SCHEDULE AND PERFORMERS

SPRING 2013 SCHEDULE

Our performances are always on the third Saturdays in the Spring and Fall in the months of March, April, and May, September, October, November. The show is from 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM.

March 16, 2013

The Steve Anderson Group: Steve and his friends kick off every season. Steve’s very distinct voice blends well with harmonies and back up instrumentation provided by Jan Biggs and Bobby Belloni.
Philip Bartles on bass and Anne Hibbs on fiddle round out the combo. Steve can belt out great tunes originated by beloved artists like Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers.

Joe Barbara: Joe is one of those artists that can offer a complete sound with just himself, his vocals, and some great picking. Joe’s musical style can only be described as eclectic. He knows what seem to be a million songs and he performs every one of them to perfection. Joe performed on our front porch last fall, and we had to ask him to quit playing, because the audience did not want to come inside while he was performing, and we did not want to delay the show.

Jackie Coyne and Mama’s Family: This was another very well received act that performed on our front porch last year. They are very traditional, performing old time gospel, bluegrass and country music. Their sound and vocals are very authentic and heartfelt. They are a local group that have been performing and jamming in this area for years and will be a great fit for the Opry.

Linnzi Zaorskiand her New Orleans Jazz band: Linnzi is a regular in the New Orleans club scene. She has a very unique voice that is a real audience pleaser. She is backed up by some of the best traditional Jazz musicians in this area. This group will be closing out our inaugural show for 2013, and will perform at our Earth Day festival the following day. We are very much looking forward to this act.

April 20, 2013

The Petty Bones: These are long-time Opry regulars and serve as our house band in the middle of each season. Anne Crowell has a great voice that can croon out some very sweet ballads and change gears to a great blues styling. Her husband, Jerry has a unique sound of his own and they can harmonize perfectly. Their acoustic mix can only be described as Americana. They always bring a surprise to the Opry stage.

The Storyville String Band: This group, named after a very famous, or infamous depending on your outlook, area of New Orleans. The locale was probably the greatest incubator for New Orleans Jazz during that red light district’s heyday around the turn of the twentieth century. The name for this band is well chosen because they perform traditional New Orleans Jazz exclusively on acoustic string instruments reviving the way this great music form was performed as it developed into what it is today. This is truly roots music.

Double Date: Joel Savoy and Linzay Young are arguably two of the finest and most versatile young musicians in the State of Louisiana. They are both members of the famous Red Stick Ramblers and Joel is a member of one of the premier family of musicians in Louisiana. They have both appeared on the Opry stage numerous times in other configurations and can be seen all around the state and country performing at some major festivals. For this act, they are teaming up with their wives, two equally talented young ladies: Kelli Jones-Savoy and Emma Young. This is a don’t miss.

Bobby Lounge and the Recliners: Bobby is a very famous local Louisiana musician who is a regular at the Jazz Fest, and can rock the keyboard as well or better than many in a city where piano artistry is revered. For this act Bobby has teamed up with a Gospel singing group promising to offer some traditional gospel tunes. Bobby’s virtuosity on the keyboard promised to provide a very unique twist to drive some old standards. This group will also be featured at the New Orleans Jazz Fest this season.

May 18, 2013

Pot Luck String Band: Van Glynn is a musical virtuoso who is adept at playing any instrument that has strings or keys. He heads up this month’s house band that features Bluegrass and other and traditional country music. They have been a regular house group at the Opry for several years and, like our other house bands, sets the tone for the level of musical talent at our shows.

The Lucky Dogs: If you like old time New Orleans Rhythm and Blues, then you will love this band. This is yet another group that mesmerized our pre-show audience when they performed on our front porch last year. They know and can knock out some of those great old New Orleans standards and will prove to be real crowd pleasers.

Delta Reign: They are returning to the Opry for a second visit.
They have a very unique styling to Bluegrass. Very strong instrumentation and great vocals are presented with very skillful musicians that perform this great musical styling with some elements of jazz bleeding through their music. They have been traveling around the country performing at a number of events and we are fortunate to be able to get them back on the Opry.

