NORWOOD — Saturday night, May 22, marked the first of seven consecutive weekends of live music at the Juneberry Ridge event venue in Norwood.
The Young Fables, a Nashville-based country duo featuring three-time American Idol performer Laurel Wright and guitarist Wesley Lunsford, were the inaugural performers for the Juneberry Jams summer concert series, which is taking place on the 525-acre regenerative farm and corporate retreat (formerly known as Lucky Clays Farm) at 40120 Old Cottonville Rd.
“What an amazing kick-off concert for our series of Juneberry Jams,” Juneberry Ridge posted on its social media accounts. “Thanks to The Young Fables and Tosco Music for helping us band together in nature. And thanks to all who came and made our first big event a success. We look forward to the next six weeks of jams and hope to see you here.”
For the next six Saturday nights, six different musical acts will take the The Lucky Clays Five Stand stage to perform for a socially distanced crowd from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The venue will open its gates to concert attendees at 5 p.m.
General admission tickets are available at Juneberry.com for $15 each while an all-access pass featuring premium-seating admission to all concert events can be bought for $55; children under 12 years old are granted free admission to the show. Beer, wine and food are available for purchase at the venue’s concession booths.
The May 29 concert, “An Evening with Antsy McClain,” features McClain, an Americana recording artist who combines music with storytelling comedy. The Kentucky-based musician has appeared on PBS, NPR and TEDTalks during his career and has often appeared with his band, The Trailer Park Troubadours.
The rest of the Juneberry Ridge Jams calendar will highlight the yacht-rock group Thurston Howell (June 5), progressive bluegrass act The Trailblazers (June 12), Brooklyn-based acoustic duo The Other Favorites (June 19), classic rock outfit Coconut Groove Band (June 26) and lounge jazz duo Noel & Maria (July 3).
More than just a Stanly County landmark, Juneberry Ridge is North Carolina’s largest residential renewable energy system. The farm includes rainwater-harvesting technology, an organic greenhouse and stocked fishing ponds, among many other amenities.
In a recent video on the farm’s website, Juneberry Ridge founder Judy Carpenter discussed the company’s name-change and rebranding.
“The company is changing, and the name is changing,” Carpenter said. “It’s exciting, because it’s new and different. This is a clean slate for Juneberry. Turning Lucky Clays Farm into Juneberry Ridge makes this a place where we can start anew… There is a new sense of urgency with both our mission and our vision. Juneberry needs to be sustainable, based on restorable agriculture and needs to make a sustainable profit as well. This company is built to last and is going to be here 300 years from now. I just want to leave the earth in better shape than it was when I got here.”