on a high note
Music to Our Ears
ARTFactory’s SummerSounds Concert Series Returns to the Harris Pavilion By Emily Carter
M
usic will be ringing out in Manassas again with the help of the ARTFactory’s SummerSounds concert series. Each year, the ARTFactory sponsors concerts in the late summer showcasing different artists and genres at the Harris Pavilion.
The Musicians
touring directories and listen to our patrons and constituents. And then just kind of checking out the local scene in general is what I try to do. In addition to just trying to have a nice mix of genres, we've got folk, we've got funk, we've got Americana, a little bit of country. But that's the goal, to try to have diverse music coming out of the pavilion.”
The SummerSounds series will feature four artists starting with Shenandoah Run on July 24. The band consists of nine members from Washington, D.C. who play folk and Americana music.
2021 Concerts
The second act, “Lil’ Maceo” Kareem Walkes, will take the stage Aug. 7. Lil Maceo is a saxophone player making waves in the jazz world mixing in contemporary music with the occasional cover of today’s popular songs.
“Unfortunately, we had to reach out and cancel because of COVID. I know that the city I think did a few virtual concerts…We did not end up going that route. But we were very fortunate to reschedule the bands from last summer, for this year,” Exum said. “Fortunately, all of them were very gung-ho and very interested in participating. COVID has kept a lot of people at home. And it's been very difficult for musicians and artists and everyone related really in the art field. So they were all very excited to be rescheduled for this summer and they're very excited just to get back.”
On Aug. 14, The Splinters will be performing a mix of Americana, roots, rock and country songs with local musicians. Their debut album Old Songs was released in 2016. The final act in the series, Wicked Olde, performs Sept. 4. The quartet plays primarily Celtic music mixed with bluegrass accompanied by the occasional jig. Wicked Olde has performed at the Harris Pavilion before and was a favorite of past audiences.
Choosing the Artists ARTFactory Executive Director Jordan Exum said she looks to the public and the Virginia Center of the Arts Performing Arts Tour Directory to help her decide what acts will be performing in the summer. “My main thing every year is trying to find a nice variety of musical styles that people will enjoy because you always have kind of a mixed audience,” Exum said. “(I look at the) VCA
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July 2021 prince william living
In 2020, ARTFactory had to cancel their acts for the SummerSounds series due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The SummersSounds concert series will be in person this year. The city of Manassas and the ARTFactory have plans to keep the artists and members of the community safe while enjoying music. “The concerts this summer will look more like normal. We haven't quite finalized all the COVID guidelines that will be in place, but we will have plenty of social distancing or spacing as needed, and the (artists will) be a nice distance away from the audience. There's a couple different things we're working out. And we made some adjustments to our contract to accommodate that as well. I'm excited just to have performances again, in person,” Exum said.
