The Hamiltones
Valerie June
Jose Valentino
Rev. Sekou & the Freedom Fighters
Stout & The Revolution
The Jyemo Club
B. Slade
Frank Bumpass
Eric Roberson
RISE Chattanooga (formerly known as Jazzanooga) has announced its lineup of artists who will perform on the lawn of the Bessie Smith Cultural Center each Thursday at 6 p.m. from Aug. 22-Oct. 24 for the free Levitt AMP Chattanooga Music Series.
Sponsored in part by the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, a national funder of creative placemaking that empowers communities to inject new life into underused public spaces through free, outdoor concerts, the Levitt AMP Chattanooga Music Series presents 10 free,
family-friendly concerts to the public this fall. The series will feature a diverse lineup of talent spanning genres like Blues, R&B/Soul and Jazz. Local sponsorship support comes from the Lyndhurst Foundation, the city of Chattanooga, and the Benwood Foundation.
“We are extremely honored to be chosen to curate this fantastic event for the third year in a row,” said Shane Morrow, RISE Chattanooga director. “It is a rewarding feeling knowing that we’re able to create a sense of community by bringing people from all backgrounds (social, racial, economic) together with a common purpose; to celebrate our city’s unique diversity through this concert series. We are thankful for the Bessie giving us a reduced rental rate this year so that we can continue to host this incredible free outdoor concert series on the lawn.”
RISE Chattanooga is also providing opportunities for local area musicians and performers to be opening acts for the series. They are hosting a free community audition showcase called RISE to Levitt in Miller Park on Saturday, Aug. 3, from 7-10 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 4, from 5-8 p.m. where they are asking the community to help pick the opening acts this year.
“We wanted to showcase and provide career boosts for one of our greatest assets in Chattanooga - our creative musicians and performers so we created this performance showcase, along with our community partners, city of Chattanooga’s Open Spaces Division and Harmonic Productions,” said Mr. Morrow.
Kicking off the series this year on Thursday, Aug. 22, is Grammy nominated trio, The Hamiltones.
Also scheduled to perform are
Aug. 29 Valerie June
Sept. 5 José Valentino
Sept. 12 Rev. Sekou & The Freedom Fighters
Sept. 19 Denise Renee AKA Stout & The Revolution
Sept. 26 Jyemo Club
Oct. 3 B. Slade
Oct. 10 Louis York & The Shindellas
Oct. 17 Frank Bumpass
Oct. 24 Eric Roberson
The public is invited to bring their own picnics, blankets and lawn chairs to the concerts, which
will have an open lawn setting. There will be an array of food and drink vendors on site. The
Levitt AMP concert series is at 200 E. MLK Blvd. Admission is free.
Visit http://levittamp.org/Chattanooga for a full schedule of concerts, directions and information
on parking and wheelchair accessibility.
Last December, Chattanooga was named one of 18 small to mid-sized towns and cities across America to win a Levitt AMP Chattanooga Grant Award of $25,000 in matching funds to present a free concert series in 2019. RISE Chattanooga submitted the Levitt AMP proposal and is presenting the concert series. In an effort to inspire and engage communities across the country around the power of creative placemaking, the Levitt Foundation invited the public to choose the Top 25 finalists through online voting. Learn more about the winners and the 180 free Levitt AMP concerts across America at http://levittamp.org