End of Summer Festival launches in Brownsville

Shamaya Sutton, Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.
Updated ·3 min read

Sep. 7—Mountain Top Event Center will be hosting a new event called the End of Summer Community Festival on Sept. 16 in Brownsville. The day will kick off with a special breakfast from 8-10 a.m. at the Foothill Fire Department followed by a pet parade and cornhole tournament to benefit Trinity Horse Rescue and Canine Companions.

"The community is coming together for this fun free event," said Tawnya Hoffman, one of the event's organizers and member of the Yuba Feather Community Services Corporation (YFCS). "Dozens of local organizations will be setting up booths with information about them. Organizations will either have raffle prizes or wares they will be selling. Food all day for sale to support the fire department, Nextstep Transportation, and Yuba Feather PTSA."

The event on Sept. 16 is also set to include a bake walk, face painting, rock painting, and a variety of other games, vendors, and activities.

Through sponsorships, Hoffman and YFCS were able to obtain bands, stage, lighting and sound for a day full of entertainment. Brownsville's own professional resident comedian, Chicago Steve Barkley, will be acting as host and MC for the concurrent Mountain Top Music Festival at Mountains Top Coffee Shop with three separate acts scheduled in addition to Barkley's own set.

"It's going to be a fun day filled with blues music and activities for the kids," said Barkley. "I sincerely hope that it's the beginning of a new tradition up in the beautiful community of Brownsville."

The scheduled acts include performances from the Briefcase Blues Brothers, Bob Kinney and the Livin Daylites, and Frankie Soul & No Control.

About the bands

Described as one of the top Blues Brothers Revues in the country, Briefcase Blues Brothers features the talents of Michael St. John "Jake' and Marten Benatar "Elwood" who have established themselves in the entertainment industry with over 40 years of combined music and performance experience. In addition to this, the two have surrounded themselves with an all-star blues band of family and friends said to include some of the top musicians and entertainers in the industry.

At age 17, Bob Kinney launched out of high school as a concert goer, absorbing every influence he could see, to auditioning for his first successful band, Rockola who just so happened to be recording with A&M Records out of Wally Heiders Studios in San Francisco.

Initially, Kinney's career was filled with countless hours on the road and in studio sessions doing commercials for radio, recording acts, and as a signed singer-songwriter with Lucent Productions working out of Wally Heiders, The Music Annex, The Record Plant, and Fantasy Records Studios. He is now returning to the Bay Area with his own unique style, sound, and band, with extensive experience in clubs, concerts and festivals.

Frankie "Soul" Rodriguez has been playing blues and R&B for 40 years. He has appeared on stage opening shows for notable acts such as Tower of Power, Elvin Bishop, Robin Trower, Lydia Pense & Cold Blood, Canned Heat, Albert Collins, Bo Diddley, and many others. In the late 1980s, Frankie and his partner Tom Masi formed Masi & Soul, one of the premier R&B horn bands in the western United States. His band now features a culmination of hand-picked musicians, artists, and friends with a style saturated in blues history and variance.

"I would like to see hundreds of people enjoy the fantastic concert and all our community has to offer," added Hoffman.

Mountains Top Coffee Shop and Mountains Top Event Center is located at 16911 Willow Glen Rd. in Brownsville.