Max & Emily's to begin Summer Concert Series Thursday
Tim Brockman, owner of restaurant Max & Emily's restaurant, in downtown Mount Pleasant said he tries to keep his business involved in the community year round. Max and Emily's puts on musical entertainment during the summer with their Summer Concert Series, featuring The Verve Pipe and Jeff Daniels in the past.
What started as a vision of owner Tim Brockman and General Manager Chris "Elmo" Walton to promote family fun during the economic fall in 2008 has turned into Max & Emily's Summer Concert Series, a Mount Pleasant favorite.
"It was an effort by Max & Emily's and Isabella bank to create family fun in the city," Walton said. "The economy was taking a turn for the worst, and we wanted to lift the town's spirits by providing something that was fun and free."
The Max & Emily's Summer Concert Series includes a concert held each month that is open to the community. The Kruger Brothers will kick off the concert series at 7 p.m. Thursday on Broadway Street.
The bluegrass hall-of-famers played a concert downtown last year as part of the Summer Concert Series line up. This year, the band will drive up from their home in North Carolina to perform for one night in Mount Pleasant.
"The Kruger Brothers are a crowd favorite. Last year, they stayed at the concert after the show and had a lot of fun with the community," Walton said. "When they performed, the audience's reaction was 'We've never seen a banjo worked like that.' This year the band is driving 11 hours to perform for us because they loved the atmosphere last year."
In 2008, Max & Emily's first summer concert attracted 750 audience members. This year the crowd is expected to be made up of 1,800 to 2,400 community members. Tyler Alvarado, a Central Michigan University alumnus, said he used to go the concerts when he was an orientation leader during the summer.
"My friends and I were looking for a good time on a nice summer day and so we decided to head downtown for some live music," Alvarado said. "We saw the line up, Youtubed the bands and decided they were all worth going to see."
Walton said there have been four major sponsors of the concerts: Max & Emily's Bakery Café, downtown Mount Pleasant, Isabella Bank and Central Michigan University.
"It was during our second year of doing the concert series that we sat down with President (George) Ross," Walton said. "Ross said that what we were doing was a swell thing for the community and the university wanted to be a part of it."
On the line up for the rest of the summer is Channing and Quinn, who will perform at 7 p.m. July 30, and Jeff Daniels and the Ben Daniels Band, who will perform at 7 p.m. August 29.
"Our philosophy with this concert series has stayed the same," Walton said "It is to always give back when we can. This free concert allows everyone to be a part of it at no cost."
