Out & About: Bands booked for Greensburg’s SummerSounds concerts
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Fans of SummerSounds will be happy to know that Greensburg’s free Friday night concert series is on track for a full 14-week season starting June 3. Nine bands are under contract already.
That was the good news for attendees at the annual SummerSounds sponsor and volunteer appreciation party, held Tuesday at All Saints Brewing Co. in Hempfield.
Canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, the series returned late last summer for an abbreviated eight-week run.
First up is Sideline, a North Carolina-based bluegrass jam band that missed a date last year when its bus broke down on the way to Greensburg. Organizers scrambled for a replacement, with Pittsburgh bluesman Billy Price hastily assembling a group for the night.
Price and his band will be back on June 24, as a thank-you for their help, said Gene James, SummerSounds co-founder and board chair.
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Band booker Dick McCormick announced the rest of the schedule: Honey Island Swamp Band, June 10; Elton Rohn, July 1; Sessions Americana, July 8; O’Connor/Lee, July 15; Joslyn & Sweet Compression, July 22; Sweet Lizzie Project, Aug. 5; and Remember Jones, Aug. 12.
Dates yet to be filled or confirmed are June 17, July 29, Aug. 19 and 26 and Sept. 2, the final week.
Going into its 21st season, the concert series is produced solely by volunteers, many of whom have been there since the beginning.
James called out a long list of helpers, including Janet McNeel, who recently stepped down after 15 years of managing the volunteer team.
SummerSounds doesn’t just bring good music to town. James said that, through the years, the concerts have drawn more than 450,000 people to downtown St. Clair Park. An economic impact analysis showed that in 2019, brought $350,000 in business to Greensburg bars and restaurants.
“We have a lot to be proud of,” he said. “Pat yourselves on the back.”
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Board member Debby Gretz noted, though, that the majority of SummerSounds volunteers are over age 60.
“We need to get some younger people involved,” she added.
To that end, Seton Hill University student Lindsey Lamagna has signed up this year as an intern. The commercial music and business major from Murrysville, who is also a musician, hopes to bring some of her peers and fellow students on board.
Along with a buffet dinner, beverages and special music-themed cookies by Joni Koynok, party-goers enjoyed music by Sam and Diane Paul of The Bricks and caricatures by cartoonist Randy Bish.
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Seen: Janet James, Shirleah Kelly, Shelly Gaffney, John Kline, Bob Errett, Pat and Joe Erdelsky, Brian McCall and Joanna Moyar, Charlie and Jeanne Kaylor, Rudy Kolencik, David Koynok, Paul Nickoloff, Deb and Mike Cavrak, Connie Schutrick, Ann Nemanic, Judy Geary, George Gretz, Rod Booker, Tim and Kelly Artman, Jim Steeley, Jon and Nina Lewis, Jim Silvis, Jack and Terral Schneider, Vance Booher, Alicia Booher, Brian and Amy Beeghly and Greensburg Mayor Robert Bell.