Tamaqua Summer Concert Series

Tamaqua Chamber of Commerce - 2008 Summer Concert Series

Enjoy live music every Second Thursday from 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM on the Platform at the Historic Tamaqua Train Station all summer long! For more information, feel free to contact us through this page or contact the Tamaqua Chamber of Commerce

June 12th

Lester Hirsch

www.myspace.com/lesterhirsh

The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences Committee placed Lester Hirsh's 'Mosaic II: Poems of An Ancient Order' on the Official Ballot for the 2005 Grammy Awards for 'Best Spoken Word Album.'Lester Hirsh is a gifted guitarist, singer/songwriter, and poet. Performing on Spanish 6-string and acoustic 12-string guitar, his style ranges from classical, country, and folk, to Brazilian jazz and Flamenco. His repertoire includes original compositions as well as standards performed with intriguing percussive guitar riffs and harmonica.Hirsh's guitar style, singing, flair for humor, and ability to work the crowd, moved Cheryl Mansley of RiverHouse Concerts, Shepherdstown, WV, to describe him as a 'One Man Traveling Party.'

June 26th

RESCHEDULED TO JULY 17th

Jay Smar

www.jaysmar.com

Sponsored by Tamaqua DPW

In the last 5 years, Jay Smar has toured Scotland twice, performed at the Philadelphia Folk Festival twice, re-corded music for the Welsh BBC movie, "The Welsh in America" and has been selected by the Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour to be on their professional tour-ing roster. Armed with 2 guitars, baritone vocals, claw-hammer banjo, and fiddling, singing, and flat-footin ' (a form of clog-dancing), he serves his audience an "acoustic buf-fet" of traditional American and original folk, ol time mountain music, bluegrass and gospel tunes, as well as coal mining songs of Northeast Pennsylvania preceded by their origin. Original and "covered" guitar instrumentals garnish this plate of cultural cuisine.

July 10th

Donovan Roberts

Sponsored by Direct MayTag

An acoustic duo with roots in blues and jazz, as well as a familiar look at folk and rock standards. A native of Burlington, VT and a transplant to Bethlehem, PA, Jeff Roberts has spent over 12 years touring and playing the blues. Beginning with over seven years as the guitarist for the PA-based MadDog and Blues Night Out, to the supporting band for Lonnie Shields, to his current acoustic performances with Lori Donovan since 2004. He has lead his own group, The Jeff Roberts Band, and has shared the stage with Lonnie Shields, Big Jack Johnson, Keisa Brown, Fiona Boyes, The Night-hawks, and Joe Bonamassa. Jeff has been nominated as Best Acoustic Guitarist by The Lehigh Valley Music Awards for three years running. When he's not performing he teaches at his Bethlehem based business, The Lesson Center. The vocal half of the duo, Lori Donovan splits her time creatively between several artistic endeavors, including sharing the stage with Roberts, the acoustic trio - THE GIRLS, writing for several regional and national maga-zines and running her own talent management business - the Fourth Leaf Agency - representing roots and blues acts from across the country. She has been nominated as Best Female Vocalist by The Lehigh Valley Music Awards every year since 2005, and won the honor of Best Acoustic Group and Best New Group along with her partners (including Roberts) in THE GIRLS. Lori lives and writes (music and more) in Bethlehem, PA with Roberts and her two daughters.

July 24th

Bluzin' featuring Bev Conklin & Wayne Smith

Sponsored by Micah & Penny Gursky

'BC' is originally from New Orleans and is now a long time Pennsylvanian. She has earned her place on the marquis as the Blues voice of the Lehigh Valley and as the Lehigh Valley's Hip Shakin' Mama. A most memo-rable occasion was at Mayfair for a “Ladies Sings the Blues” event featuring BC, the late Tonya Brown (Queen Bee) and Koko Taylor. Another great memory was with Lonnie Brooks at Mayfair when he invited 'Miss BC' to sing with him on stage to perform as a duo during a portion of his set. The icing on the cake was later that night when a good friend dropped by with Rhonnie Baker Brooks and their bass player, Biscuit, and jammed til the sun came up. Biscuit's mail is al-ways addressed to "The Girl with the Golden Voice." BC credits Jim Mertz (WMUH and WLVR DJ, Emcee for the Pocono Blues Festival and former LVBN VP) for these opportunities at Mayfair. Bev served on the board of the Lehigh Valley Blues Network over a 7 year period (1993-2000) as President, Vice President, Events Chair and Newsletter Editor and helped estab-lish the organization as a household name to members and musicians worldwide. A corporate website man-ager by day and active philanthropist, BC serves on many non-profit committees and is the Event Organizer for the Lehigh River Blues Jam. Wayne is the primary arranger, producer, and song-writer for The Blues Crew since 1994. Playing in bands since 1967, he spent 10 years with Jay and the Tech-niques (“Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie”). With the Techniques he also backed up other artists such as Tommy Roe, Gary U.S. Bonds, The Outsiders (“Time Won’t Let Me”), Sam Moore (Sam & Dave), The Mira-cles, and many others.

