FAIRHOPE, Ala. — If you hear what you think is some classic rhythm-and-blues live music at lunchtime in downtown Fairhope this Friday, you’re not imagining things.

The popular Catt’s Brown Bag Concert Series that has made Bienville Square in Mobile a unique place to bring your lunch and listen to local live music now has a Fairhope venue.

“It started 24 years ago in November,” said Thomas “Catt” Sirten, whose long-running “jazz brunch” radio program can be heard Sundays on 92.1 FM and Radio Avalon show from 9 p.m. to midnight Monday through Friday. “It really took off and became a city event, and people seem to enjoy it.”

With sponsorship from Thomas Hospital, Sirten expanded the Brown Bag series to Fairhope this past spring and starts the fall series this Friday at the campus of Faulkner State Community College.

The opening band is the Mobile-based Shad & the Gang, an R&B group that has played with a number of prominent African-American musicians over the years, Sirten said.

“They’re now all senior citizens who have a good time when they play, and everybody enjoys them,” he said.

The music starts at 11:30 a.m. every Friday for the next nine weeks and lasts until 1:30 p.m., Sirten said.

The upcoming musicians and their dates are as follows: Jim Armstrong (Sept. 11); Hank Becker’s Sol Lab (Sept. 18); Bay City Brass (Sept. 25); Jimmy Robinson (Oct. 2); Tonic Strings (Oct. 9); Lil’ Greenwood with Hosea London (Oct. 16); Lisa Mills (Oct. 23); and Faulkner State Sun Chief Jazz Band (Oct. 30).

“It’s a free concert of local musicians where you can bring your own lunch and sit on chairs set up under the magnolia tree in front of the music,” he said. “But the goal is also for people to come out and look around and appreciate the place where they live.”

Last spring there were other events taking place during the music such as yoga demonstrations, and this fall Thomas Hospital might be offering some free blood pressure tests, he said.

“It’s a good excuse to come out and have a picnic.”

For more information, visit Sirten’s Web site at www.radioavalon.com.