Mariel Williams
editor@mitchellnews.com
The Spruce Pine Town Council has tentatively approved plans for an Oliver Anthony concert on Lower Street (Locust Avenue) on April 5.
“Oliver Anthony” is a stage name, borrowed from Anthony’s grandfather. The artist, whose legal name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford, got his GED in Spruce Pine after dropping out of high school in 2010.
Anthony worked at a number of factories in Western North Carolina, the last being at a paper mill in McDowell County, before moving to Virginia.
Jeff Harding, chair of the Mitchell County Board of Commissioners, and Spencer Bost, executive director of Downtown Spruce Pine, came before the council last week to ask for the closure of Lower Street April 4 and 5.
Harding said Anthony, who catapulted to the top of the charts with his single “Rich Men North of Richmond” in 2023, wants to donate ticket revenue to benefit Downtown Spruce Pine and the Mitchell County Development Foundation.
“He wants to come to our community and perform for free, (but) it will be a charged event,” Harding said. “I’m hoping it will be somewhere between a $70,000 and $80,000 event.”
Harding said there will be food and alcohol vendors at the show.
Bost said business owners in town are supportive of the concert plan.
“I think this is a great way to get the word out that Spruce Pine is still a place that you can visit,” Bost said.
Harding said Anthony specifically wants to perform in downtown so that out-of-town fans will see local needs firsthand.
“Spruce Pine will be the kickoff for the Rural Revival Tour,” Harding said. “He wanted downtown Spruce Pine. … I showed him several spots. … He wanted people who are coming in from out of town to walk through downtown.”
Harding said that in order to benefit the damaged businesses on Lower Street, boarded-up buildings will have information for concert goers on how to support specific storm victims.
Council member Beth Holmes, who has a law office in downtown Spruce Pine, asked Bost and Harding to make sure there is adequate security at the event to prevent break-ins after hours.
Harding said there will be crowd-control volunteers keeping an eye out for suspicious activity.