For eight years, Live on the Levee has featured bands based in and around Charleston with free concerts in Haddad Riverfront Park. An aggressive sponsoring campaign, led by emcee Jim Strawn, has produced a funding base for this year that allows event planners to add a few new acts with even wider regional appeal over the 15 Fridays schedule. In addition, the Opening Night concert will close with a brief fireworks display by Premier Pyrotechnics, sponsored by AARP of West Virginia.

This past concert season country music star Andy Griggs and Grammy-nominated Fastball are among the headliners adding new flavor to the line-up this year in July. That month the Harley Owners Group (HOG) Rally will feature Texas rock band Anchored. The Davisson Brothers Band and The Recipe are bands with wide regional appeal that will be featured as well. Headliners among locally popular groups include: Stratus, Mother’s Nature, Lost Cause, 600LBS OF SIN!, Voodoo Katz, John Lilly, Blues DeJour, Comparsa, The New Relics and Carpenter Ants.

Once again this year, proceeds from T-shirt sales and weekly raffles will benefit five local charities that provide services for homeless people in and around Charleston: Covenant House, Daymark, Religious Coalition for Community Renewal, Roark-Sullivan Lifeway Center and YWCA’s Sojourners Shelter.


The concert series is scheduled to begin every Friday at 6:30 and end by 9:30. On most nights, opening acts will play a one-hour set, and the featured artists will perform two 45-minute sets.