2024-25 Warren Civic Music

Association season

• Wednesday — Sweet Dreams … Mandy Barnett Sings Patsy Cline

• Oct. 9 — Chris Ruggiero

• Nov. 6 — Take3

• Dec. 3 — The Texas Tenors

• April 8 — Ernie Haase & Signature Sound

• May 1 — Louis Prima Jr. and the Witnesses

All shows start at 7 p.m. at Packard Music Hall, 1703 Mahoning Ave. NW, Warren. Season tickets for all six performances are $145. Order forms have been mailed to current subscribers. For season tickets, call 330-399-4885 or email info@warrencivicmusic.com.

Single tickets for each show are $45. For more information, go to www.warrencivicmusic.com.

taff report

Mandy Barnett will open the Warren Civic Music Association’s 2024-25 season at Packard Music Hall.

Barnett is returning to her roots for her second WCMA concert. She first gained attention originating the role of Patsy Cline in the musical “Always … Patsy Cline” at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, and she is the only person to play the role on that stage, where Cline once performed.

In a 2019 interview with Country Music News, Barnett said what appealed to her about Cline was the emotion she brought to the songs she sang.

“What I’m drawn to in female singers, what Patsy shares with Tammy Wynette and some of these other great singers is that emotion. So whether they’re singing country or whether they’re singing pop or rock — Linda Ronstadt is another one and Connie Francis — it is that emotion. So I do feel that is something that I learned early on about singing from listening to good singers. That was the thing that really turned me on, hearing that emotion. Anyone can sing the notes and can sing well technically and blow you away with their vocal range. But it’s that heartbeat that really speaks to me. That’s what I want to hear.”

Barnett has that too, according to Ellie Monchak, WCMA artist selection chair. When the upcoming season was announced, Monchak said, “She has one of the best voices in country, I think. The last time we had her here, she had people sitting on the edge of their seats. She just has a mesmerizing voice.”

While the show is billed as “Sweet Dreams … Mandy Barnett Sings Patsy Cline,” Barnett also will perform other songs from her career.

Barnett, a member of the Grand Ole Opry, has released several albums — her 1999 Sire Records release “I’ve Got a Right to Cry” was named top country album of that year by Rolling Stone magazine — and recorded collections focused on the songs of Don Gibson and “The Nashville Songbook.” She can be heard on the 2023 tribute album to The Judds and the SpongeBob SquarePants album “Best Day Ever.”

The concert starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Packard Music Hall, 1703 Mahoning Ave. NW, Warren. Single tickets are $45 and are available at the Packard box office and through Ticketmaster.