FAIRHOPE — The first Saturday of October will mark the beginning of what organizers say will one day become a regular event. The First Weekend Concert Series, sponsored by the University of South Alabama Baldwin County and Jaguar Productions, is aimed at helping create a weekend of fun in downtown Fairhope.

Planned to coincide with the First Friday ArtWalk, university officials want to continue the excitement with a series of concerts held the the next evening. The series debuts Oct. 6 with the bluegrass group, Delta Reign.

The Gulf Coast band has cooked up a unique new sound that fuses traditional bluegrass with western swing rhythms, tight vocal harmonies and jam band style instrumentals, while stirring in some blues and a dash of jazz, resulting in what some are calling “bluegrass … delta style.”

Benita Murphy plays upright bass and provides lead vocals for the group, and her husband, Pat, sings, plays banjo and sometimes fiddles. Their special guest will be well-known Eastern Shore fiddler Tom Morley.

The concert will begin at 7 p.m. in the USA Baldwin County Performance Center on the corner of St. James Avenue and Summit Street. The doors will open at 6:30.

General admission tickets are $10, and they can be purchased in advance at the USABC Administration Building, 10 N. Summit St. in Fairhope. USA students will be admitted free with their student I.D. Seating is limited.

Dr. Christine Bogar, USA assistant director of student services, said, “This is the first year. We are expecting it to be an annual event. People can go to First Friday ArtWalk, and stick around for music the next night. We will bring in a variety of different types of groups.”

Bogar said bluegrass fans will enjoy the venue, a former church sanctuary with excellent lighting and acoustics, and around 130 comfortable theater seats. She noted food and drinks will not be allowed inside, but added, “It’s a very nice, comfortable yet professional environment. Parking is free and convenient.”

The concert series is the brainchild of USABC Director Dr. Phil Norris.

“From time to time, the Baldwin County campus has had special events, plays and lectures. Dr. Norris has always wanted more activities we can offer to the community so we could bring the community and students together,” Bogar said. “It’s a way to offer things to our Baldwin County students who may not want to travel to the main campus. Our goal is to bring the community to our campus and bring the students back to our campus.”

Bogar credits an organization funded through USA student activity fees with providing the money needed for the series. She said, “We couldn’t do it without Jaguar Productions.”

Norris said, “It’s just a great venue. Leo Kottke and Grayson Capps have performed there. The Mobile Symphony Orchestra brought chamber music there last year.”

He said two concerts will be staged each semester for now, but added, “I’d like to do it once a month. It rounds out the community, and brings people from out of town. Fairhope has visual arts the first Friday night of the month and we can have (musical art).”

Norris said USABC already hosts screenings of foreign and art films as well as documentaries. He said the idea behind the Performance Center events is to “expose our students to film and music they wouldn’t (otherwise) see. Let’s bring some intellectual stimulation to our students. The goal of the film series is to make people think. We want to challenge the mind.”

A lecture series is just over the horizon, Norris said.

“We’re hoping restaurants in town will have other music so it’s a Saturday night of music in Fairhope,” he said. “We’ve developed the films, and now we’re going to develop the music and lectures.”

Norris said Morley has volunteered to help bring in musicians for the concert series, and Harvey Joanning is helping coordinate the upcoming lectures.

The other concerts announced so far are The Beggars’ Guild, Nov. 3; Catfish Flats, March 8; and Jimmy Roebuck Jazz Quartet, April 5.

To find out more about the First Weekend Concert Series, call 928-8133 or e-mail usabc@usouthal.edu.