Lineup announced for Live on the Levee
by Rusty Marks, Staff writer
RUSTY MARKS | Saturday Gazette-Mail | Adam Harris (left), chairman of Live on the Levee’s music committee, and city intern Jordan Paul unveil the music lineup for the free concert series at Haddad Riverfront Park in downtown Charleston. The Friday night concert series runs from May 22 to Sept. 4.
Velvet-voiced crooner and Logan County native Landau Eugene Murphy will be one of the headline acts at Charleston’s free Live on the Levee music concerts this summer.
Live on the Levee music committee chairman Adam Harris announced the lineup for the annual concert series at a press conference Friday morning at Haddad Riverfront Park. The schedule includes 11 acts returning to the riverfront stage and nine national acts.
The free concerts are the brainchild of City Councilman Tom Lane, who suggested the series as a way to bring people downtown. Live on the Levee is now in its 12th year.
“Thirteen years ago, if you’d have come down here on a Friday night do you know what you’d have found?” asked Mayor Danny Jones. “Nothing.” He said Live on the Levee is now one of downtown’s most popular events.
Harris said more than 100 performers were considered for the concert series this year, but there were only slots for 31. There are 16 weekly concerts this year.
Murphy, winner of “America’s Got Talent,” will headline the concert on the Fourth of July weekend, joined by the Ryan Kennedy Trio.
Charleston City Manager David Molgaard said a new smartphone app is being added for this year’s event so residents can check their phones to see whether the concerts are being canceled for bad weather. The app is charlestonwvmobile, he said.
Information about the concerts will also be available online at www.liveontheleveecharleston.com.
Event emcee Jim Strawn also said concert organizers are experimenting this year with local FM radio broadcasts to allow boaters to hear the concert up and down the Kanawha River. Radio frequencies for the music feed will be announced before each concert.
Live on the Levee kicks off May 22 and runs through Sept. 4.
The lineup:
May 22 — Groove Heavy and Stratus
May 29 — Meet Me In the Matinee and Tape Age
June 5 — Mothers Nature
June 12 — White Chapel District and Siren’s Song
June 19 — Spurgie Hankins and the Zach Deputy Band
June 26 — The Carpenter Ants and Red Wanting Blue
July 3 — Ryan Kennedy Trio and Landau Eugene Murphy
July 10 — Blue Yonder and Morgan White
July 17 — Coyotes in Boxes and Qiet
July 24 — Beggar’s Clan and I-Vibes
July 31 — A Story Told and The Company Stores
Aug. 7 — Farnsworth and Almost Queen
Aug. 14 — Jeff Ray Band and Trent Tomlinson
Aug. 21 — The CharlieWest All-Stars and The Esquires
Aug. 28 — The Joseph Sisters and Cody Wickline
Sept. 4 — Blackwater Mojo and Ronnie Baker Brooks
See more at: www.WVGazette.com