New Albany announces “Summer of Music” with Levitt AMP Series line up

NEW ALBANY, MS – The City of New Albany will be hosting a 10-week free music series this summer when the Levitt AMP series gets underway on June 4. The Levitt AMP series is a program put forth by the Mimi and Mortimer Levitt Foundation designed to invigorate public spaces through cultural and musical events. AMP is an acronym that stands for “AMPLIFY, MUSIC and PLACE”. This past year the City of New Albany was one of 15 communities chosen in a national competition to receive funding for a free outdoor concert series.

The concert series will take place at the Park Along the River, a city park that sits adjacent to downtown on the banks of the Tallahatchie River. Each concert will begin on a Saturday evening at dusk, with the exception of June 24, which will be on a Friday night; the change being due New Albany’s Freedom Fest already having been scheduled for Saturday June 25.

The musical line up covers fairly broad spectrum of music, featuring alt-country, hill county blues, bluegrass, R&B, Hip Hop and Rock and Roll.

Alvin Youngblood Hart

The first concert of the Levitt AMP Music Series will be on Saturday June 4^th.  New Albany’s own “The Dukes”, a band that has been playing around for decades will christen the series when they open for WC Handy Award-winning bluesman, Alvin Youngblood Hart.

Aspiring local Hip Hop artist, Shaunzy, will open the June 11 show featuring Christian Hip Hop artist Dee 1.

Dee 1

Marcella and Her Lovers, with New Albany native David Cousar on guitar, will take the stage on June 18.

Marcella and Her Lovers

New Albany’s Sam Mosley and the Muscle Shoals Horns will play on Friday, June 24, the only Friday night show of the series. The following day will be the city’s Freedom Fest, which will include a Fireworks show and a free concert by country music stars, Confederate Railroad.

New Albany’s Sam Mosley and the Muscle Shoals Horns will play on Friday, June 24, the only Friday night show of the series. The following day will be the city’s Freedom Fest, which will include a Fireworks show and a free concert by country music stars, Confederate Railroad.

The Grammy nominated Cedric Burnside Project (Cedric is the grandson of the late Hill Country Blues giant, R.L. Burnside) will be bringing a taste of Hill Country Blues to the stage on July 2.

Cedric Burnside

Drivin and Cryin

July 9 brings in the great Georgia artists, Drivin’ N Cryin’, whose hits “Straight to Hell”, “Call me Courageous” and “Honeysuckle Rose” defined a decade and inspired a lot of folks to pick up the guitar.

Scott Mulvahill

The local all-female bluegrass band, The Grass Skirts, will open for bassist Scott Mulvalhill (Ricky Skaggs bass player in Kentucky Thunder) on July 16.

July 23 brings Papa Mali from New Orleans. Papa Mali’s unique “swampy” sound has been featured on a number of television shows, including American Horror Story. Papa has a history of collaboration with Grateful Dead alumni, Bill Kreutzmann and Robert Hunter as well as Willie Nelson and George Porter, Jr. of The Meters.

Papa Mali

Young Valley

Young Valley, an up and coming alt-country outfit out of Jackson, Miss. will play on July 30.

The series closes out on August 6 with “an incredibly fast paced and energetic show that makes it impossible to stand still” concert by North Mississippi’s The Holy Ghost Electric Show.

Holy Ghost Electric Show

Organizers say that there will be some other openers on some of the dates, but they’ve not yet been booked.

Food and refreshments will be available at the concerts, but attendees are welcome to bring their own. Lawn chairs are also welcome.

All of the concerts are free and open to the public and are funded by Mimi and Mortimer Levitt Foundation, The City of New Albany and local and regional sponsors. Organizers say that they will be accepting donations, however, for other musical and cultural events in the space.

For more information, the Levitt AMP New Albany Concert Series has a Facebook page set up at www.facebook.com/levittampnewalbany where videos, images and updates can be found.