This Saturday, High Five, a local band who has graced the stage in Highlands for more than a dozen years, will take the stage again at Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park for Saturdays on Pine.
The group started as all locals from Highlands, but band member Mark Lassiter said they have gone separate ways over the years.
“I have been here for about 31 years,” Lassiter said. “The other two founding members Sam Potts, who was a local to Highlands, moved to Asheville, and our bass player Joe Fowler, who taught at the Summit School, moved to Knoxville. Our guitar player, George Reeves spends half the year here and the other half in Florida. This Saturday, we will actually have Bill Coward playing with us on saxophone. He was a North Carolina Superior Court Judge and he doesn’t play much with us, but he is pretty well known around Highlands and he is a heck of a musician.”
Lassiter said the band always looks forward to playing in Highlands because of the crowd.
“We always have a good amount of friends and family that come out,” Lassiter said. “Especially if we have nice weather, we always look forward to playing.”
The band covers several classic rock songs, as well as blues and bluegrass.
“We primarily cover classic rock tunes, but we will throw some other things in there,” Lassiter said. “We might throw a jazz tune in there or a blues tune. We like to play the song Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, as well.”
He said he hopes the audience goes away from the concert having a good time the entire night.
“The crowd will hear songs that they know and love hearing,” Lassiter said. “Hopefully they will go away happy and in good spirits.”
For Lassiter, live music is important for the community because he said Highlands is configured for live music.
“I play in several bands, and I think last year when there was no music, it was pretty depressing,” Lassiter said. “Especially the way that this community is configured, I think live music really brings people together. It brings people together of all types, no matter of political affiliation or religious affiliation. It keeps the community’s spirit at a good level.”
High Five will take the stage this Saturday at Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park at 6 p.m.
By Christopher Smith