Correction appended.
Folky roots rock and Americana will fill the Templeton Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on Saturday as Adyn’s Dream and the Ohio University Concert Series present Pokey LaFarge and The Judy Chops in a “backstage concert.”
Before the main concert at 7:30 p.m., which will allow the audience to sit on the stage with the bands, The Judy Chops will play an interactive set at the Kid’s Art Carnival hosted by Adyn’s Dream.
Adyn’s Dream is an Athens-based charity that, through live music events, benefits families who have children diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy.
Brian Bucher is the executive director of the nonprofit, which began in in 2014. It was founded by his daughter, Adyn, who was diagnosed in 2005 with spinal muscular atrophy at 18 months old.
“Adyn is the one who decides who performs at events,” Bucher said. “She signs off on all the music at all our events.”
The nonprofit puts on four to six shows a year. With the Kid’s Art Carnival and the evening concert, Bucher said “it’s the biggest day we’ve ever had” for Adyn’s Dream.
“We collaborated with the Guardian Aliens, which are a local art organization,” Bucher said, referring to the noon event. “We’re going to have a ton of things going on like kids painting a big mural and wheelchair art, where you have paint on the floor and you paint with the wheels of the wheelchairs. We’re going to have a few wheelchairs on hand for kids to experience that.”
A painting by Guardian Aliens founder Jerod Black that features both groups’ logos will also be raffled off, and original art prints will also be sold. Artists from Cincinnati and Columbus are also set to work side-by-side with children taking part in the carnival, Bucher said.
Bucher said he and Adyn had watched sets of Pokey LaFarge at Nelsonville Music Festival and The Judy Chops at Red Wing Roots Festival in Mt. Solon, Virginia, to which they go every year. He said the performance Saturday will have a different component than most concert setups.
“It’ll be a real intimate environment where everyone is onstage, and there is no assigned seating,” Bucher said. “Both bands are great in producing high energy music that gets you moving.”
Pokey LaFarge is a folk and roots musician who has released seven studio albums and tours with a six-piece backing band. He and his music also appeared in Disney’s 2013 film The Lone Ranger.
William Howard, who plays electric guitar and sings in The Judy Chops, said the band’s style formed from bluegrass but shifted to using more jazz and swing with the addition of a two-piece horn section and other instruments like the violin. The group is now a seven-piece, and Howard describes its sound as “modern vintage” and “signature American styles.”
“This will be our first show in Ohio at all,” Howard said. “We’re really stoked to play and support the charity. We were happy to find out we had a fan in Adyn.”
Tickets for the show are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Entry into the Kid’s Art Carnival is donation-based. The show is a part of the Stage Door Series held by the OU Concert Series.
“Adyn’s Dream is 100 percent volunteer,” Bucher said. “Every dollar raised from every ticket sale goes directly to Adyn’s Dream to help families with children and teens that have (spinal muscular atrophy).”
Correction: A previous version of the article incorrectly stated Brian Bucher's position at Adyn's Dream. He is the executive director of the organization. The article has been updated to show the most accurate information.
