San Andreas, CA…Winter is over and summer is finally out of storage; it’s time to liberate your lawn chairs and shake out your beach blankets, pack a picnic lunch and get ready for Music in the Parks. Music in the Parks, presented by the Calaveras County Arts Council once again celebrates summer on Wednesdays with 10 admission-free concerts throughout the county. The shows range from blues to bluegrass, rock and roll, and zydeco; the music is high-quality and the bands are popular, but the music series’ charm rests on community vibes. It’s a “little bit of Norman Rockwell,” according to Kathy Mazzaferro, executive director of the Calaveras Arts Council, “when neighbors get together with neighbors, sit out in the grass, dance, talk and listen to music.”

Stompbox will be taking care of business on June 13 in the Copperopolis Town Square. Their strong rhythm section will get you on your feet and dancing as vocalist Kery Tweedy powers through tunes like Pink Cadillac and Brass in Pocket. If you don’t have time to make a picnic, try one of the restaurants that border the town square. Pizza and rock and roll go together like summer and sun.

On June 20, watch the sun linger in the sky at Brice Station and sink into the blue twilight with singer-songwriter Nathan Ignacio; playing guitar and harmonica, he uses blues, folk, and Americana to weave stories that bring life into focus. Bring a picnic to enjoy, or purchase wine, soda, and snacks (no off-site alcohol allowed) for noshing while you listen and contemplate midsummer’s eve.

Join a fais do-do (dance party) with the Cajun band Bluesbox Bayou at Utica Park in Angels camp on June 27. Even if you can’t do the two-step, you’ll want to move when accordion player Pete Grimaldi squeezes the bellows, bass player Julie Johnson rumbles through the double pumps and rhythm shifts of Zydeco, and the band steams out, as one reviewer put it, “a much desired musical train to ecstasy.”

After taking a break for the 4th of July, the admission-free concerts will return on July 11 with the Free Radicals bringing 80 proof swinging jazz and bebop to the lawn at Camps Restaurant in Angels Camp.

On July 18, the Bill Welles Band will roll through Shutter Tree Park in Mokelumne Hill with folk and Americana music, and the Mokelumne Hill Lions club will elevate your blood sugar with pie and ice cream.

If you love blues, jump blues and rockabilly, you’ll want to shift into high gear with the Automatics on July 25 at Mountain Ranch Community Park. Be sure to fill up on the ever-popular Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner served by the Mountain Ranch Youth Alliance. Get there early; last year they sold out!

On August 1 it’s worth the drive out to West Point Elementary School to hear the close harmonies of the Magnolia Rhythm Trio. The three women— Debbie Patterson, Tonja Peterson and Sammy Leverone—bring authenticity, style, and pathos to their renditions of honky-tonk and old-fashioned country music, gospel and folk.

The Calaveras Community Band has a long history in the county; their website says they trace their history back to the Gold Rush. On August 8, they’ll honor their story with Broadway melodies and Americana in Turner Park in San Andreas. If you forget to pack a picnic lunch, nearby Treats Market will keep you well fed.

On August 15, W. Grover Anderson and Jimbo Scott join forces at the Jenny Lind Veterans Memorial Park in Valley springs to form the duo Freight. Each performer is a powerful singer and musician; together they create a new constellation of traditional folk music, bluegrass, and danceable country that will light up the summer night.

Larisa Bryski is the kind of singer that could rock and roll Angels Creek right out of its river bed at Murphys Community Park on August 22. According to the Sacramento News and Review, “…Bryski projects the kind of matter-of-fact intensity that plants its feet on a stage, grabs a microphone and wails.” That confidence—and tuneful wailing—won Bryski accolades and a SAMMIE Sacramento Music Awards for Best Female Vocalist, and makes her show a thundering good time and the perfect ending for the summer.

By that time, the lawn chairs and blankets just might be ready for winter storage.

2018 Music in the Parks

List of Bands and venues

June 13
Copperopolis Town Square
Stomp Box

blues infused rock and roll 

***

June 20
Brice Station
Murphys
Nathan Ignacio

Folky alternative music

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June 27
Utica Park
Angels Camp
Bluesbox Bayou

Cajun/zydeco swamp-beat style

***

July 4
No concert

***
 
July 11
Camps Restaurant
Angels Camp
Free Radicals

Jazz, big band

***

July 18
Shutter Tree Park
Mokelumne Hill
Bill Welles Band

Folk, rock and roll

***

July 25
Mountain Ranch Community Park
The Automatics
Blues, jump blues, rockabilly

***

August 1
West Point Elementary School*
Magnolia Rhythm Trio

American, folk, bluegrass

*No alcohol or tobacco allowed

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August 8
Turner Park
San Andreas
Calaveras Community Band

Broadway, Americana

***

August 15
Jenny Lind Veterans Memorial Park
Valley Springs
Freight with Grover Anderson and Jimbo Scott

Country, folk

***

August 22
Murphys Community Park
Larisa Bryski

Rock and folk/pop