about a block east of Main Street.
"The idea is to bring our community together through the arts," said David Ballard, events coordinator for the City of Gainesville Division of Cultural Affairs. The city has been coordinating the series for about 12 years. It is intended to give citizens something to do on Friday nights and to also bring business to the downtown area, Ballard said.
"We hope that a lot of people will go out and have dinner before they come to our 8 o'clock concert," he said.
He also said people who enjoy Gainesville's nightlife might want to go to the concert before hitting the clubs. The series offers a variety of music genres, from psychedelic rock to blues and jazz.
"We try to get a really diverse style of different music so we can appeal to all folks' tastes," Ballard said. "We are very fortunate that we have so many incredible bands in the Gainesville area."
With the help of a Black Music Month grant, the city has managed to book musicians beyond the Gainesville area and will bring in Sam Rivers in June. Rivers is an 84-year-old jazz multi-instrumentalist who has played with Miles Davis, Billie Holiday and Jimi Hendrix.
The rest of the series is paid for out of the City of Gainesville Division of Cultural Affairs' budget.
"It's the taxpayers' money," said Donnie Sloan, chief of Sloan's Security, who works each week at the event. "They should come out and enjoy their money."
