Rick Rushing
Nightfall continues its 34th season of free live concerts by highlighting local music this Friday with a co-billed show featuring Rick Rushing and the Blues Strangers, followed by Davey Smith and the Pearl Snap Preachers.
Nightfall continues every Friday through Sept. 10. Chattanooga’s longest-running outdoor concert series, Nightfall features music on the Miller Plaza stage, with food trucks, local artisan vendors and lawn games in Miller Park.
As one of Nightfall’s major sponsors, Transcard will receive special attention this Friday, by adding the Miller Park stage into the venue as a site for one of the featured band performances (directly below Transcard’s sign).
Nightfall will begin, as usual, at 7 p.m. on the Miller Plaza stage, with a performance by Rick Rushing and the Blues Strangers. This co-billed local music night will continue with a second set of music at 8:15 p.m. by country music band Davey Smith and the Pearl Snap Preachers on the Miller Park stage. This combination of stage performances means that there will be a seamless schedule of music, with no set change time needed in between.
Review for Rick Rushing and the Blues:
The Rick Rushing and the Blues Strangers trio is headed by Chattanooga’s Rick Rushing, a prolific songwriter, singer and guitarist generally known for his blues music, but versatile in any style of soulful music. In his own words, Rick "harnesses the key elements of blues, jazz, rock and rhythm to create a synergy that lifts audiences to new heights of musical consciousness.” A music teacher and workshop leader, Rick is also known to host open mic blues nights around town to expose and provide opportunities for local artists to play in front of live audiences and collaborate with other musicians.
Review for Davey Smith and the Pearl Snap Preachers:
Davey Smith is coming out of his self-proclaimed retirement to perform from 8:15-9:30 p.m. on the Miller Park stage across from Miller Plaza with his band, the Pearl Snap Preachers. This country music artist originally from Whitwell says, "I was raised on Merle Haggard, Elvis Presley, Bill Monroe, Randy Travis, Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, and Southern Gospel. I love Jesus, Mama, and Merle.” In fact, his band will include Merle Haggard’s longtime lead guitar player, and tele-picking phenom, Redd Volkaert. During his musical career Davey has traveled across the country performing his brand of “real” country music.
The remaining two shows in June will continue to celebrate local talent with a co-bill of two Chattanooga bands each night, before resuming the regular Nightfall format of featuring a local opening band and national headliner in July, August and September.
Registration for artist booth spaces in Miller Park can be found here.
Immediately following Nightfall this year, the Lookout Wild Film Festival will be showing an hour of free short adventure films in Miller Park from 9:45-10:45 p.m. every Friday night. Visit lookoutfilmfestival.org for more information.
Nightfall bulk discount beer and wine tickets will again be available this year at each show, offering a 20 percent savings on a packet of 20 beer and wine tickets. Food trucks and non-alcoholic drink concessions are also available on site. No outside food or beverages are allowed to be brought in to Nightfall since concession sales are a primary funder of Nightfall.
Known for its family-friendly environment as well as being recognized nationally for the quality of its musical programming, Nightfall is a family-friendly concert series that brings the Chattanooga community together in the heart of the city.
Nightfall is locally produced by Chattanooga Presents. For more information on this free community concert series, call 304-5835 or visit NightfallChattanooga.com for a complete, interactive website that includes music samples by each headliner, as well as other important information for first-time attendees.
Davey Smith