Ida Cox Music Festival Kicks Off Saturday With Toccoa Jazz

Main Street Toccoa is kicking off it’s Ida Cox summer music series this Saturday.

The annual summer music series runs through August 31st.

Events Coordinator says this year’s concert series will be a combination of returning and new performers.

“We’re starting out strong having Toccoa Jazz as our first one. We always get a great turnout for them. And we will have the winner of Open Mic competition. So, we’re really glad that we will have them,” Crosby said.

Toccoa Jazz is known within Toccoa and throughout Northeast Georgia for their selection of jazz classics and their crowd-pleasing performance.

Toccoa Jazz has opened the summer concert series for several years in a row.

The series is named for Ida Cox, who was born Ida Prather in Toccoa before going off to make her mark in the music world in the first part of the 20th century.

She started as a vaudeville performer and was one of the pioneers of what we now know as the blues.

The series features different musical genres each week – from country to jazz.

In addition to returning performers, Crosby expects people will enjoy some of the new acts featured this summer.

“The first one that’s new is called Roadhouse Jukebox. They’re kind of classic country. We also have Canyon Ladies. It’s the music of some of the women from the 60’s and 70’s with artists such as Joni Mitchell and Carole Kinng We’ve got another called Stealin’ the Show from down in Lavonia. And we have a group called Dirty Roots. So we’ve got a great line up.”

The weekly Saturday concerts are free and feature an opening act and a headline act from 7p until 10p in downtown Toccoa on Doyle Street between Sage and Pond streets.