ONTARIO – An influential country crooner and trumpeter will wrap up the final leg of his fall tour Friday, Oct. 20, at the Frosty Badger in Ontario.
Bart Budwig, a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Enterprise, will take the stage at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door for the all-ages concert. Advance tickets can be purchased at eventbrite.com.
Lee Newman, owner of the concert venue at 505 N.W. 1st St., said he has been trying to book Budwig for over a year.
Newman said he had heard about Budwig and his influence in the region and that he is the artist in residence at the OK Theater in Enterprise, a small concert venue similar to the Frosty Badger.
Budwig compares himself on his website country-folk singers Hoyt Axton and John Prine. He keeps a recording studio in Enterprise, above the OK Theater.
“He’s done a lot of stuff and he’s also an interesting character,” Newman said.
Budwig’s show will also feature solo artist and songwriter Graham Farrow Knibb, according to the event flyer.
Newman, who purchased the Frosty Badger three years ago, said that he’s been booking musical acts for the last six months. Before then, he said he had been restoring the building and is now looking to bring “high quality” musicians to Ontario to spare people travel to Boise for shows.
He said while the Frosty Badger is an event space that people can rent for other occasions, the venue is a concert hall dedicated to music.
In restoring the building, he said he and his crew worked hard to get the sound and acoustics right for the artist and the audience.
“We got the right equipment,” he said. “From a musical appreciation standpoint, it’s a great place to see live music. That’s what we’re really going for.”
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