Band returns to Steubenville during nationwide tour
Trending
STEUBENVILLE -- Following a packed concert at Leonardo's Coffeehouse earlier this year, an acoustic string band returned to Steubenville Wednesday as part of its nationwide tour, filling the lobby of the Grand Theater with attendees.
The Arcadian Wild's Autumn 2023 tour, promoting their July album "Welcome," began on Sept. 5 in Seattle and the West Coast. The band is currently more than halfway through, finishing the Midwest section of the tour, and it will wrap up in Nashville on Nov. 18.
Hosted by the Harmonium Project, the concert received about 80 ticket sales, which packed the Grand's lobby shoulder-to-shoulder. The Arcadian Wild, a four-piece band made of instrumentalists and vocalists, produced a similar effect during their first-ever concert in Steubenville, a free show in Leonardo's on Jan. 25, said Harmonium's President Marc Barnes.
"I love the band," said Barnes before the show, "and when we had them the first time, they just blew our minds. It's such a mixture of high energy but profound musical talent."
Caleb Knorr, who manages Harmonium's booking, said of The Arcadian Wild: "They gave just a fantastic show (last time). It was the most packed I've ever seen (Leonardo's). After that, we knew we had to have them back."
The Arcadian Wild's concert in the Grand represents cultural revitalization to come, Barnes said before the show. The Harmonium Project is known for its blowout First Friday festivals on Fourth Street, he said, but the nonprofit's original goal was to generate more concerts in Steubenville.
With First Fridays taking a pause for the winter, Steubenville residents should keep their eyes open on social media for more concerts, Barnes said. One such concert will be a Christmas jazz show featuring folk singer-songwriter Ben David Warner, formerly of the band Scythian.
Just behind The Arcadian Wild as it performed were the doors looking into the Grand's auditorium, undergoing vital renovations and stacked inside with scaffolding. Barnes said the concert was held with the permission of Scott Dressel, lead volunteer for the Grand Theater Restoration Project.
"We'll be happy when we can be in the real theater and not just the lobby," Barnes said.
That time might not be too far off, considering the Steubenville Historic Landmarks Foundation received a $1.5 million Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission last week. Dressel said the funds will be spent on finishing the Grand's wall surfaces and possibly on painting them.
Another music venue Barnes hopes to utilize is Ambrose Brewing, a brewery set to open downtown. The brewery will be managed by Marc Barnes' brother, Joseph Barnes, and owned by David Mathews, head brewer.
"Ultimately, we're hoping to do a pretty regular music scene here," Barnes said. "I think we're like two years out from a very lively music scene downtown where there's just concerts weekend to weekend."
The Harmonium Project representatives were not the only ones excited to have The Arcadian Wild back in Steubenville. The band members themselves had just as much enthusiasm to return to the city.
Lincoln Mick, mandolinist for the band, said of the Leonardo's show: "It was a great crowd. They were lively and sweet."
Mick is joined in the band by guitarist Isaac Horn, fiddler Bailey Warren and upright bassist Eli Broxham. With them was Bodhi Dark, merchandise and tour manager, who sold The Arcadian Wild shirts, posters, CDs and vinyl records.
"I was really excited to come back," Mick said. "It just seems like a really sweet community, and I really appreciate the way it's like a little contingency of people reinvesting in the place and revitalizing it. ... We'll see how it hopefully grows over the next couple years -- that would be really amazing."
Dark added, "It feels like Steubenville is the next music hotspot in Ohio."
The Arcadian Wild's members are based out of Nashville, although none of them are originally from there. Mick said he struggles to categorize The Arcadian Wild, which formed in 2018, as anything other than an acoustic string band, avoiding placing the band in a single niche.
Fans of The Arcadian Wild arrived just as enthusiastic. David Hahn, who attended the band's first Steubenville concert, said to Mick: "I've been looking forward to this since it was announced."
Andrew Doty, who has been listening to The Arcadian Wild for several years, said the band is "quite awesome" and their album "Welcome" is great. Regrettably, Doty said, he was not able to attend the band's first show, but he is excited now that they are back.
Commenting on Steubenville's music scene, Doty said, "I love the music scene we have now. It's very present and it's definitely on a smaller, personal scale, which I actually really appreciate. ... Between the Saturday Markets, First Fridays, stuff at Franciscan University and some of the stuff at Historic Fort Steuben, what else could you really want?"
Before the concert began, the Harmonium Project's upcoming swing dance competition was advertised. The competition, divided into dance 'till you drop and choreographed sections, will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Leonardo's Coffeehouse's third-floor ballroom.