The Swingin’ Medallions will perform at 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Lewis Hill Amphitheater on the Courthouse Square. The free concert will kick off Moultrie’s Spring Fling celebration.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Spring Fling and Back Yard BBQ Community Festival will kick off Friday evening with a concert featuring The Swingin Medallions. The concert will take place on the courthouse square beginning at 8:30 p.m. and will be free to the public.

The Swingin’ Medallions have been based out of the Greenwood, S.C., area since the early 1960s. Their musical roots came from listening to the early rhythm and blues acts. The music most often associated with the band is beach music, frat rock, R&B, or shaggin’ music. After a few years of touring colleges from the Carolinas to the Louisiana Bayou, John McElrath took the group to Arthur Smith’s Studio in Charlotte, N.C., to record “Double Shot (of My Baby’s Love).” The song became a million seller in 1966, and has been a party classic for college students for decades. “She Drives Me Out Of My Mind” and “Hey, Hey, Baby” were top 40 hits in 1966 and 1967, but “Double Shot” remains the signature song of the Swingin’ Medallions.

The members of the Swingin’ Medallions have changed over the past 30 years, with John McElrath being the leader and only member to be performing today. The personnel of the band have always included around eight members with at least a four-piece horn section. The high energy party style stage performance of the first Medallions has been passed down to the band that performs today. The present Medallions stage show has coined them the name “The Party Band of the South.”

Many of the Medallions attended and graduated from Lander University in Greenwood, S.C., while performing in the Southeast. The University of Georgia was also the home of some of the band members.

Saturday morning, festivities will continue with the Kiwanis Pancake breakfast in the breezeway beginning at 7 a.m. Other activities will begin at 9 a.m. through 4 p.m. including art and craft vendors, on-stage entertainment, BBQ competition, downtown beach, kids activities, laser tag, and more.

There will be multiple Easter egg hunts throughout the day with visits from the Easter Bunny. The times and ages groups will be as follows: 10 a.m. ages 0-3, 11 a.m. ages 4-7, noon ages 8-12, 1 p.m. ages 0-3, 2 p.m. ages 4-7, and 3 p.m. ages 8-12.

The kick-off concert will begin after the community service concluding Holy Week scripture reading. The community service will begin at 6 p.m. on the courthouse square.

For more information contact the City of Moultrie office of Downtown Economic Development and Public Relations at 890-5455.