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Rainy night, full house for RAAC’s first indoor summer concert

by | May 26, 2026

Rebecca Porter and the Rhinestone Roses performed Thursday in the first show of RAAC’s annual Sperryville Summer Concert Series at Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville.
RAAC kicked off its Sperryville Summer Concert Series Thursday, moving the concert indoors for the first time.
Steel guitarist Justin Carver performing with Rebecca Porter and the Rhinestone Roses Thursday night in the first show of RAAC’s Sperryville Summer Concert Series.
RAAC President Matthew Black and Sperryville Community Alliance President Eddie Sutton introduce the band and welcome attendees to the concert.
Rebecca Porter and the Rhinestone Roses performed Thursday in the first show of RAAC’s annual Sperryville Summer Concert Series at Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville.
Rebecca Porter and the Rhinestone Roses performed Thursday in the first show of RAAC’s annual Sperryville Summer Concert Series at Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville.
Over 100 people attended the first show in RAAC’s Sperryville Summer Concert Series, featuring Rebecca Porter and the Rhinestone Roses.

Despite steady rain, the Sperryville Summer Concert Series opened last Thursday night with music and a packed indoor crowd — marking the first time the popular series has moved inside instead of postponing for weather.

Sponsored by the Rappahannock Association for Arts and Community (RAAC), the season opener featuring Rebecca Porter and the Rhinestone Roses drew nearly 100 people to Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville.

“We’re no longer doing rain dates. And that was an important decision because we have indoor options,” said Betsy Hille, a RAAC board member and co-chair of the music committee. 

“They’ve been so accommodating,” she said of the distillery. 

Hille said the concert series was founded six years ago in hopes of bringing together and engaging the community. She said that as the music committee was planning this year’s concerts, it wanted to branch out and bring in more regional bands, with upcoming performers from as far away as Maryland and Washington, D.C.  

Hille added that Porter, who is from Harrisonburg, Va., reached out to RAAC with an interest to join the lineup this year. 

“We’re also trying to expand our horizons,” Hille said. “She’s got a powerhouse voice. She’s a great songwriter …  so we’re thrilled to have her.”

Steel guitarist for the Rhinestone Roses Justin Carver of Winchester said more and more people are getting interested in country music, and he is excited that there are more opportunities in the region for musicians to get to perform. 

“There’s been a big country explosion,” Carver said. 

Summer concerts will continue, rain or shine, on every third Thursday of the month through September. “We’ll see how this works,” RAAC’s President Matthew Black said.

 

Photos by Ireland Hayes

 

Author

  • Ireland Hayes

    Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner.
    Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.
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By Ireland Hayes

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Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.