Thimes, Massie, Tichenor to be featured on KETC's May 17 Grand Center special

Singers Denise Thimes and Kim Massie and pianist Trebor Tichenor and the St. Louis Ragtimers will be among the featured musicians on Live From Grand Center, a live television broadcast from the Sheldon Concert Hall that will air on local PBS affiliate KETC (Channel 9) at 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 17.

The hour-long program will showcase St. Louis musical talentin a variety of styles, with the lineup also including blues/rock guitarist and singer Billy Peek, gospel group Something Special and bluegrass band the Flying Mules. Tickets for the concert are $75 for floor seats and $55 for balcony seats, but you can get a discount by going online to www.metrotix.com/promotions and entering the promotional code GCLIVE07.

Although it would be pure, unsupported speculation, one can't help but wonder if this might be a sort of back-door pilot or proof-of-concept for a potential series. Certainly, with venues such as Powell Hall, Jazz at the Bistro, the Sheldon and the Fox Theatre, there's plenty of musical talent, both local and national, being showcased in the Grand Center neighborhood on a regular basis. And now that KETC has moved their studios into the area, they certainly have a more vested interest in its success than when the station was located just off the Washington University campus.

Given the long-running success of shows such as Austin City Limits, Soundstage and others, the notion of a public TV music series originating from St. Louis doesn't seem entirely far-fetched. Of course, it wouldn't be cheap to produce, either, but one would think there are ample opportunities for corporate underwriting there, as well as potential revenue resulting from selling the show to other PBS affiliates. It will be interesting to see what sort of audience, both live and watching on TV, this program garners, and if it then spawns a sequel or sequels.