After Edmund, a Grammy-nominated local rock band, will perform an acoustic set at 7 p.m. Friday on Lafayette Square.

The free concert is part of the Downtown Development Authority’s monthly “First Fridays” when merchants and museums stay open longer than usual.

The group – singer Mitch Parks of Snellville, guitarist Ben Hosey of Hogansville, drummer Matt McFadden of LaGrange and keyboard player Austin Abbott of Macon – didn’t win that Grammy in 2009 for “Hello,” which was nominated for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album. But they got to walk the red carpet and hobnob with the bigshots.

Parks and Hosey are LaGrange College graduates.

The band has been practicing in Hogansville and touring around the country, playing about 120 dates per year, and just released a video for the song, “Dance Like You’re From the Future,” which can be seen at youtube.com/ afteredmund.

“We’re all Christians, but not all of the songs are,” McFadden said. “We write music according to what’s on our hearts and minds.”

The band’s sound has changed since the band started in 2001.

“It’s more electronic nowadays than just straight rock ’n’ roll,” McFadden said. “It’s more keyboard- and synthesizer-driven.”

He said they decided on an acoustic performance because “we wanted to do something different.”

“Acoustic sets are fun to me,” McFadden said. “It’s a little more free and laid back. … If you do them the same way 120 times a year, it’s fun to change it up with different instrumentation. It will be a departure.”

In October 2009, After Edmund released a DVD of a live studio recording in Atlanta, accompanied by an EP with five songs.

“Every critic loves it,” McFadden said. “We haven’t shopped it to radio yet, but everybody says the songs on there should do very well.”

The band will release a full-length album, probably in the spring, then tour to promote the record.

“We love playing in LaGrange,” McFadden said. “It’s our hometown. Most of our family and friends come out and it’s like a homecoming.”

Joel Martin can be reached at jmartin@lagrangenews.com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 235.