August 5, 1998
August 1998
Myrtle Beach stakes a place in the entertainment world
Myrtle Beach, SC – The number one attraction in Myrtle Beach is the 60 miles (97 kilometers) of coastline known as the Grand Strand. It’s so popular, in fact, that in 1997 AAA named the area the country’s number two summer vacation destination, trailing only Orlando, FL.
While the surf and sands draw the crowds as they have for decades, in recent years, the entertainment industry has given the city a new wave of success…
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May 1, 1997
May/June 1997
Myrtle Beach
Look out, Branson! This southern “upstart” offers a banquet of country favorites with golf and surf on the side
By: Audrey T. Hingley
Country music has been making waves in Myrtle Beach for a decade, causing some observers to dub the coastal South Carolina town “Branson-by-the-sea.” Comparisons with Branson, the tiny Ozarks town that has become a mecca for country music fans, are inevitable now that family-oriented music shows in grandiose theaters are a nightly ritual in this once-sleepy southern beach town.
If you’re looking for nonstop country music, Myrtle Beach’s 10 theaters can’t rival Branson’s 30 country music venues. But ...
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April 18, 1995
April 1995
How does a quiet city become a tourist spot? Ask Myrtle Beach, SC
By: Emory Thomas, Jr.
Myrtle Beach, SC – This town’s old-fashioned, seaside Pavilion, with its dance hall and amusement park, sits at the center of Robert H. McElveen’s fondest summer memories.
“The biggest thing in the world,” recalls the 72-year-old optometrist from Gaffney, SC, “was to take your girl down to the Pavilion for the big dance. Boy, when that band would start, and you had your girl, and the moon came up – that was the prettiest thing on earth.”
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October 25, 1994
October 1994
Calvin Gilmore Leads Myrtle Beach Entertainment Boom
By: Bruce Honick
Myrtle Beach got its first real taste of country music from 1973-80 when a band called Wild Country later changed its name to Alabama and became a national sensation.
Now, it’s a regular stop on the touring schedules for groups such as Shenendoah and a permanent home for others. Alabama has opened its own theater there, and The Gatlin Brothers followed suit this summer.
The man behind the recent country boom is singer/songwriter turned entrepreneur Calvin Gilmore, 46, whose success with local country music theaters, starting in 1986…
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February 4, 1994
February 1994
Gilmore’s new country mecca: Myrtle Beach
By: Jeffrey Jolson-Colburn
Move over, Nashville, Memphis and Branson, there’s a new town becoming a draw for country music fans. Myrtle Beach, SC is pulling in 10 million tourists a year now, many of whom are looking to mosey on down to the town’s version of music row. Behind it is country music entrepreneur Calvin Gilmore, who now has three large live country music theaters as well as a recording studio and a publishing company.
He has also taken the “Country Music Spotlight” TV show out of rival country tourist mecca Branson, MO…
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