The Highway 46 Band is shown at a previous concert. The band will perform a free concert Friday at the plaza of the Bartholomew County Public Library in downtown Columbus.
Singer and guitarist Lynn Martin has been around music long enough to know that he and his Highway 46 Band are doing far more than merely playing songs.
He knows that, ideally, he and group members John Heichelbech and Karol Wainscott are stirring memories as sweet as their vocal harmony for listeners. That’s why Martin and company love doing covers of traditional country and pop-rock acts such as Willie Nelson, The Eagles, Marshall Tucker Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Waylon Jennings and others.
“People love the older songs and their messages,” said Martin, a veteran musician who moved to Columbus four years ago.
They’ll have a chance to love adore them even more at 6 p.m. Friday when the trio presents the next free show in the Bartholomew County Public Library’s free summer concert series on the library plaza at 536 Fifth St. in downtown Columbus. The 90-minute gatherings have attracted crowds of about 300 people for well-known groups such as the Banisters and others.
Currently, the last such scheduled concert will be singer and guitarist Ruben Guthrie and Albert Nolting on Sept. 20, said Maddie Paul, the library’s marketing and communications manager.
“But we’re still waiting to see what fall will bring,” she said.
The next free concert on the bandstand near the Hope Branch Library will be Smokin’ Jokers at 6 p.m. on Thursday, followed by the Jeroco Band on Sept. 19.
In Columbus, Martin is happy to play the plaza again.
“The most important thing,” Martin said, “is that I want people simply to have a good time.”
The group’s set list reflects an artistic mix “that we believe that people really feel comfortable with,” as he put it. “These are all singers who tell the real stories of life.”
The band has played a range of other venues ranging from the Columbus Farmers Market to the American Legion Post No. 24. And Martin mentioned that one element of the group’s success would be its presentation of the songs with something of their own vocal and musical spin, according to their strengths — not attempting to recreate the original artist’s sound.
A friend of Martin’s once left him with this message about renditions of cover tunes: “Learn to make them like the way you’re doing it.”
About the concert
Who: Local group Highway 46 Band performing in the Bartholomew County Public Library’s summer concert series.
When: 6 to 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Where: The library plaza at 536 Fifth St. in downtown Columbus.
Information: mybcpl.org and the library’s Facebook page at Bartholomew County Public Library
