Welcome back to another edition of the Minute, and let’s get ready for another big week of music in Covington.

In a column a couple of months ago, I spoke about the history of the Covington music scene and mentioned how it has always kind of ebbed and flowed. The last several months have been exciting ones for our fair city as we've seen a couple new music venues sprout up. Change is not always necessarily easy, though, and a few of our existing venues could feel the transition and the change in the market. But by all accounts we've seen things equalize and normalize and now we are seeing that proverbial rising tide lifting all ships. All you need to do is drive by the Square on a weekend evening and you'll see it. It's exciting.

So really, in my estimation, the time is just right for a fresh venue on the Covington Square and that has just became a reality as Bread and Butter Bakery has moved from its original location to the Southwest corner of the Square. In addition to its existing menu of breads and pastries, this outfit will now be doing a full food menu, full coffee offerings, prepared meals to go, and will be serving beer and wine. And they will also be having live music on the weekends.

I got a sneak peek of the restaurant last week, and this place is really going to be neat. I think it's going to be a great addition to the Square and the time is right, I believe, for another musical venue for the C-town scene. But now that we have another one, I truly believe we will need one more — seriously. And per the word, we may have that venue diagonally across the Square from Bread and Butter on the Northeast corner of the Square here in a few months. It's an exciting time to be a music enthusiast in Newton County!

Featured Performance

Eric Dodd with Leighlynn Shine performs Saturday, Nov. 5 at The Listening Room at Irish Bred Pub. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Dodd returns to Covington for the first time in several months in what promises to be a big night at The Listening Room.

Dodd, who is now based out of Nashville and Atlanta, is a well-known regional Country artist who was raised over in Greensboro. While Country artists like Johnny Cash and Robert Earl Keene are high on his list of influences, Dodd also has an appreciation for 90s Alternative and Hip-Hop. It's a pretty eclectic sound, but is still definitely Country. Eric has played shows all over the southeast and has opened for the Zac Brown Band. A real talent, you won't want to miss this one.

Opening this show is one of our favorite Newton County groups — Leighlynn Shine. Headed up by local ladies Brittany Coles and Cindy Taylor, this group puts out excellent original material with great instrumentation and superb vocal work.

Should be a great night at The Listening Room.

Odds & Ends

- Live Music and Pint Night at Your Pie on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. The Your Pie gang brings Covington another installment of sale-priced beer pints and live music.

- Chris, Jon and Scott perform at Amici Covington on Friday, Nov. 4 at 8 p.m. The tremendous trio returns to College Avenue. What else do you need?

- Battle of the Bands at Porterdale Bar and Grill on Saturday, Nov. 5.

- Live music at Mystic Grill, The Depot, 5 O'Clock, Johnny's Pizza, Bear Creek Marina, The Social House and The Speakeasy most weekend nights.

Thanks for reading. We'll see you next time.

Marshall McCart wears many hats, but being a musician & musical enthusiast are chief among them.