Scott Tady: Hopewell, Beaver, Pittsburgh shows to see (and Johnstown, too)
As promised last week, here's the entertainment lineup for the new Amphitheater at Hopewell Township Community Park.
A Tuesday night concert series offers the Beaver County Symphonic Wind Ensemble, June 21; Pittsburgh Banjo Club, June 28; lauded blues band Billy the Kid and the Regulators, July 5; Hopewell Community Big Band, July 12; Doo-wop Doctors, July 19 and Burke’s Bavarian Brass Band, July 26. Showtimes at 7 p.m.
On July 23 comes the amphitheater's Grand Opening celebration with food trucks and Beaver County chart-toppers The Jaggerz at 7 p.m.
Family movie screenings, all starting at dusk: June 23, "Encanto"; July 23, "Sing 2" and Aug. 11, "Moana." Free popcorn while supplies last.
"We also have Couch Potato Jam Nights," (June 16 and Aug. 25) open to anyone in the community who wants to come out and jam," Hopewell Township Parks and Recreation Director Brad Batchelor said. "We are also planning six weeks of free yoga in the park at the amphitheater with times and dates to be announced."
Township commissioners used a matching grant from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to construct the roofed stage.
Some serious Flow
Beaver resident Day Bracey did an excellent job booking musical acts for this year's Barrel and Flow beer festival Aug. 13 in Pittsburgh's Strip District.
Young guitar ace Elias Khouri, soul-blues standouts Soulful Femme, indie-rock band Blvck Hippie from Memphis, Washington, D.C., rapper Chris Allen, fast-rising Pittsburgh rapper Live From The City, and Nash.V.ill led by rocker Byron Nash (more on him below) all will entertain. Khouri will be fresh off a 19-day tour taking him from Virginia to Vancouver.
Created to empower Black-owned breweries and Black artists, Barrel & Flow twice was voted one of America's Top-2 beer festivals by USA Today readers. I've thoroughly enjoyed myself at this annual event co-founded by Bracey. Originally called Fresh Fest when launched on Pittsburgh's North Side, Barrel & Flow staged a one-off last year at SouthSide Works.
The August event, at The Stacks at 3 Crossings, will provide a great vantage point of the new-look Strip District, which has undergone ample redevelopment over the past few years.
From the beer side, breweries from 17 states, plus The U.K. and Costa Rica, will represent, along with Ambridge craft breweries Fermata and Altered Genius.
Tickets at barrelandflow.com
Station to Station
Byron Nash and his singing partner Jacquea Mae dazzled the crowd at last weekend's Cabin Fever Music series at Beaver Station Cultural & Event Center.
Nash's guitar wizardry demonstrated why he headlined First Night Pittsburgh and is one of the city's most sought-after musicians. Jacquea Mae's voice was so mighty, I honestly don't think she needed a microphone. Utilizing a loose, improvisational style that connected with the intimate audience, the multi-genre musical tandem mixed in a few potent originals with covers by Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Bill Withers, The Cure and Fleetwood Mac. A standing ovation prompted an unscheduled encore, with Nash emotionally singing and elegantly strumming The Black Crowes' "She Talks to Angels."
Those Beaver Station shows are must-see, despite my co-emceeing, and here's good news: A special outdoor show has been added July 22, starring Buffalo Rose in its Beaver County debut. Tickets at beaverstation.org
Buffalo Rose has sold out 2022 tour dates in New York and St. Louis, with the voices and strings roots band also showcased at the prestigious South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas.
Beaver Station also is negotiating to book a Joe Gruschecky outdoor show this summer.
Ashley keeps grooving
Local "America's Got Talent" alum Ashley Marina impresses with her newest original song, "Call It Love," released May 1 on her YouTube channel.
Set at the beach, the music video finds a smiling Marina singing about awaking to sunlight at the foot of her bed, with nothing but the blue sky over her head.
The chorus: "You can say it's supernatural/You can say it's surreal/You can even call it magical if you will/They say it's some superficial. made-up thing I believe I feel. Call it love, but you know it's real."
You just know big career things lie ahead for the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School ninth-grader, who already has gone viral twice; first for stunning AGT's Simon Cowell in 2020 as a 12-year-old with her original song, “You’ll Always Be My Hero,” inspired by her father's devotion, then again with a cover of “Talking To The Moon” by Bruno Mars.See Marina perform in person, at 11 a.m. May 29 at the Greater Pittsburgh Food Truck Festival at the Meadows Casino in Washington County; 6:30 p.m. June 18 for the Robinson Township Summer Concert Series and 3 p.m. June 25 at the WYEP Summer Music Festival at Schenley Plaza, Pittsburgh.
Rocking with Billy's band
The Lords of 52nd Street, starring three original members of Billy Joel's band, will entertain Aug. 27 at Peoples Natural Gas Park in Johnstown. Still performing Joel music, the Long Island band includes Richie Cannata, Russell Javors and drumming great Liberty Devito, all heard on The Piano Man's “Turnstiles” album, and other recordings like “Only the Good Die Young” and “Just the Way You Are.”
The show's warmup act is Cranberry Township's own The S’Wearing Hats, an eight-member band fronted by 1985 Blackhawk grads and spouses Scott Swanson and Jeanine (Yokajty) Swanson.
The S’Wearing Hats did such a great job at their April 26 show at Jergel's Rhythm Grille, Beaver County rock star Donnie Iris took a break from his annual Cigar Lounge soiree to watch and groove along with the band.
"We try to play songs that are recognizable and fit our motto, “Oh, that song ... I love that song!” Mrs. Swanson said. "Recognized, yet not overdone by other bands."
Tickets for their 7 p.m. Aug. 27 gig with Joel's bandmates cost $25, benefiting a Johnstown health clinic, available at highlandshealthclinic.com
Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and Ellwood City Ledger, and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Tady: Hopewell, Beaver, Pittsburgh shows to see (and Johnstown, too)
