Central City to unveil Festival Square June 14

Starting in 2022, Central City and Muhlenberg County began developing a tribute to honor two legendary musical entities that were instrumental in bringing entertainment and fans to the area throughout the years.

Though four-time Grammy Award-nominated rock duo the Everly Brothers — made up of Don and Phil Everly — were known by the mainstream public for hit albums like “It’s Everly Time” and “A Date with the Everly Brothers” and No. 1 singles such as “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” “Cathy’s Clown” and “Wake Up Little Susie,” the pair drew thousands of fans from as far away as Europe to the Everly Brothers Homecoming/Central City Music Festival from 1988 to 2002.

And while the late four-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter John Prine, who was part of the festival each year, became a prominent fixture in Chicago’s folk revival scene in the 1960s and a favorite of critic Roger Ebert, the musician put Muhlenberg County on the map by mentioning it by name in his 1971 song “Paradise” in tribute to the former small town he frequented during the summer months during his youth.

Prine, whose parents were also from Muhlenberg County, was eventually honored by the county with the John Prine Memorial Park at Rochester Dam in Drakesboro in September 2022.

On June 14, all three men will be honored with the unveiling of Festival Square, a one-block green space by Farmers Bank & Trust on the corner of Broad and First streets in downtown Central City, which will include life-sized bronze statues of each of the performers acting as the new space’s focal point.

The public unveiling of both the space and the statues will take place at 2 p.m.

Freddie Mayes, executive director of Central City Tourism Commission, is glad to see the cultivation of years of work come to fruition.

“... We were actually hoping to do this dedication last fall and it kept getting pushed back. … We did not want to do it during the winter months; we wanted pretty weather to do it,” he said. “... It’s kind of a mixed emotion-type thing; we’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. We have hours and hours of planning and meeting … to properly recognize the people that conceived the music festival and properly recognize the folks that made this all possible with the brothers, and Prine and the other artists that were there.

“Seeing it finally come to be, (it’s) very satisfying and gratifying ….”

Mayes hopes the new space will also help the city and county in other ways.

“... It’s almost a revitalization of our downtown area, and we expect this to be a great gathering place for our community not just for special events like … this grand opening,” he said. “We think it’s going to draw people to our area and (get them) to enjoy our downtown community ….”

Besides getting a chance to showcase Festival Square and the bronzes, Mayes said he and the commission will take the day one step further.

“... We’re looking to make it a really special day, so not only are we celebrating the Square, the (unveiling) of the statues and the information that goes with it in celebration of the festival years — we want to close it with a concert,” he said.

A special benefit concert honoring the Everlys and Prine will take place at 7 p.m. at Lu-Ray Park & Amphitheater, 130 W Broad St. in Central City.

The lineup will feature Jason Wilber and Dave Jacques, both members of Prine’s band, along with Prine’s younger brother, musician Billy Prine, and country singer-songwriter Kelsey Waldon.

Special guests slated to make appearances include Brian Wiggins and Joe Hudson, along with some unannounced surprises.

Heath Eric, with the concert management company The Eric Group, which is producing the concert component, looks forward to being part of Central City’s tribute to all three artists.

“When it comes to musical DNA, having figurative and literal roots, it’s tough to compete with western Kentucky; and certainly Muhlenberg County is right in the heart of that,” he said. “When you look at the impact (of) worldwide artists such as the Everly Brothers and John Prine …, it’s really hard to quantify that into words.

“We’re thrilled to be involved with this ….”

Eric and his team have some prior history with Mayes, the commission and Prine when they presented the latter’s “A Night in Paradise” concert in May 2019 at Lu-Ray as part of “The Tree of Forgiveness World Tour.”

The lineup for that show also included Billy Prine and Waldon.

“That was the final Kentucky performance before sadly we lost (John) a few short months after that,” Eric said. “... Our goal is to make this (concert) nothing short of magical for John Prine fans and Everly Brothers’ fans from all across the region, and hopefully, all across the United States.”

Tickets for the concert are on sale now beginning at $19.50 and can be purchased at lurayamp.com or by calling 1-800-514-3849.

All proceeds from the sales will go toward the Everly Brothers Foundation.