Long Beach announces lineup for Music in the Park

Published 9:00 am Monday, May 20, 2024

The Skamokawa Swamp Opera will perform on Aug. 31. Members of the Wahkiakum County-based group are Andrew Emlen, Kyleen Austin, Wren Hendriks and Erik Friend.

The Peninsula Guitar Trio is ready to perform this summer.

“We practice for many hours each week to achieve precision in our combined playing,” said band member Ken Emo, “and we were recently rewarded when, after a performance, a fan told us that our music ‘fed her soul.’”

He has played with George Coleman and Jayson Sheaux since 2016, but the group only became serious about performing in 2021.

They will be offering one of the many varied concerts in the Music in the Park programs this summer.

All will take place on Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on the Veterans Park stage in the center of downtown Long Beach. There is no admission charge, those attending are recommended to bring their own outdoor chairs to sit on the park grass in front of the stage. There will also be music on tap Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Emo said his group is ready. “Together we combine our joy of music and of each other to bring instrumental World Music to listeners,” he said. “We like to think of our three guitars as a single instrument with 18 strings, our goal being to play our arrangements with a synergy and connectedness that makes our sound more than just the sum of the additive parts.”

Emo is a trained classical guitarist who plays with Coleman and others in a surf band. “George is a skilled finger stylist with a strong understanding of music theory,” Emo added. “Jayson is a talented blues artist who grew up playing rock in its heyday in Southern California.”

Among those excited about the coming season is Dianna Knight, operations manager for the Long Beach Welcome Center. “Music in the Park adds to the many terrific events that Long Beach has to offer,” she said. “It brings the community and visitors together to enjoy the summer weather, great music from local musicians and the outdoors.”

Bluegrass tunes will be on tap when the program kicks off on Saturday with the band Small Town. The style will be featured again on June 29 when the Brownsmead Flats appear. The five-man troupe, celebrating its 40th anniversary of performing this year, offers a variety of musical styles.

The lineup will have a patriotic flavor on July 6 when the North Coast Big Band, a 15-piece orchestra will perform. Honky Tonk Cowboys will offer country fare on July 27.

Aug. 3 will feature two distinct styles. The Finnish Brass Band will perform at 11 a.m., followed by the Murphtones at 2:30 p.m. Clint Carter’s homegrown North Coast Blues band will perform Aug. 24.

The season calendar concludes Aug. 31 with the visit of a four-member band called Skamokawa Swamp Opera from Washington’s Wahkiakum County.

The Music in the Park series is a venture of the Long Beach Merchants Association in conjunction with the city of Long Beach. Among the key organizers is Sue Svendsen, mayor of Long Beach, an artist and long-time music promoter at the Peninsula Arts Center just north of downtown Long Beach.

“Free outdoor concert series such as Music in the Park is more than just entertainment; they bring people together, enrich and bolster the ambiance of our town, and boost the local economy,” she said.

Music in the Park

Music in the Park

Veterans Field, 111 Third St., Long Beach, free admission, Saturday shows are at 1 p.m. except Aug. 3

May 25 — Small Town

June 1 — Riptide

June 8 — Peninsula Guitar Trio

June 15 — Barney 9 Fingers

June 22 — Rockfish

June 29 — Brownsmead Flats

July 6 — North Coast Big Band

July 13 — Sandsations at Bolstad

July 20 — Seaside Jazz Trio

July 27 — Honky Tonk Cowboys

Aug. 3 — Finnish Brass Band at 11 a.m., Murphtones at 2:30 p.m.

Aug. 10 — JT and the Long Beach All-stars

Aug. 17 — Squeaky Wheels

Aug. 24 — North Coast Blues

Aug. 31 — Skamokawa Swamp Opera

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