HAMLET — With just less than two months to go, the Seaboard City has announced the 2025 lineup for the fourth year of the Boxcar Concert Series.
The slate of this year’s bands includes four making their debut in the series at Main Street Park and three returning.
The season kicks off April 25 with Good Company playing a variety of country and classic rock covers. The band features singer/guitarist Eric Whitfield, guitarist Brian Grooms, drummer Eddie Brown, bassist Phil Burgess and keyboardist Casey Schultz.
Brown has performed in the series the previous three years with the Safety Committee.
Good Company performs New Year's Eve 2024 at the Rockingham Moose Lodge.
William R. Toler
Two other groups making their first appearances are the River Ridge Bluegrass Band and the Eddie Jacobs Band on May 23 and June 27, respectively.
Three-piece rockabilly band The Radio — with members hailing from Randolph and Chatham counties — returns to the stage July 25 for its third consecutive performance with a set list of originals and covers.
The Jonathan Robinson Band returns Aug. 22 with a mixture of rock and blues. Robinson returned home to Richmond County after working as a guitarslinger for several years in Nashville. The band is the only act to perform every year in the series.
Vagabond, scheduled to play Sept. 26, was on tap to replace Oero in 2024, but the show was canceled because of weather. The band features John Baker on guitar and vocals, Patrick Razon on bass and vocals, Anakin White on drums and Logan Watts on guitar.
Rockingham native Erik Hawks returns to Hamlet with the Hard Luck Band Oct. 24 to close out the series the Friday night before the Seaboard Festival for the third straight year.
Erik Hawks closes out the 2024 season of the Boxcar Concert Series in Hamlet on Oct. 25.
William R. Toler
Hawks is an award-winning singer/songwriter now living in Fayetteville who has been performing several years in his home county as a solo act or with the full band, with shows at both Rockingham Speedway and Rockingham Dragway, as well as Rockingham’s SpringFest and the Seaboard Festival.
The free Boxcar Concert Series started on Sunday afternoons in 2022, but was switched to Friday evenings to coincide with TGIFridays on Main, with several food trucks set up near the Depot.
Rockingham kicks off its annual Plaza Jam summer concert series — which has been running for more than two decades — May 1 with The Entertainers. Other bands on the schedule are:
Ellerbe’s Pickin’ the Park outdoor music series, started last year by Luke Vuncannon, will also return for 2025. However, as of this writing, no dates have been set.
