~by Brian Blair
For Columbus resident Toni Clark Smith, the seven-year-old Brown County Music Center deserves applause for its eclectic lineup. This year, she and her husband, Larry, attended performances by Alison Krauss, Ryan Bingham, and A. J. Croce.
2026 featured a record 80-plus show lineup. And major headliners such as jazz artist Kenny G and rock’s Rick Springfield are still to come.
Organizers say there could be even more shows in 2027 than this year.
“I love the smaller, more intimate venues,” Smith said of the 2,000-seat facility in what many attendees affectionately refer to as “that other Nashville.”
“And I love the fact that, at the music center, some acts are performers who are up and coming. And some acts are artists heading toward retirement,” she said.
As the nonprofit center moves into its last months of the year and its busiest season, it already has sold more tickets than last year.
All while drawing an estimated 1,100 people per show calculated over more than 60 shows by mid- October.
“All those things definitely point to growth,” said Braden Buehler, the center’s operations and engagement manager. “We are continuing to learn and experiment with what shows do well here.
“And I think that bands like Blackberry Smoke and Greensky Bluegrass and Trey Anastasio all point to a more, well, you can call it a more psychedelic or more of a new grass audience here. So we’re continuing to give each kind of music fan something that they can really latch onto.”
Thus far, the year’s fastest sellout was Alison Krauss & Union Station, who performed June 23. The show was announced in April and sold out in about two hours, according to Buehler. Concertgoers have been even more eager in the past. The facility got a fast start when country star Vince Gill sold out his August 2019 venue opener in just 15 minutes.
Gill’s wife Amy Grant said in an interview that her husband’s gushing over the venue is just one reason her band booked a performance there in September 2024.
Buehler and Smith both say that most ticket buyers like the center’s model in which a chunk of profits are returned to the community when business is solid. The venue has donated a total of $811,280 to local entities through the Brown County Community Foundation.
“I think that many people already know that if they upgrade to VIP seating, that extra revenue isn’t going into my paycheck,” Buehler said.
He added that the center’s success this year and before has raised some eyebrows. And one might understand such surprise when major artists of the past have cancelled entire tours in recent years due to poor advance ticket sales.
“I think one of the biggest stats is that we were not originally projected to be profitable for five to 10 years,” Buehler said.
Both he and Smith, also a part of the facility’s volunteer crew, say that such significant manpower helps keep ticket prices and other expenses reasonable.
Smith believes that the venue’s location only a few hours’ drive or less from metro areas such as Indianapolis, Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville, and other communities, makes it an easy draw for fans looking to see a favorite act close up, rather than in an arena or stadium. Buehler said he feels that music reaches many people on such a deep emotional level, so they remain willing to spend discretionary income at concerts— especially those with easily navigated surroundings such as tiny Nashville.
“They still want to find a way to get away and make a good memory,” he said.
He knows such from his own family. His grandfather, amid a battle with later-stage dementia and a fading memory, attended the Krauss concert with his wife, whom he sometimes does not recognize. Buehler saw something that night that profoundly affected him.
His grandad was singing along to a number of songs—somehow remembering the words. Music lives beyond notes and harmonies.
Music lives beyond notes and harmonies.
“That,” Buehler said, “really did a number on me. I had to step out of the venue for a second and just breathe.”