WARREN - There will be a little bit of country, a little bit of rock and roll, and even some jazz weekends this summer in the downtown amphitheater.
On Thursdays, the Fine Arts Council will be bringing in about 10 weeks of jazz, classical music and other musical genre to the Warren Community Amphitheatre.
On Fridays, City Councilman Daniel J. Sferra, his brother, David, and David Mazzochi plan to bring eight to 10 weeks of country music tribute bands.
The amphitheater al-ready has hosted approximately a dozen nights of rock tribute bands on Saturday evenings, which are to continue this summer.
"This is exciting," Bill Mullane, president of the Arts Council Board of Trustees, said. "If this happens, the city will have entertainment Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at the amphitheater. It will be good for everyone.
"We felt it is better for them to have Fridays and the rock concert to be on Saturdays because they could share equipment that we do not need," Mullane said.
Mullane said their concert series usually start in mid-June and lasts about 10 weeks.
Sferra said, "We've always loved country music and thought it would be a good idea to bring country music to Warren. I think there is an audience for something like this."
They want to bring in tribute bands that do the music of artists such as Shania Twain, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, Brooks and Dunn and others.
The three men came up with the idea of bringing country acts to the area about five months ago.
"Putting this together has been a lot more work and expense than I originally thought," Sferra said. "In my previous life, prior to becoming (Warren's) mayor, I used to book acts."
Two years ago, Sferra criticized the city for not asking for more money from Sunrise Entertainment, which was booking the rock series, to pay for the upkeep of the amphitheater.
City Auditor David Griffing said that in the last two years, Sunrise Entertainment has paid the city $9,844 for the use of the amphitheater. The city has been paid approximately $20 per daily rental use of the amphitheater. Other costs were reimbursement for council for employee costs
"Typically, we charge $40 per for a single day's rent of the amphitheater," Griffing said. "However, because we knew they were renting it multiple times, we charged a lower amount."
"We charge them for the use of the utilities," Griffing added.
Sferra said under the current proposal, Mayor Doug Franklin insisted they would be responsible for taking care of the maintenance of the amphitheater.
"We agreed to it," Sferra said. "That is what I was concerned with all of the time."
Marty Cohen, co-owner of Sunrise Entertainment with Ken Haidaris, which puts together River Rock at the Amp, said they have talked with Sferra's group to help make it work. The two groups are looking to share some expenses, such as fencing, tables and other equipment.
"We don't perceive them as competition," Cohen said. "We all are looking to bring more people into Warren."
Sunrise Entertainment is hoping to bring in at least one national act this summer. It is expecting to have 12 shows this summer.
Its schedule is expected to be released within the next two to three weeks.
"Our opening acts will be local entertainers," Cohen said.