PICKIN' PRODUCTIONS: Pickin' in the Parks

PICKIN' IN THE PARKS

This is Pickin' Productions third year producing outdoor free summer concerts series in two beautiful Western Colorado towns. This year, three concerts will happen in Ridgway's Town Park in July. The concerts move to Paonia in August, where four more concerts happen in the lovely Paonia Town Park. The concerts bring a variety of high quality national bands, with local and regional bands often opening the shows.

The music genre leans in the Americana roots direction, with acts playing bluegrass, folk, swing, county, alt-county, jazz and their own combination of those styles. The music is always family friendly so young and old can enjoy the concerts.

Both series are held in huge town parks with endless grassy lawns to lay blankets and chairs on, with plenty of room for the kids to run around or a game of frisbee or some hoola-hooping. All the concerts provide local vendors selling food and drinks, and you're welcome to bring a picnic as well.

All shows start at 6pm and go til dark. All seven concerts will be live broadcast on KVNF from the parks starting at 6pm.

RIDGWAY

JULY 2010

The series is underway! It kicked off on July 8 with T Bird & the Breaks. They had the whole park dancing! Next up on July 15 we are proud to present Bearfoot. This band was born in Alaska and has been visiting Colorado most summers since they were kids. They're all grown up now and present a modern acoustic sound with a strong bluegrass and oldtime base. And finally, we're bringing for the 3rd and final show this year Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside. If you enjoyed Carrie Rodriguez last year this 4 piece neo-retro rock outfit you're going to love.

There will be lots of activities for the kids. We'll have food vendors and local beer for sale. Come celebrate summer with us in Ridgway - count on a beautiful evening with a great community, a perfect sunset and one heck of a view. An addition this year is all the opening acts will be playing a late night show at the Sherbino Theater, right down the road from the park. $5 admission, 9:30 show - full bar, lots of fun.

Ridgway slide show

RIDGWAY SPONSORS

The 2010 Ridgway summer concerts are brought to you by the Town of Ridgway along with support from community sponsors:

Ponderosa Realty

The Colorado Yurt Company

Geri Weaver

Black Canyon Rentals

Colorado Boy Brewing Company

Ouray Brewery

Smugglers Brewery

Bill & Carol Lawler

Fishbone Graphics

Smyth’s Pub & Chop House

PAONIA

August 2010

August brings four more FREE CONCERTS to Paonia Town Park in Paonia, CO. We begin on Thursday August 5 with a wonderful new group from North Carolina, Christabel and the Johns. This acoustic quartet bring some sweet jazzy singing together with some good mountain music and lots in between. Next up is a 6 piece band from New York City called the Sweetback Sisters. This groups is full of harmonies, tasty country licks and excellent songs presented with a good dose of danceable fun. The third show is not confirmed yet, so check back soon for that announcement. The final, fourth show in the series will feature all teh way from Portland, OR the You may recognize Caleb from the mandolin playing singer of the Foghorn String Band, who we brought a few years Caleb Klauder Country Band back for a contra dance in Hotchkiss. He's back now with his classic honky tonk group. He'll likely be mixing some of his acoustic oldtime traditional music with the electric classic country sounds found in today's best Americana musid.

As always, the series is live broadcasted on KVNF Community Radio and is Sponsored by First Colorado National Bank in Paonia.

Children's Music Scholarships: Last year in Paonia we started the tradition of giving away music scholarships to children. We will once again continue that tradition this year by offering scholarships for music lessons, a musical instrument or a regional music camp. Last year we had four winners total. One girl is taking violin lessons in Paonia, two brothers are taking banjo lessons in Delta, and one 12 year old girl is headed to North Carolina this summer to attend a music camp to study piano. Kids can find applications at the concerts this summer and the winners will be announced at the last show on August 26, 2010. Stay tuned for more information on the scholarships as the concerts get closer. Thanks so much to Cocker Kids Foundation and Kampe Foundation for making the children's scholarships a possibility.

There is a strong focus on the children during these shows. We will also have an area full of games and art projects to keep the kids happy while you watch the show or get up a dance. Feel free to bring a picnic or enjoy some of the local flavors provided by one of our food vendors. No alcoholic beverages are sold at the show. The opening act begins at 6pm, and the headliner starts at 7pm and will usually play 2 sets until dark.

Paonia slide show

PAONIA SPONSORS