Music will be provided by Tom Bernett and the Swing Street Band. Swing Street is a professional 9-piece swing band based in central Carolina, playing a wide variety of cross-generational dance music, as well as providing backup music for various shows in the region. In addition to dance music, individual members of the band also perform feature numbers in show settings.

Along with providing the cabaret music, Swing Street will also play dance music that ranges from the nostalgic classics of the big band era to popular hits from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. Features include tributes to great musicians like Tommy Dorsey, Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, and Gene Krupa, and great entertainers like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, and Elvis Presley.

To hear the Swing Street Band, click this link.... No studio trickery here folks, just an honest live recording from the back of the room with a single microphone... this is how the band sounds, for real!

BILLY! - And as an added treat, radio personality Billy "Bag-O-Donuts" Brown, from the Sunrise-In-The-Sandhills" morning show on 550 WIOZ-AM radio, will be on hand to share the EmCee duties and offer some special contributions to the entertainment.

Guest Artists

Swing Street will be joined on stage by guest vocalists Glenda Clendenin and Patrick Coughlin, as well as Sandhills senior tap dance troupe, Alive & Clicking.

Glenda Clendenin is returning for her second appearance with Swing Street, following a well-received performance at the 2010 Affair of the Arts. In addition to wowing audiences with her pure voice, Glenda is also known as the Moore County Director of Elections.

Making his big band singing debut with the Swing Street Band, Patrick Coughlin will be surprising many local residents who only know him as the President and CEO of the Moore County Chamber of Commerce. Patrick has been singing for years, but this will be his first experience at being a big band vocalist.

Alive & Clicking is a group of Sandhills area seniors who originally joined an exercise tap dance class taught by Mary Lou Bernett at the Moore County Senior Enrichment Center. As the group grew, some of the dancers expressed a desire to use their new skills in a public performance, which led to the birth of Alive & Clicking. Soon after, the group moved to the Douglas Community Center and finally, graduated to the Carolina Performing Arts Center in Southern Pines. The classes from which the group sprouted are available to any interested senior by calling Mary Lou Bernett at CPAC, 910-695-7898.

Swing Street Features

Several special musical features will be performed by individual members of the Swing Street Band, including: Ramon Kenan as Louis Armstrong; Terry Blalock as Elvis; Chris Shaw as Tommy Dorsey; and drummer Tom Bernett as Gene Krupa.