Summer 2014

Country concert comes to Wiscasset Speedway

Wed, 08/06/2014 - 9:30am

Offering up Wiscasset Speedway’s infield for an August 29 concert to benefit the Wiscasset Ambulance Attendants Association goes along with the speedway’s commitment to families and the community, co-owner Vanessa Jordan said.

It’s also a chance to try out how similar events might work at the track on West Alna Road, Jordan said. Plans are in the works for a September event there, to benefit the March of Dimes, she said.

Saturday racing remains the track’s focus; however, a 2014 special amusement permit Wiscasset selectmen agreed to in December 2013 lets the business also be open Fridays and Sundays. The plan is to build credibility slowly and restore the track’s ties to the town; those became pretty broken under prior ownership, Jordan has said.

The track could eventually become a year-round outdoor venue for family-focused events, according to the 2014 permit application.

Jordan hopes families will turn out with lawn chairs to enjoy the upcoming concert.

“I think it’ll be fun,” she said. The fans don’t normally get to be on the infield, she added.

The speedway has donated the use of the infield for “American Ride — A Tribute to American Country Music,” a fundraiser for the attendants group. The association has hired East Coast Marketing Group (ECMG) in Biddeford to put on the concert.

ECMG’s events coordinator Alex MacPhail will emcee and is hoping for a turnout of 500 to 1,000. If that holds, traffic would be similar to that generated by a typical Saturday night of racing at the track. Those have been drawing about 800 people to the grandstand, Jordan said.

The event is smaller scale than a 2010 Oxxfest concert at the track, under then-owner Doug White. Issues with that concert spurred a lawsuit by a couple living next door. But with Vanessa and Richard Jordan owning the track now, Rhonda Hamlin, one of those who took White to court, said she has no concerns about the upcoming benefit concert.

“They’re the best,” Hamlin said about the Jordans. “We’re so happy that they’ve brought the track back.”

Frank Costa, who lives about a mile from the track, urged selectmen and the speedway in December 2013 to bear in mind the track’s impact on the neighborhood. Since then, he said, he is no longer seeing trash around after the races. He said if the upcoming concert is also handled responsibly, he has no problem with it.

“Benefits are always a good thing, especially when it comes to emergency personnel,” Costa said.

Two of the concert’s singers said they were looking forward to coming to Wiscasset, helping a good cause and performing the kind of music they are also fans of.

Shawn Theriault played in a lot of rock bands, then joined a country act that needed a base player. “The more country we played, the more I enjoyed it,” he said.

At 44, Theriault said he is coming to prefer country music’s focus on everyday life, over pop and rock songs about night life.

“Country music is just so down-to-earth,” he said.

Bobbi Berracah learned to sing by copying her parents’ singing in shows and recording studios. She was the 2014 winner of B98 FM’s “Bee a Country Star Showdown”; and has earned several honors as a country artist.

The concert starts at 7 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m. According to an ECMG press release, the music will include hits made known by Zac Brown, Brad Paisley, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jason Aldeen, ZZ Top and Toby Keith.

Proceeds from the fundraising effort will go toward training, equipment and other causes the attendants’ association supports, according to the release. For ticket information, email MacPhail at alex@ecmgevents.com