Chatt Hills Music. All shows are within the Serenbe community, in the Chattahoochee Hills area, 30 miles south of Atlanta. Information and tickets: chatthillsmusic.com.
Serenbe, the countrypolitan planned community about 30 miles south of downtown Atlanta, is adding more colors to its evening songs, hosting a substantial new series of concerts ranging from jazz to folk to Americana.
Next up in the series is jazz vocalist Sachal Vasandani, a Jon Hendricks protege, performing Sunday, followed by the alternative country duo Granville Automatic Sept. 20.
Both of those shows will be in private homes. Other events will be staged outdoors at the Serenbe Pavilion, or in the training facility called the Bosch Experience Center.
“We call ourselves the wandering music company,” said coordinator Ron Simblist, a Serenbe resident and one-time agent in Atlanta’s jazz scene, because the performances happen all over the place.
Serenbe is committed to the arts, and plays host to an outdoor theater company, but until recently was short on musical performances. Simblist decided to help change that. A resident for six years or so, he began calling on his old contacts and started putting on shows, expanding to include many nonjazz acts.
That was in 2012, and, he said, “so far, so good.”
Tickets are available at chatthillsmusic.com. Here's what Simblist's Chatt Hills Music series (named after the nearby Chattahoochee Hills community) has planned for the fall:
Sachal Vasandani, Sept. 14
Vasandani’s “Hi-Fly” reached No. 1 on the iTunes jazz chart and featured the voice of his mentor, Hendricks. He describes himself as a “nice Indian kid from Chicago” who learned to love jazz, and many other styles, from his parents and his grandfather, a singer of classical Indian music.
Vasandani’s performance will be at a private residence in Serenbe, and he will be accompanied by Louis Herriveaux on keyboards, Kevin Smith on bass and Justin Varnes on drums. Tickets: $20
Granville Automatic, Sept. 20
For their third album, “An Army Without Music,” Vanessa Olivarez and Elizabeth Elkins traveled to a half-dozen battlefields and other Civil War sites to make “field recordings” of their songs about characters and events of the sepia-toned South.
The goal was to help preserve the battlefields and the stories of the Civil War, and they worked with the help of the nonprofit Civil War Trust and the National Park Service.
The Atlanta-based duo will bring their ballads and stories to Serenbe for a private-house concert. Tickets: $15
Matt Kabus and friends, Oct. 4
A California native and graduate of the University of Georgia in music business, music theory and advertising, Kabus is a singer-songwriter who also has acted in films and commercials and has a solid background in studio production.
He will appear at the Bosch Experience Center, which holds between 70 and 80 audience members. Tickets: not yet available
The Shadowboxers, Oct. 18
An Atlanta-based ensemble with an emphasis on harmony, Shadowboxers Scott Schwartz, Matt Lipkins and Adam Hoffman offer a tightly-rehearsed set with a nod toward such classic vocal rock groups as Crosby, Stills & Nash. Opening act Cicada Rhythm pairs Andrea DeMarcus on standup bass with David Kirslis on acoustic guitar. Their performances will take place at the outdoor Serenbe Pavilion, which holds up to 400 guests. Tickets: $20
Seth Walker, Nov. 8
Bluesy vocalist-guitarist Walker brings his roots music to the Bosch Experience Center. His new studio album, “Sky Still Blue,” was produced by Oliver Wood, one-half of the Wood Brothers and well-known to Atlanta audiences. Tickets: $20
Leyla McCalla, Nov. 15
McCalla, a child of Haitian immigrants, studied cello at New York University and practiced her Bach on the streets of New Orleans. As a vocalist and cellist with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, she introduced a new generation to the repertoire of the African-American string bands from the turn of the previous century. As a solo act, she expands to music from all ages. Tickets: $20
Harpeth Rising, Dec. 6
This new acoustic act chose its name from a river and met at Indiana University’s music school. Jordana Greenberg (violin), Rebecca Reed-Lunn (banjo) and Maria Di Meglio (cello) mesh bluegrass and classical techniques to create a vigorous hybrid that they will perform at a private residence. Tickets: not yet available.
