A group of Suwanee, Ga., musicians are ready to take the stage in Highlands for Saturdays on Pine.
20 years ago, Full Circle began playing together during church and decided to form a band.
“We were all playing in a music ministry in Suwanee, and thought, ‘Hey, we are pretty good at this Christian stuff,’” Chris Kohne said. “We decided to start playing some classic and acoustic rock.”
Kohne got into the music scene because of his three older brothers.
“I am the youngest of six kids,” Kohne said. “All of my siblings were musicians, especially my older three brothers. They all played guitar, so it was a natural progression for me. I’m the one who took it the most seriously.”
The group plays mostly acoustic and classic rock.
“Most people coin us as an acoustic classic rock group,” Kohne said. “When we started this group, our focus was on songs that people love but that you don’t hear live that much. We tried to do stuff that your typical classic rock cover band doesn’t play. We like to have the audience be surprised by the stuff we play.”
As a band, this will be the first time that they have played in the Highlands area.
“We are looking forward to some good weather, a great crowd and share our music with the Highlands community,” Kohne said. “Some of our members have never been to Highlands. So, I’m looking forward to them getting to experience the area. We hope to make this an annual visit.”
Kohne said the Highlands demographic suits their playing style.
“I have been performing solo music for the past four or five years,” Kohne said. “I think the Highlands crowd tends to be more appreciative our talent, as opposed to a crowded bar in Atlanta. We just want people to have a good time. We want people to leave and want to hear us again.”
No one in the group is a full-time musician, which Kohne said makes the band more unique.
“We really come together as friends,” Kohne said. “It’s not a job for us. We all have full time jobs like a retired metal fabricator, software engineers, hairdressers, a podiatrist and bankers. We live busy lives, but we always find time to play music.”
Live music is important to Kohne because the band loves playing music for the community.
“Live music is coming back and that’s great,” Kohne said. “We hope that the Delta Variant doesn’t put a damper on things, but the event is outdoors. I think live music is more important for the community than anything.”
Full Circle is set to take the stage Sept. 11, at 6 p.m., at Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park.
By Christopher Smith