Wed 12/20-Thu 12/21 @ 7:30PM
Akron-based musician Ryan Humbert has long been a catalyst for the music scene there, encouraging other musicians and making things happen. One of those things for the last 15 years has been his holiday extravaganza benefit at the Akron Civic Theatre, which has taken a slightly different musical form every year.
This year’s 15th Holiday Extravaganza, benefiting the Akron Canton Food Bank, will feature a seven-piece jazz ensemble fronted by Humbert and his long-time singing partner Emily Bates. But it’s also the last of the series. Humbert is pulling the plug.
“It just feels like the right time to put a bow on it,” he explains. “Fifteen years is a long time and we’ve put on so many different types shows. It’s been an absolute pleasure and a blast, and I love that we’ve been able to help people, donated to so many causes. I feel like I’ve said musically with this show everything I’m able to at this point.”
His other consideration is the exploding success of his alt-country band The Shootouts. He started it as a side project back in 2016, but it’s grown into a national touring band performing original tunes, with three albums and another in the works, and multiple appearances on Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry.
“The Shootouts are getting busier and busier,” he points out. “At the end of the year we’ll have done 90 shows in 24 states in one year. We just got back from out west — Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho. I’m here for Christmas and we immediately head back to Nashville to do the Grand Ole Opry again on December 30. Then we start work on an album in Nashville early next year. As busy as Shootouts have been, it seemed like a good time revaluate the show. I needed to figure out where my focus is. I can’t keep running myself into the ground.”
Although the extravaganzas have ended at 15, Humbert says he’s probably not done with Christmas music and Christmas shows forever — just for now.
“I love holiday music, especially the traditional stuff,” he says. “It’s an interesting little subgenre. Everybody from four-year-olds to 94-year-olds know [the songs]. So I don’t think this is my last Christmas show ever. But this series had grown into its own thing, and it felt like a good time to put that to rest and take a rest.”
These shows will be intimate cabaret-style performances on the Akron Civic Theatre stage. Get tickets here.