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Varsity Theatre goes live with 'Love'

Tonight, the Varsity Theatre won't be showing a movie. Instead, it will be hosting the fifth annual Love Live Concert.

The Love Live Concert, put on by the religious group Love Chapel Hill, will feature local Folk and Americana bands, Delta Son and Look Homeward, to showcase great local music to the Chapel Hill community.

“There’s such an amazing music scene in Chapel Hill and sometimes it goes unnoticed,” said Justin Simmons, the executive pastor for Love Chapel Hill.

While Love Chapel Hill is religiously affiliated, Simmons said the concert isn't necessarily to promote the church, but to promote local artists.

“This is a chance for us to feature local artists and make them accessible to the local community,” he said. “And showcase gifts that our local artists have and give them a chance to be in front of the community.”

Jason Tuggle, the lead singer of Delta Son, supports the goal that Love Chapel Hill is promoting.

“It’s just a community engagement kind of thing to bring in some bands and do something cool for for campus and community,” Tuggle said. 

Tuggle said he loves opportunities like these that help him and his band connect with their audience.

“For me as a performer and as a songwriter, one of the things that I love about music, and being a musician, is just being able to connect with people and share the songs that I and my band write,” he said. “For us, performances are as much about engaging the people there as it is about performing.”

Delta Son’s music is a mix of Americana and Roots Rock, but Tuggle said his inspiration for writing comes mainly from growing up in North Carolina.

“When I got out and started traveling around,” he said, “it was becoming more and more apparent to me that North Carolina would always be home, this place that kind off of made me who I am and formed me.”

Lee Anderson, the lead singer of Look Homeward, who’s also performing at the concert, said their music is inspired by North Carolina musicians, along with many other regional influences.

“We definitely like North Carolina folk music,” he said, “It can kind of bounce back from between Appalachian blue grass influence to down in New Orleans to Dixie jazz.”

He said it’s great that Love is putting on this event because it has a very positive presence in Chapel Hill, and he loves playing here.

“It’s always fun to play Chapel Hill,” he said, “(Love) is just a great part of the landscape and part of the community.”

And Tuggle said he also feels music, in general, is a way for people to just get out and have a good time. 

“Sharing quality songs, and having a good time doing it,” he said, “Those are just the two priorities for us.”

arts@dailytarheel.com

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