Point Richmond Music (PRM) is excited to announce the dates and line-up for its free 2012 Summer Concert Series. Concerts are held on the second Friday of each month, June through September, from 5:30 pm to 7:45 pm. The 2012 season will include a fifth concert on Friday, September 28th to close the season. Concerts are held on an outdoor stage at the corner of Park Place and Washington Avenue in historic downtown Point Richmond. PRM is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit group that celebrates diversity and promotes the arts and community through the universal language of music. This is the group’s eleventh season of producing free concerts.
“Each year, we receive hundreds of band submissions and spend weeks listening to all the great applicants, narrowing the field to our top ten," said Pam deWitt, Co-Chair of PRM. "This year, we’ve come up with an amazing diverse musical line-up that we really love. It’s going to be a great summer for live music in the Point!”
Every concert features a no-host bar (proceeds benefit the Malvern Wilson Alumni Association Scholarship Fund), raffle, face-painting for children and art exhibitions by the Arts of Point Richmond and the Point Richmond Art Collective.
PRM’s 2012 Line-up
Friday, June 8 –
5:30 PM-6:30 PM - Melody Walker, Bluegrass duo www.melodywalkermusic.com
About the Duo: Melody's soulful songwriting and Jacob's picking prowess join together in a duo that is creating it's own genre: "Americali." Hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area and the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, respectively, Melody and Jacob harmonize earnestly over intricate textures of banjo, guitar and mandolin. What is the "Americali" sound? It's basically Americana with a California twist. Both Jacob and Melody have extensively studied and performed not only bluegrass and American folk music, but also rock, jazz, classical, afrobeat, samba, and balkan styles. Despite such diverse tastes, their arrangements tend toward simplicity and stay close to their well-studied American folk roots.
6:45 PM-7:45 PM - Fret Not, old-time Gospel www.fretnotgospel.com
About Fret Not: Fret Not plays boot-stomping old-time roots gospel. Lead by Lori Arthur's fiery singing, with songs from the traditions of America's black and white rural churches, it's as if Whitstein Brothers and Sister Rosetta Tharpe held a barn dance together. Most every-one else in Fret Not also leads or at least plays lead in church worship bands, or fronts their own gospel bands of two-timing pickers, or teaches true and right music to kids. So its in their blood.
Friday, July 13 –
5:30 PM-6:30 PM - Retromeca, new R&B www.retromeca.com
About Retromeca: Retromeca is a new band in the San Francisco Bay Area. Built around the songwriting team of Ralph Nelson and Tommy Banks, the band emphasizes the melodic sophistication of The Beatles along with the funk of Sly Stone. Their shows invariably get everyone on their feet and singing along, The energy is positive and contagious, and the songs, you just want to hear them again.
6:45 PM-7:45 PM - Major Powers & the Lo-Fi Symphony, Rock www.lofisymphony.com
About Major Powers & the Lo-Fi Symphony: Nicholas Jarvis Powers, self-taught pianist and songwriter, has been rolling around in the gutters of Contra Costa County since he was a little kid. Dylan and Kevin Gautschi are French brothers and are the sons of Pamela Wood, bass player for Bay Area rock legends Leila & The Snakes. Major Powers & The Lo-Fi Symphony play Adventure Rock™.
Friday, August 10 –
5:30 PM-6:30 PM - Blind Willies, Americana www.myspace.com/blindwillies
About Blind Willies: Blind Willies plays original songs written by guitarist/singer Alexei Wajchman. Supported by an accomplished band of experienced young performers, Alexei's music is a soulful mix of rock, folk, jazz, and blues that fits comfortably within the wide arms of alternative rock.
6:45 PM-7:45 PM - La Misa Negra, Cumbia www.youtube.com/lamisanegra
About La Misa Negra: this 8-piece Oakland-based band plays a very unique blend of acoustic Cumbia (Colombian and Panamanian music genre popular throughout Latin America), as well as many Cumbia sub-genres that have been obsolete for decades, such as Gaita, Porro and Bullerengue. La Misa Negra features lead vocals, guitar, bass, percussion, drums, tenor sax, alto sax, and clarinet.
Friday, September 14 –
5:30 PM-6:30 PM - Delta Wires, Blues www.deltawires.com
About Delta Wires: Delta Wires is a big, high-energy harmonica & horns blues band out of the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area. Finalists at the Blues Foundation's International Blues Challenge: Memphis TN, Voted Oakland Magazine Readers' Poll: "BEST BAND" Oakland/East Bay, Voted Best LIVE Band, East Bay Express, Readers' Poll.
6:45 PM-7:45 PM - GG Amos, Blues www.reverbnation.com/ggamos
About GG Amos: guitarist / vocalist GG Amos is an artist in the West Coast Blues tradition; having been raised in the California capitol of Sacramento. Now based in San Francisco, she's honed her craft as a songwriter and entertainer utilizing the soul, jazz, funk and latin elements that make west coast blues what it is. For the past 26 years GG's earned a reputation as a riveting performer with a distinctive, expressive guitar style and an emotionally charged fluid voice...always emphasizing soulful communication with her audience.
Friday, September 28 –
5:30 PM-6:30 PM - Calaveras, Folk www.calaverassongs.com
About Calaveras: singer-songwriters Greg Beattie and Victoria Blythe, along with instrumentalist Dave Decker, combine voices and a half dozen acoustic instruments into original songs that are both fresh and timeless--from the roots of American traditional song forms to explorations of contemporary sounds.
6:45 PM-7:45 PM - Con Brio, Funk, Soul, Blues www.thebandconbrio.com
About Con Brio: Con Brio is a 6-piece band from San Francisco led by dynamic vocalist, songwriter and guitarist Xandra Corpora. Backed by horns, organ, bass and drums, the band's sound is high-energy and funky and their shows are captivating and fun. Con Brio has played many of the biggest stages in the Bay Area, including The Fillmore, Great American Music Hall, The Independent, Slim's, The New Parish and Regency Ballroom (as part of SFWeekly's All Shook Down Festival) and more in 2011 alone.
About Point Richmond Music:
The all-volunteer PRM committee shares a vision of celebrating diversity and promoting the arts and community through the universal language of music. PRM concerts offer a gathering place for people of all ages, ethnicities, and walks of life, who come together to enjoy musical talent of many genres from Richmond, the Bay Area and beyond. Eleven years of this collaborative effort have been made possible through donations of time and money from local businesses and volunteers. For more information, please visit www.pointrichmondmusic.com and www.facebook.com/ptrichmondmusic.
