Fridays on Prouty's is a weekly open to the public concert series at Prouty Plaza in downtown Troy. WYSO music intern Selah Griffin spoke with Music Manager at the Troy-Hayner Cultural Center, Terrilynn Meece about the series.
Q. Tell me a bit about the Fridays on Prouty’s Series, what sort of music can people expect?
So, picture this adorable downtown arranged around an old fashioned roundy-round traffic circle. Surrounding the traffic circle are all kinds of cute well-cared-for businesses in buildings that have been here since the mid-1800s. One of the quads around the traffic circle is a green-space park called Prouty Plaza. There are Friday night concerts here throughout the summer. Bring a lawn chair; bring your best friend. No tickets, no fees. The bands are all professional acts with a professional sound engineer. We are mindful to book a variety of genres. We have a very vocal audience that loves cover bands, but we also have a great audience for jazz and pop and country and folk and R&B and funk! We are so proud of our regional musicians and we love to have them on our stage. We also try to bring in musicians from other regions too so that we can feel the pulse of what is happening in Ohio music.
Q. Are you welcoming to audiences from the broader area or is the event aimed mainly at neighboring residents?
The Fridays on Prouty series is a great opportunity for folks from other communities to visit our town and share a little Troy, Ohio with their peeps. We have some fantastic restaurants downtown and a couple of them even have patios that face Prouty Plaza so you can dine and drink and enjoy the concert as well as the atmosphere.
There are also some lovely antique and vintage stores and clothing stores and décor stores, so come early!
Q. Is Friday at Prouty's family friendly?
Although the music series is created for adult tastes, we know that good music transcends age barriers. Music gives families an opportunity to share a special experience together. We love for folks bring the whole family. It is a good opportunity to help young ones learn about being part of a community and developing manners that will help them fit in. Families can bring a blanket and sit up front or bring chairs if the children are able to sit. Kids can get up and dance if they want but it is also ok if they get a bit squirmy in the grass. The concerts are usually about an hour long so it is not too much for most children and if it is too much for the kids, it is easy to step out.
Q. How long has the concert series been established? How did it get started initially?
As well as I can piece the history of these events together, Troy began having music downtown around 1992. Interestingly, the same groups still collaborate in much the same way they started. It warms my heart when I think about all the interconnections and all the networking it takes to make these events happen. The Troy-Hayner Cultural Center and the Troy Main Street organization work together to manage the series every year. The City of Troy supports the series by managing the mobile stage unit and all the many and various components that it takes to help our guests be comfortable like sanitation and law enforcement. The Troy Foundation has been involved with bringing all these great ideas to life from the very beginning. With their generous grant they help finance the bands, the sound, and the advertisements. So many good things happen in Troy because of the Troy Foundation.
Q. How can bands that are interested in playing at the Fridays on Prouty's Series next year get in touch?
We love to hear from our regional musicians. You can always contact Terrilynn Meece at the Hayner at 937-339-2005 or Andrea Keller at Troy Main Street at 937-339-5455.
Full schedule for the Fridays on Prouty's concert series here.
Miami Valley Music Focus explores the places and people behind the music of Southwest, Ohio. This series is made possible by support from Ohio Arts Council.