Kim Carson: This well-traveled musician has been all over the world presenting her country music to happy fans who groove on the universal language of music. She will be bringing some Honky Tonk style country to our stage for this set. Our audiences love this kind of old time country music and Kim can put it out there better than most. She is a veteran Opry performer all the way back to the old piney Woods Opry and is always a great way to close out the show.

Please don’t forget that following every show, many of our musicians gather at the Abita Brew Pub to jam. Some of the best music performed on Opry nights has been at this after-the-show jam. It allows a blending of some really great musicians to play in an informal atmosphere, and some really great and unique stuff has come out of those jams.

As they often say on those corny pitch ads on TV: Wait, That’s not all! Besides our regular performances of the Abita Springs Opry, our organization sponsors music for the outdoor festivals in Abita Springs that benefit our local groups. We have a wonderful venue at our Trail Head and we love to entertain audiences while promoting the work of our town organizations.

March 17: The Abita Springs Earth Day Festival

This event is sponsored by the Abita Springs Friends of the Park.
They have done some wonderful work in getting our great playground built, and this year they will cut the ribbon for the new trail that winds through the park and connects to the Tammany Trace. This is a wonderful addition to our park and the trace as is our trail head.

The event features things in keeping with the name of the festival. This year’s theme is, “Going Green on St.Patrick’s Day.” It will feature a lot of Earth conscious things like plants, naturally made product displays, demonstrations and sales. There will be some kid’s activities and plant give aways. Admission is free, and, of course, there will be the usual good food and great music. Check the town web site at townofabitasprings.com for any other additional information.

The musical lineup is:

The Drunken Catfish Band: Great jug Band sound from New Orleans.

Covington High Jazz Band: A regular at the Earth Day Festival and these youngsters will surprise you with the level of musicianship they deliver.

Linnzi Zaorski and her Traditional New Orleans Jazz Band: The same group that will perform at the Opry the night before this festival.

Fontainebleau High School Jazz Band: You will not want too miss the performance of this award winning group.

The high school jazz bands directed by Neal Naquin and Lee Hicks respectively offer up some great big band jazz and are a pure pleasure to listen to.

April 21: The Abita Springs Music & Arts Festival

The unique nature of this event is increasing in popularity each year. It continues to be our most popular and well attended outdoor event in Abita. The festival is sponsored by the Abita Springs Museum Committee, and this year, the festival will be coupled with one of the premier Museum Committee events, The En Plein Aire Art Showing.

This is a special art event that attracts some of the most outstanding artists from the area and New Orleans. The theme of the showing is for artists to present landscapes. The paintings are all done on site by the artists and the work depicts spring landscapes from Abita Springs and other locales in St. Tammany Parish. This is a carefully juried event and all of the work is of very high quality. All of the paintings are for sale or simply for viewing by art lovers.

Besides the work in the showing, we will have some booths displaying various unique and high quality works of art including jewelry, ceramics,sculpture, carvings and others. We were very fortunate to have attracted the level of art work we had at the festival last year, and they will be returning.

We will be featuring a unique musical line up. The musicians who perform at this festival are all musicians who are or have recently performed on the streets of New Orleans and other locations across the U.S. and in foreign countries. These are very talented young people who have gravitated to New Orleans to become part of our great musical scene. They are accomplished musicians who have made it their business to continue the great traditional music of New Orleans. The music is;

The Buffalo Death Rattle: Outstanding jug Band featuring the unique musical styling of Stalebread Scottie.

The Wasted Lives. This is pure honky tonk country music played at its best. They were show-stoppers at the Opry last year.

The Smoking Time Jazz Club. Solid traditional New Orleans Jazz and some unbelievable dancers performing with then.

Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses: She is great on the saxophone as well as vocals with great Jazz backup. Aurora is well known among musicians and music lovers in the Big Easy.

Erika Lewis and Tuba Skinny: This is one of the premier musical groups of its genre in the area. Erika has become a real celebrity and is a perennial close out at this festival. She also helps us find and book the other groups for this event, and they are always a hit.