DentonRadio.com hosts smaller, free music fest on the Square

The festival features strictly local acts.

Photo courtesy of Jake Laughlin

Pat York, Kelsey Henry, Jake Laughlin, and Bone Doggie form Denton Radio, an online-only radio station featuring local Denton artists exclusively. Denton Radio will host “Denton Radio on the Square” March 7 through 10, showcasing local musicians during the 35 Denton Festival.

DENTON — This weekend the Denton Convention and Visitors Bureau is “turning the stereo on in the living room of Denton.”

Denton Radio on the Square is a free, four-day live music festival featuring 41 local musical acts. The event is presented by Dentonradio.com and will take place Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on the Square, dubbed the “living room of Denton” by the Denton Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

The festival will run concurrently with 35 Denton, the established national music festival that consumes many venues on and just east of the Square, leading some guests to incorrectly assume that the two are in competition, said Jake Laughlin, CEO of Dentonradio.com.

“I think the biggest confusion about this festival is that it’s either against or without the blessing of 35 Denton, when this was actually their idea,” Laughlin said.

Laughlin met with 35 Denton organizers after they had finalized their lineup, and fully supported Denton Radio’s efforts to create an all-local set list, he said.

Bone Doggie, vice president and co-founder of Dentonradio.com, assembled the array of talent that will be showcased on the Square. All 41 acts span genres from country to jazz to dance.

Bone Doggie’s own band, Bone Doggie and the Hickory Street Hellraisers, will be playing their brand of Delta Blues on Saturday night.

Brave Combo members include (from left) Jeffrey Barnes, Carl Finch, Ginny Mac, Alan Emert, and Little Jack Melody.

Finding talented acts in Denton was easy, as every year new artists migrate to the area from all over Texas and the U.S., with many finding their way to his open mic nights, Bone Doggie said.

Two-time Grammy award-winning band Brave Combo will headline the festival. The five-piece band plays a complex variety of musical styles, all the way from zydeco to Latin-infused rhythms to the blues.

The band formed in 1979, and in the three decades since, their music has appeared in movies and on television shows and sporting events.

Laughlin described Brave Combo agreeing to play the festival as a “coup.” Bone Doggie said they are “the pinnacle of music in Denton.”

Texan Woman’s University student Myka Jimenez does not doubt the event’s potential success.

“I saw Brave Combo once before at the jazz festival, and I’m really looking forward to seeing them again,” Jimenez said.