Civic Music announces forWARD concert lineup

John Molseed, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·3 min read

May 9—ROCHESTER — Rochester Civic Music has unveiled the lineup of this summer's

forWARD Neighborhood Park Concerts.

The

free concert series

is held on Wednesdays at various neighborhood parks in each of the six city council wards in Rochester.

Food trucks, Rochester Public Library's Bookmobile and Rochester Park & Rec's mobile recreational trailer will be on site at each of the concerts.

The series is sponsored by Mayo Clinic and Minnesota Public Radio's The Current and presented in partnership with the City of Rochester and Rochester Parks & Recreation.

Music starts at 5:30 p.m. Communication Access Realtime Translation service provided at the shows is sponsored by Mayo Clinic.

High energy mainstay of the Minneapolis music scene, Mae Simpson brings her mix of funk, soul, pop, rock and country to Cook Park. Simpson's powerful vocals and seven-piece band will rock the Lowertown Rochester Neighborhood.

Matching Simpson's eclectic sounds, St Paul indie fusion quintet JoJo Green will join the bill.

PaviElle French, an Emmy Award-winning artist and educator performs at Judd Park off West Circle Drive. She is known for her strong vocals and will be performing with an equally powerful six-piece band backing her. She's from St. Paul's Rondo neighborhood, where the majority Black residents were displaced by the construction of Interstate 94.

Joining the lineup is indie artist Maria Coyne who fronts a five-piece alt-rock band blending pop sounds and country with a theatrical bent. Her band, Maria and the Coins bring an emotive storytelling to their performances.

Wisconsin-based soul and R&B group Tae & The Neighborly will lay some smooth rhythms at Allendale Park in the John Adams neighborhood.

Twin Cities blues-soul jam band the Trent Romens Band joins the bill. The group is fronted by longtime Minnesota blues guitarist and songwriter Trent Romens.

Midwest acoustic powerhouse Barbaro has blended their backgrounds of jazz, chamber music and bluegrass genres into a unique and mesmerizing sound. Straddling the Mississippi River with members from Wisconsin and Minnesota, the group is similarly split in style rooted in sound traditions of the past while exploring new sounds.

Rochester musician Jeremy Jewell opens with his latest project, Jeremy Jewell & the Co-Dependents.

The Loreweavers bring a musical experience reminiscent of a renaissance fair in arrangement, humor and crowd interaction blended with virtuoso breaks and solos. The members have a wide variety of musical talents and bring from traditional Irish instruments such as uilleann pipes and bodhrán to guitar, next to accordion, and mandolin and other less commonly heard sounds. A charismatic ensemble, even the most Midwest audience member will find themselves swaying to a sea shanty.

Sheep for Wheat, a high energy indie rock band with folk and blues influences, joins the lineup.

Minneapolis-based Bad Bad Hats has climbed to an indie rock stardom nationally. Kerry Alexander's story telling and mix of Midwest vernacular and tinge of southern drawl is as endearing as the group's music is tight.

Named for a trouble-making character from the Madeline children's books, Bad Bad Hats is defined by a balance of sweet and sour balancing wistful lyrics with honest realism. Their music WHY NOT, Minneapolis trio, brings their joyous sound to the evening of music.