City concert features Maria Muldaur, Campbell Brothers

The second of the city of Fallon’s free in-the-park concerts is coming on Aug. 17 and will feature singer-songwriter Maria Muldaur and the sacred steel guitar whizzes, the Campbell Brothers.

In addition to the performance, the artists will hold a free and open to the public conversation in the Art Center’s bar at 3 p.m. on the day of the performance. It will be a great chance to meet and talk with the artists prior to the show that evening.

Maria Muldaur was part of the folk music revival that began in the 1960s when she was part of the Jim Kweskin’s Jug Band. She’s probably most well-known for her 1974 recording of the hit song “Midnight in the Oasis.”

But she has also explored a great variety of Americana and Roots musics. Over the years she’s recorded more than 30 albums that cover musical styles as diverse as Gospel, R & B, New Orleans Jazz and Big Band Music.

Among her many releases are “A Woman Along With the Blues: Remembering Peggy Lee” and “Heart of Mine: The Love Songs of Bob Dylan.”

Her 2001 album of country blues classics, “Richland Woman Blues,” was nominated for both a Grammy and for a Blues Music Award for Best Traditional Blues Album of the Year. Among the many artists she collaborated with on this album were Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Tracey Nelson and Alvin Youngblood Hart.

Muldaur’s collaboration with the Campbell Brothers, a kind of Bluesiana fusion, is called “Spirit and the Blues” and draws from both traditional American blues music and the soaring electric steel guitar fueled music of the African American Sacred Steel tradition. For more information on Muldaur, you can visit her website, www.mariamuldaur.com. And, I’ll have more info on the Campbell Brothers in next week’s column.

So, mark your calendars for Aug. 17. The free conversation with the artists will begin at 3 p.m. in the Art Center and the performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. on the Centennial Stage in Oats Park. Get together with family and friends for a night of music under the stars. You can bring your own picnic supper or sample a variety of treats for sale from the Slanted Porch.

CAC’s galleries, featuring two new shows, and the Center’s Art Bar will also be open following the performance. For more information on the concert, you can call 775-423-1440.

Kirk Robertson covers the Churchill Arts Council scene.