Sara Evans plays SML

Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: August 1, 2008

Final preparations are under way for Sara Evans to take the stage Friday at a new Smith Mountain Lake concert site.

The singer — named “Top Female Vocalist” in 2006 by the Academy of Country Music and whose hits include “A Real Fine Place to Start” and “Cheatin’” — is scheduled to play at 7 p.m. in an outdoor concert on Virginia 626, across the road from the entrance to Mariner’s Landing. Gates are set to open at 6 p.m.

“We’ve got this beautiful site here, with the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background,” said Holly Sweet.

Sweet and her husband/partner Darrin Snyder run Sweetwater Entertainment Group Inc., which is putting on the show, along with six others, this summer. Evans will be the first in their lineup, a prelude to the couple’s plan to create Sweet-water Amphitheater, a 7,000-seat facility in Moneta.

When it comes to weather, ticket sales and other factors that go into putting on the first show at this site, things were looking good early in the week, Sweet said.

Based on the 10-day forecast, “it’s looking like it’s going to be a great day,” Sweet said.

“Ticket sales are going really well,” she said, although she declined to give any numbers.

The outdoor concert will be general admission/festival-style, which means bring your own lawn chair or blanket.

“We just want to make sure that people don’t show up and assume there’s going to be tickets left,” especially if they’ve driven a fair distance to get to the concert, she said. People sometimes believe general admission means an unlimited number of people can get in, but this concert site has a total capacity of 7,000, she said.

Sweetwater has been working with the Virginia Department of Transportation and area officials to plan for traffic and other factors that go into putting on a show this size, she said.

For Sweet and Snyder, the first show marks a milestone. The two are area natives (Sweet comes from Moneta and Snyder from Boones Mill), who worked in the music business in Nashville before returning home.

“It’s great to do this in our hometown,” Sweet said. 

if you’re going
WHAT: Sara Evans
WHEN: Aug. 8 at 7 p.m., with gates opening at 6 p.m.
WHERE: Outdoors across from the entrance to Mariner’s Landing, 1217 Graves Harbor Trail, Huddleston
COST: $35 tickets in advance at any Apple Market; $40 at the gate.
INFO: (540) 297-4900 or http://www.smlconcerts.com