During the warm Spring and Summer months, these concerts are held at Lake Benson Park in Garner.

Bring a picnic and a blanket or lawn chair and enjoy the great music and beautiful scenery! Lake Benson Park is the perfect place to bring friends and family - there is a playground for the kids, clean restrooms, and scenic paths around the lake. Seating is on a grassy slope and is unlimited.

As the weather cools down, we move inside to the Garner Historic Auditorium. Located in the old Garner School building (c.1921) on Garner Road, the renovated auditorium seats 500 and features heart of pine floors, original seats, and soaring windows. Take a step back in time as you enjoy music from many cultures at Garner's best kept secret!

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Saturday May 10, 2008
The Wells Family Band
Lake Benson Park 6-8 p.m.

The Wells Family, out of North Carolina, is a band that has created a unique sound that appeals to audiences in every genre, uniting both younger and older generations with their versatility. Their music has been accepted in a variety of music categories including Bluegrass, Gospel, Country, Folk, Americana, and Pop. This band has a powerful acoustic sound, along with great songwriting skills, inspiring accapellas, family tight harmonies, driving instrumentals, and a great sense of humor! Not only are they talented and gifted Musicians, they are awesome performers.

Saturday June 21, 2008
Carnavalito
Lake Benson Park 6-8 p.m.

Carnavalito draws from nearly every Latin sound imaginable-mambos, sambas, cumbia and meringue, exploding with what reviewers have called "percussive fire" and "five-alarm salsa". From the beginning, Carnavalito has played to packed houses in the Triangle area. Their first CD, Carnavalito, was hailed by Descarga Catalog as one of the top 25 Latin releases in 1996. Their second, Tu y Yo was described as "ideal music for a party" and "one of 1999's best recordings" by journalist and Latin music historian Max Salazar.

Visit the Carnavalito website

Saturday July 19, 2008
Russell Johnson & Friends
Lake Benson Park 6-8 p.m.

Russell Johnson of Four Oaks, North Carolina, brings twenty years of performing and recording experience to the stage as a singer, songwriter, producer and entertainer. He was the driving force behind New Vintage's 90's success and instrumental in launching the career of The Grass Cats in 1997. His "rock-solid and exquisitely high-lonesome vocals" and humorous stage presence are hard to forget. Russell’s success as a songwriter and singer is well documented with ten of his original songs reaching the Bluegrass Unlimited National Bluegrass Survey, including the #1 hit “Bluegrass Man” in April and May of 2003. As a producer his credits include three Top 10 CD's. He was also nominated for SPBGMA's Songwriter of the Year in 2004 and was touted by Bluegrass Unlimited magazine as among “the first ranks of contemporary bluegrass.” For the concert on July 19th at Lake Benson Park, Russell Johnson will be joined by fellow members of the Grass Cats, New Vintage, and other special guests, for a concert review of Johnson’s hit songs over the past twenty years.

Saturday August 16, 2008
The Gibson Brothers
Lake Benson Park 6-8 p.m.

"To say they've got the classic brother duet thing down is an understatement; they own it." -- Michael Eck, No Depression

A passion for getting music to their fans lies behind the Gibson Brothers' most recent accomplishment: three exceptional albums in three years. Bona Fide and Long Way Back Home both earned widespread acclaim and topped the Bluegrass Unlimited album chart. Now they offer Red Letter Day, perhaps their most eclectic and energetic session to date. Once again, Eric and Leigh have matched their typically fine songwriting with astute song collecting. The brothers cast a wide net and found surprising material among some of today's best Americana artists, including Kieran Kane, Bruce Robison, and Chris Knight. And they've interpreted those worthy works next to traditional standards like "Twenty One Years" and "The Prisoner's Song," as well as some leaps of imagination like setting Ray Charles' "I Got A Woman" and the Rolling Stones' "It's All Over Now" to a bluegrass backbeat.

Visit the Gibson Brothers Website