August 7th

Fred Douglas

www.fdbpro.com

Sponsored by Mauch Chunk Trust Company

Singer Fred Douglas, formerly of the Big-El Show, The Platters and The Drifters is a baritone with amazing range and style, providing dramatic shows. A per-former who has starred at Playboy clubs and hotels throughout Canada and the United States, “Fred has a smooth voice and graceful style, does solid country as well as pop, and has a nice stage personality.” (Bruce Chadwick - New York Daily News) “Fred is as fine a singer as I have heard. He does great for us.” (Steve Thompson, Playboy Great Gorge Entertainment Direc-tor) “There is no better singer than Fred.” (Alan Banks, Canadian Tour Director) This “entertainer extraordi-naire” has incredible depth and professionalism. The Fred show ranges from heartfelt ballads in the Lou Rawls style, to country in the Kenny Rogers style, but his forte is the Fred style.

August 21st

Sarah Ayers

Sponsored by Restaurant at the Station

With a musical resume that includes a degree in opera, performing at New York’s Plaza Hotel (from her highchair at age 2), singing with a rock cover band in Alaska, jump-starting a blues music career while raising two toddlers and winning 19 regional Pennsylvania music awards in less than three years, Sarah Ayers has almost done it all. In 2006, she and her band entered StarCity Recording Studio to produce their sophomore release, 3AM Epiph-any. The result is a funk-infused blues mix of intensely personal songs and soulful covers. While completing her work on her own CD at StarCity, Sarah was introduced to Tyrone Vaughan (son of Jimmie Vaughan and nephew of the legendary Stevie Ray Vaughan) who was in the studio working on his own pro-ject. The meeting led to a collaboration, with Sarah add-ing her powerful backing vocals to three Tyrone Vaughan tracks, including a feature vocal in the song and video for the single, 52 Weeks. “Sarah Ayers might be singing about her vulnerabilities, but she comes off like a driven, tough-minded survivor determined to craft her own destiny. Rambunctious and rocking but with a songwriter’s sense of polish,” Sarah Ayers is “a blues is a blues-rocker to watch.” – Ken Bays, Managing Editor, Blues Revue “A powerful vocalist of dramatic intensity, Ayers also con-tributes most of the band’s catchy, smart songs, notably the swampy Hook Me Up, and the rocking declaration of independence Red Dress. – Tom Hyslop, Blues Revue

September 4th

KJ

www.kjsmile.com

Sponsored by Mauch Chunk Trust Company

KJ has established herself as one of the true “positive leaders and motivational musicians” of the U.S. Folk Cir-cuit and Motivational Speaking circuit today. Her in-credible upbeat attitude and positive energy combine to make her one of the most sought after performers in the business today. Besides entertaining and speaking throughout the United States, KJ has also toured extensively in the British Isles – especially her “second home” of Scotland, where she maintains a secondary base of operations. With guitar her main instrument, KJ also often shows up with her Appalachian lap dulcimer, autoharp, Djembe drum, egg shakers or keyboard. A cappella tunes many times enter her performance, as well as many light-hearted audience participation tunes. Currently touring with her CD projects such as “Proud to be a Farmer,” “Dreaming Inside Her Mind,” “PonyTales,” “Oliver’s Quiet” (with Sweetwater Reunion Band), KJ also covers family concerts with such music CD projects as her “Simply Kids” and “Agriculture Is A BIG Word (sup-ported by the PA Dept. of Agriculture). Her newest adult and children CDs are slated to be released any day.

September 18th

Forward Thrust

Sponsored by Mauch Chunk Trust Company

Kenny Gilchrist picked up his first guitar at age 11. He was a quick learner, as his guitar teacher earnestly dis-covered. Soon after, the youngster went on to learn harmonica and flute. At present day, besides his main instrument of guitar (both acoustic and electric), Kenny has added accordion, mandolin, bass guitar, lap steel, classical guitar, melodica, and assorted percussion to his repertoire of instruments. He graduated from SUNY in Binghamton, NY with a BA in music theory. During these college years, he played guitar for the jazz ensemble; which, among many places, also performed in Puerto Rico. Gail Anderson, of nearby Apalachin, NY, had spent her youth singing in the school choir, county choir, and church choir. She saw an ad in the newspaper placed by Kenny, and responded to it. This was her chance to sing professionally, something she always wanted! Kenny convinced Gail that forming a duo would not only earn them a living, but would also be a way they could perform their originals while continuing to write more. They put the duo together with Kenny on guitar, harmon-ica, and vocals; and Gail on vocals, percussion, and some keyboard. In February of '92, Kenny and Gail decided to move to Allentown, PA since it was centrally located to many cit-ies which meant a lot of gigs. And, sure enough, Kenny and Gail have been performing full time in PA, NJ, NY, and DE since their move, as well as continuing with their writing and recording. The duo has finally found a home in the Lehigh Valley where they could live their lives just the way they always dreamed of ... plenty of rooms to work in, a little bit of country as well as a little bit of city, and wonderful people to make friends with.