The 2012 Summer Jam series returns this summer, with five Friday nights of live music in downtown Hyattsville. The city Department of Recreation and the arts announced the lineup in its March newsletter yesterday.
May 11 sees The Magic Band come to town. You may remember them as the rythm-and-blues based ensemble which backed legendary rock and blues musician Captain Beefheart from the mid 1960s to the early 1980s.
That last link takes you to a classic Beefheart composition. Here's how The Magic Band tours these days since reforming in 2003.
On June 8, Blues Condition comes to town. This Virginia group covers classic blues artists ranging from Stevie Ray Vaughn to Muddy Watters and beyond. They also put out a pretty heavy hot blues album Swinging Blues and Rockin' Roots Music.
Friday, July 13 brings rockabilly ensemble J.P. McDermott and Western Bop to the downtown stage. They play a kind of infectiously dancable proto-rock and roll, the kind which your grandmother probably boogied to (and that's not a bad thing, either). Expect oldies covers and energetic original songs.
August 10 sees N2N, which, as their website constantly reminds you, is "one of the East Coast's more exciting bands". They play a groovy rythm and blues with a solid beat.
September 14, the last of the Summer Jam concerts, sees Just Us perform Hyattsville. I must say, it was a bit hard finding a web presence for this group, but I sincerely hope it's this oldies, rock and country ensemble listed on BaltimoreBands.com.
Outback Steakhouse Summer Jam concerts take placeon the second Friday of every month at the Hyattsville City Municipal Building at 4310 Gallatin Street, starting at 6:30 p.m. and running through 8:30 p.m.
