Lawrenceville Arts Center glows at dusk with lit windows and a brick facade. — Lawrenceville Arts Center will launch The Preview on Thursday in its Bartow and Leslie Morgan Cabaret. Photo: Bruce Johnson

Lawrenceville Arts Center will launch a new concert series Thursday, Oct. 15, with Nashville musician shelldhn, opening a program that will bring visiting artists to its cabaret before turning to Georgia talent next spring.

A man in a black leather jacket and cap poses against a dark background. — Nashville musician shelldhn will open The Preview, a new concert series at Lawrenceville Arts Center, on Thursday evening. Photo by Dasha Grayson.

Called The Preview, the series is part of the center’s inaugural Presented Events season as a city-operated venue. The opening performance runs from 8 to 10 p.m. in the Bartow and Leslie Morgan Cabaret, with doors opening at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are advertised at $20, but the total for Thursday’s show is $28.70 including fees, LAC Communications Coordinator Sarah Curtis confirmed to North Atlanta Star.

Shelldhn is a singer, songwriter, producer and saxophonist whose music combines R&B, soul, pop and jazz. New York-based folk-rock artist Lydia Von Hof follows on Nov. 12.

A Smaller Stage for Discovering Artists

The series is intended to give Lawrenceville audiences a place to hear musicians they may not know, without making a trip into Atlanta.

In written answers supplied by Curtis, the center’s team said it selects performers through industry research, professional relationships and its experience in live entertainment. Booking artists from Nashville and New York for the first two shows is intended to introduce performers who might not otherwise appear in the local market.

The cabaret setting is central to that approach. Organizers want a smaller room where audiences can connect with performers, and they plan to assess both attendance and how listeners respond to unfamiliar artists.

“We want audiences to feel comfortable taking a chance on an artist they may not know,” the team said.

The center intends to keep the series’ base ticket price at $20. Required fees are additional.

Georgia Musicians Planned for Spring

Two more Preview performances are planned for March and April 2027, with those dates intended for artists based in Georgia and the Atlanta metro area. Performers and exact dates have not yet been announced.

The spring shows would give local musicians a place in a series that begins with touring artists from outside the state. Organizers said they want to build connections between emerging performers and audiences in Lawrenceville and Gwinnett.

The Lawrenceville Arts Center is a city-operated cultural facility in downtown Lawrenceville, with multiple performance and event spaces shared by resident partners and community organizations.

For Thursday’s concert, tickets are available online. Free accessible parking is available in the Purple Deck, with a GPS address of 147 E. Crogan St. Additional options are listed in the city’s parking guide.