Live at Legacy will continue.
After the sale of the coffee shop portion of Legacy earlier this year, it was questioned in the community of what would happen with the live music at the local café.
Events co-ordinator Angus Wilson assured that the new café owners are on board with continuing hosting live shows at the café with the first show T. Buckley announced for March 12.
“We had to put the music program on hiatus during that whole change and it was always the plan to take a break and let the dust settle while the new owners did their renovations and everything – these are all changes we are really excited about as a team and we are excited for the collaboration,” Wilson said.
Live at Legacy has been running for the past couple years in town, selling out more than 80 per cent of shows when first introduced, according to organizers.
The official grand re-opening of the café will fall on the same day of the first concert under new ownership on March 12.
The café has been under a soft opening since the new owners took over at the beginning of February with the live music shows on pause until renovations were complete.
“My biggest goal as an events coordinator is I want to continue live music in Cochrane, the community is hungry for good live music – and I think the venues and music programs that survive through these times will be the ones that roll with the punches,” Wilson explained.
In addition to a new menu of changes, Legacy organizers will also be looking into offering live music concerts twice a month instead of every weekend.
With the downturn in the economy, organizers explained they were feeling an “excitement dip” in the concerts towards the end of 2015 and are hopeful with offering only two shows a month will help “pick up the excitement.”
Live at Legacy twice a month will now offer people the chance to come out more, as it will be more affordable to go to two concerts a month as opposed to four, and offer organizers a chance to book bigger artists and bring back musicians who have done well at shows.
“It’s been my biggest intention is to keep this going – we want to put on good listening music that will send people away with a smile on their face and bring them back again and we’ve seen that reaction from a lot of people and we’ve seen that reaction from every single artist we’ve put on stage,” Wilson said.
“There seems to be a hunger for live music in this town and at the end of the day we have a lot of people drive out from the city to come see these shows. So it is a good thing for the economy too, people get dinner before at a different restaurant or drinks after and it’s been nothing but a good thing.”
The Legacy will also continue to offer all-ages shows, which organizers said is a big part of what makes the café venue in Cochrane unique and help promote kids to stay active in the arts.
“There is a need for activity in this town, not only for moms and dads but for our older community and younger community – for me personally, kids are spending too much time on technology and they need an activity that is going to expand their mind a little bit… what a better way to encourage a kid than to let them come see live music?” Wilson said.
“I’m excited that we have such a good team of people joining the Legacy crew and taking their place in the business allows the guitar and lessons side to really focus on that. It is such a good business model and business idea, and it was not something we were willing to give up on.”
The Legacy Guitar and Coffee House is located on 214 1 St. W. For more information about upcoming shows and events go to the official Facebook page under “Legacy Guitar and Coffee House.”
