7-3-13 —     South Kentucky RECC in partnership with the City of Monticello and the Wayne County Fiscal Court is happy to continue the 2013 Downtown on the Square Summer Concert Series on Thursday night July 18 at 8 p.m. with the island/folk music of Jim Dishman.

    The series features different genres of music and bands from May through September promoting family fun in downtown Monticello.

    A new  addition this year is the Car Show and Shine, which this month includes a special motorcycle or bike night, slated to start at

7 p.m. Entrants in both motorcycle and car shows will be eligible for

(two) $50 gas cards that will be given away before the concert starts.

    "Concessions will be available and we encourage everyone in the family that can to come out and enjoy a fun night of music with Jim Dishman. We added motorcycles with our Car Show so we think that will be a nice draw.  Bring a lawn chair and be prepared to enjoy a great time with friends and family. Hopefully, we'll have a big crowd out to welcome Jim back home," said Event Committee chair Shannon Hutchinson.

    Jim Dishman is originally from Monticello and is the youngest of four children to Earl and Betty Dishman. He began singing at a very early age mostly with his mother's records or with whatever was on the radio.

    Jim tried taking up the guitar at the age of 12, but didn't stick with it because he was more interested in sports.

    It wasn't until he reached the age of 16, when he began teaching himself how to play guitar from a Mel Bay chord book that he realized what he was going to do. Influenced by the singer songwriters of the 70's, Jim began his musical journey.

    Jim had his first break playing music in Louisville, Kentucky in a duo called Dishman & Ballard. In 1985, the duo opened for one of Louisville's most popular bands, The Bobby Lanz Band, at the Toy Tiger. From that show, they were hired to play every Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the next 32 weeks straight, opening for every band that came through town.

    From Louisville the duo moved to California where they played beach bars and restaurants including Santa Monica Beach, Venice Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Orange County. In 1988, Jim moved to Nashville to pursue songwriting. He played the Blue Bird Café, as well as other premier songwriters venues.

    Jim moved back to California in 1989 playing solo in restaurants and bars, all the time writing songs. He returned to Louisville in 1990, putting a band together with Mike Ballard and played various venues in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, South Carolina, Michigan and Florida.

    "Jim has a very unique style that certainly brings a Jimmy Buffet feel to a show, so I think everyone will enjoy yet another different genre of music that truly makes our summer concert series different from others.  We have a nice variety," said Hutchinson.

    In 1997, Jim released his heartfelt debut album "Heaven's Where You Stand." It contains sixteen original acoustic-based songs about life, love, loss and moving forward.

    In 2000, Jim was chosen out of thousands of entrants as one of the New Folk Artists at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Kerrville, Texas.  

He performed two of his originals "Letting Go" and "I Never Cry."

    Jim lives in Louisville, Kentucky. He continues to write and perform mainly as a solo artist but he also performs with several duos and a band.  Jim's music is available through Jim's Music Store or a may be downloaded on CD Baby or iTunes.

    The concert, sponsored by Citizens National Bank, will begin at 8 p.m. July 18 and will last for two hours and is free to all ages.