The El Dorado Advertising and Promotion Commission approved on Tuesday a $2,000 funding request for an upcoming concert featuring one of the most popular bands in contemporary Christian music.
The Big Daddy Weave Alive Tour will stop at the El Dorado Municipal Auditorium, 100 W. Eighth, at 7 p.m. April 16.
West Side Baptist Church is hosting the concert, with assistance from Main Street El Dorado, who presented the $2,000 funding request to the A&P commission.
Beth Brumley, MSE executive director, told commissioners that West Side initiated the booking of the show and reached out to Main Street because of the nonprofit organization’s past track record of success with sold-out or near sell-out shows featuring top contemporary Christian music artists, including Point of Grace, Selah and Amy Grant, at the auditorium.
Big Daddy Weave is one of the most sought-after acts of the genre, having sold more than one million albums, scored several number one hits and garnered multiple music-industry award nominations, including the Dove Awards, Billboard Music Awards, ASCAP Christian Music Awards, and K-LOVE Fan Awards.
In 2010, the quintet won the Dove Award for Christmas Album of the Year with the 2009 holiday release “Christ is Come.”
The album reached number five on the Billboard Holiday Album chart.
The band’s number singles include “Every Time I Breathe,” “Redeemed,” “The Only Name (Yours Will Be),” and “My Story.”
Big Daddy Weave released its career, best-selling album, “Love Come to Life,” in 2012 and its most recent album, “Beautiful Offerings,” climbed up to number four on the U.S. Christian music charts on 2015.
The 35-city Alive Tour kicks off Thursday in Circleville, Ohio, and ends April 19 in Farmington, New Mexico.
On Tuesday, Brumley noted that the A&P commission recently awarded Main Street $15,000 to help promote 2019 events.
Main Street was one of 11 groups who submitted requests for proposals (RFPs) and received a share of $160,000 in funding requests that the A&P awarded for 2019.
The funds were divvied up last month, and Brumley said the $2,000 request for the Big Daddy show was not included in Main Street’s application then because the show had not yet been finalized.
Brumley said the total advertising budget for the show is $4,546.50 for advertising that will spread throughout the region, including Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma.
“We’re asking you for $2,000 to help with that,” Brumley said.
One of the criteria to qualify for A&P funds is to advertise a local event outside a 50-mile radius to help encourage overnight stays, or “more heads in beds”, in El Dorado.
With the one-night Big Daddy concert scheduled for a Tuesday, Brumley said the event could generate some overnight stays in local hotels.
“And some of the churches are buying tickets in bulk,” she said.
Partnering with West Side will also help Main Street fulfill a longstanding agreement with the A&P commission to schedule shows in the auditorium in order to get more use out of the 62-year-old facility.
Brumley reminded commissioners that Main Street presented a 2018 show featuring country music fiddler and singer Shoji Tabuchi at the auditorium.
“It will also serve as a fundraiser for our organization,” Brumley told commissioners.
Dianne Hammond, chairman of the A&P commission and an El Dorado City Council member, noted that when commissioners set the 2019 budget, they agreed to increase the non-designated line item in anticipation of unexpected opportunities, such as the Big Daddy Weave concert, that may arise after the funding requests have been approved for the year.
The non-designated line item was upped from $15,000 in 2018 to $20,000 this year.
In November, the commission approved a $3,500 request to assist Main Street in joining a mobile app, Distrx, that is designed for Main Street cities across the country to provide location-based services for local businesses and attractions and notify users of any special offers, sales or promotions that participating businesses may offer.
Hammond inquired about the effort Tuesday and Brumley said the app has been activated and Main Street is working to get downtown businesses rolled on to it.
She said MSE is also working with the El Dorado Historic District Commission to add the downtown historic walking tour to the app.
For more information about the Big Daddy Weave concert, call Main Street at 870-862-4747 or West Side 870-863-4113.
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at tlyons@ eldoradonews.com.