National blues act Larry McCray from Davison, Mich. will perform at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Blues on the Square.
Blues on the Square, held on the 200 block of South Washington square, has been bringing blues music to downtown Lansing for three years after following the lead of Blues on the Mall, a 17-year-old blues concert series in Grand Rapids.
McCray described his sound as mixing blues, R&B, funk, soul and a little bit of reggae. A regular fixture on the lineup at both Blues on the Square and Blues on the Mall, he said he looks forward to coming to Lansing every year.
“Lansing is a very gracious and musically knowledgeable community,” he said. “You can mix it up because the crowd appreciates everything.”
McCray said he prefers to play at outdoor festivals and Blues on the Square is one of his favorites. Lansing Principal Shopping District executive Mindy Biladeau estimated that McCray’s Thursday concert will be one of the most well-attended of this year’s seven-week-long Blues on the Square series. McCray currently is promoting his latest self-titled album on Magnolia Records.
Biladeau said Blues on the Square drew on average 1,500 people to the downtown area during its inaugural year in 2007 and has grown since.
With vendors lining the street and blues artists on the stage, Blues on the Square offers a reason for the community to come out to downtown Lansing and see what the city has to offer, she said.
“Blues music is pretty universal and a lot of people enjoy it,” she said. “It brings people together.”
The foot traffic the event brings to downtown Lansing benefits local businesses, said Jenna Martis, a bartender at Tavern on the Square, 206 S. Washington Square, in Lansing.
With extended patio seating to guarantee as many people as possible a seat and added beverage stations, the restaurant overstaffs in anticipation for the Thursday evening concert series, she said.
“We get to see a lot of new faces because of the concerts,” she said.
Tavern on the Square also benefits from the exposure gained by their proximity to the festival, she said. People walking by are more likely to stop and eat than people are to seek out the restaurant to have dinner, she said.
To further entice the after-concert crowd, Tavern on the Square also features a DJ after the concert for concertgoers looking for a place to go instead of home, she said.
“We get to start the weekend early on Thursday night because of Blues on the Square,” she said. “It extends the weekend.”
Getting people to come to downtown Lansing for purposes other than work is important to the economic growth of the city, Biladeau said. Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero echoed Biladeau’s sentiments in a press release.
“Blues on the Square is an event that carries on far past one evening or summer — it’s a series that will continue to inspire patrons to ‘play’ in downtown Lansing for years to come,” he said.