KHOL News Director Kyle Mackie spoke to one of the event coordinators of Music on Main about some of the national and local artists who will be taking center stage on Thursday nights in Victor City Park throughout the summer. Kate Driscoll is program director for Music on Main with the Teton Valley Foundation.
This interview audio and transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
KYLE MACKIE: Kate, thank you so much for joining us on KHOL today.
KATE DRISCOLL: Thanks for having me.
MACKIE: Sure. So, Music on Main like so many other events in 2020 had to be canceled because of the pandemic. What does it mean to have the event back this year?
DRISCOLL: I think I can speak for almost everyone when I say that we are incredibly excited to have live music back and be able to dance and sing outdoors again. We did do an effort last year with Music on Mainstream to still have a bit of live music. So, we got our fix a tiny bit. But to have the free outdoor concert series is just, you know—we’re absolutely thrilled.
MACKIE: And I know many of us are ready to totally ditch our masks and forget about COVID, but are there going to be any safety precautions in place this year that folks should know about?
DRISCOLL: Yes. So, we are switching—we normally do our reusable cup program during the summer, but due to COVID we are switching everything to cans this year. So, you’ll just be getting your cans of wine, beer, cider, anything like that, just to kind of limit the interaction of the used cups with trying to pour stuff into it. So, that will look a little different for folks coming into the venue. We are going to have signs up, you know, please be aware just to wear a mask maybe if you’re in a group that’s not yours, but it is all out in the open. We’re hoping everyone is being as responsible as possible when they’re coming to the venues and they’re making smart choices. And we are just going to roll with it and hopefully it’ll all work out the way we want to.
MACKIE: So, it sounds like masks are going to be perhaps encouraged, but not necessarily required.
DRISCOLL: Yes, we kind of have a saying like, ‘It’s no small ask to wear a mask.’ And just we don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable. And so, if you’re wearing one, we totally support that. And we probably will have most of our staff wearing masks as well as they’re dealing with food and beverage. But if someone’s vaccinated and they’re comfortable being near their people outside, I mean, please go for it.
(Teton Valley Foundation)
MACKIE: Okay, so let’s talk about the fun stuff. Can you tell me about some of the national acts who are coming to play Music on Main this year?
DRISCOLL: Yeah, we have a pretty stellar lineup for 2021. So, this week we are kicking off Music on Main with The Broadcast. They are a soul-rock group that have some powerful female vocals and they put on quite a performance. If you’ve seen anything of theirs online, it’s going to be a fun show to watch. We have a zydeco band, Dwayne Dopsie & The Zydeco Hellraisers, that are coming for our second show. You’ll see some returning names like Young Dubliners. We have Jackie Venson [and] Lone Bellow.
For our country fans, Micky & The Motorcars will completely steal the show that night. Ghost of Paul Revere, which is personally a favorite because they are from Portland, Maine, and that’s where I moved here from. And I can’t believe that that could even happen in this life, that the band that’s big time in my hometown is going to come play at the Victor City Park stage. And then we’re closing it with a double headliner this year, which is new for us. And we’re going to be really excited for that show.
MACKIE: Who is the double headliner?
DRISCOLL: Yeah, so our double headliner is Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband and Turkuaz, which is returning—they are returning again and [the series is] going to end on a very funky note. If you know their music, you know what I mean.
MACKIE: And I understand there’s also going to be a local opening band every week. Who are some of those groups?
DRISCOLL: Yeah, so minus our double headliner, the last show on August 12, all of the openers for the previous shows will all be local. We have a couple of new names this year, some returning, but the new ones are Sghetti [and] Inland Isle, which both of these bands people will recognize faces from because they’re in other bands around the community. Strumbucket is another new one as well. So, we’re really excited to have some new faces on the stage at Music on Main.
MACKIE: Alright, so Music on Main is organized and benefits the Teton Valley Foundation, where you work. Can you talk a little bit more about what the foundation does?
DRISCOLL: Yeah, so Teton Valley Foundation is just trying to bring things to the community that normally wouldn’t be possible i.e. bringing in national acts for free to our Victor City Park. Another program that we have is at our Kotler Ice Arena. And each week at the shows, we do theme nights to benefit Teton Valley Foundation and our first theme night will actually be zampaign night, which is our campaign for our Zamboni and just benefiting the hockey scene at Kotler Ice Arena, and each night will have a different theme so people will get to learn more about what foundation does.
MACKIE: Alright, well Music on Main kicks off in downtown Victor every Thursday night with music starting at 6:00 pm this week. Kate, thank you again for joining us today on KHOL.
DRISCOLL: Thanks Kyle, and can’t wait to see you at the show!
