By: Gina Lanaux

Picture this: a beautiful spring afternoon, a lovely breeze sweeping through the pines, friends gathering, ice chests and picnic baskets full of goodies, and one of your favorite bands playing their best tunes at an outdoor amphitheater.  

The Live at Five Concert series at the Halstead Amphitheater in Fairhope is the place! They have announced the upcoming spring lineup and it is one of the best yet. In its 8th year, the music series is quickly becoming a “must-do”  Fairhope event. Children, dogs, and people of all ages come out on a Friday night to enjoy music and socialize with their friends in a wholesome outdoor setting.

The first Spring concert features a local favorite from Mobile, The Red Clay Strays on Friday, March 29th.  The band has played at Live at Five several times before, but now, with their Way Too Long national tour, they are on the fast track to becoming one of the hottest bands in America. Opening for the Strays is River Dan and Brooke Brown. 

Next, on April 19th, The Band of Heathens, from Austin, Texas, will take the stage. Another national act, with multiple albums and numerous awards from the Americana Music Association, BOH is going to put on a great show with opening acts, Lamont Landers and Fairhope’s own Summerlyn Powers.  

On May 10th, my all-time favorite and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band, The Marshall Tucker Band will bring its famous Southern rock sounds to the venue, with Taylor Hunnicutt and Shelby Kemp as openers. Wrapping up the season on May 31st is everyone's ideal Dance Band, The Tip Tops Band. 

How do all these great bands get to Fairhope? Ben Jernigan, executive director of Live at Five, is the reason. Ben joined the board of the Friends of the Halstead, the nonprofit group that produces the series, in 2022 and became director in the summer of ‘23. A musician himself, he says he is an event planner and producer and loves music so much that he likes to” put himself in the middle of it all.”  

Early in his career, he made his living as a paramedic and played music as a side gig.  Friends would ask him to put bands together, non-profits would seek him out to organize events, and his life he said, “was revolving.” I say it was ‘evolving’  because fate put Jake Peavy in his path. 

Jake, as most of us know, is a Mobile-born, famous MLB pitcher who had an illustrious career with the Chicago White Sox and San Diego Padres. Ben and he became friends and business partners and looked into ways to develop Downtown Mobile. Ben said, “I wanted to bring creative types and entrepreneurs together and create a cool downtown environment.” 

In the meantime, Jake’s fan base discovered that Jake plays the guitar and sings and his fans wanted more. Ben put a band together, The Outsiders, and they played all over the country. “ We sold out the rock club, the Fillmore in San Francisco when we did a tribute to Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.” They played venues like  Red Rocks in Colorado, and Central Park in NYC, and eventually came home to Mobile to play Bienville Square and the Civic Center. Ben tells me, “It was quite an adventure and a very steep learning curve. I made many contacts and friends in the music business and decided I didn’t want to be an EMT anymore.”

In 2018, back home in Mobile, Jernigan became the director of 1065, a music festival that followed in BayFest’s footsteps. Jake and he started Dauphin Street Sound, a professional recording studio, and the Cedar Street Social Club and have many other ventures in the works. Ben books entertainment for venues all over the Southeast and is working with concert promotions for major Universities. “I followed the path that was put in front of me,” he says. 

The path led him to come to see his old friend, John Popper, lead singer for Blues Traveler who played Live at Five in 2021. Backstage, he meets the chairman of the organization's board, Clifton Mostellar, and Ben comes on board to be the booking agent for Live at Five. Ben says, “The Red Clay Strays Concert is going to be the biggest thing Fairhope has ever seen.“ Because I am a volunteer board member, this is music to my ears! 

In the early days of Live at Five, the series was underwritten by Coastal Alabama Community College where the amphitheater is located, so ticket prices were very low. Now, the group relies on ticket sales and sponsorships to operate. “These national acts cost tens of thousands of dollars, and we can keep tickets affordable because of Sponsorships. All of the profits fund The Jacob Hall Memorial Grant, which gives money and instruments to aspiring musicians in our area.“  

Sponsorship tiers start at $1000 and go up to Presenting Sponsor at $10,000. Sponsors get free tickets, parking spaces, stage, and fence banners, and Live at Five swag. If you are a music-loving business owner, this is a great opportunity to be part of something great, and it's Tax deductible.

As one of the founding members of the Live at Five Concert series, I have watched and participated in the growth and subsequent excitement of this musical experience. We are grateful to all our sponsors and patrons who enjoy and realize what music does for the soul. My favorite quote I heard was from an audience member who called the show “ Alive at Five.” I laughed to myself, and thought that I was grateful to be alive at five, every day! Or maybe grateful to be alive at five at live at five!  

Whatever, I’m just grateful and encourage everyone to come to celebrate the music and all of Ben Jernigan’s hard work. Tickets are available on Eventbrite or liveatfivefairhope.com.