VICTOR, Idaho — Music on Main celebrates its 18th season in 2024 and the concert series is queued up to be a stellar summer of live music in the Tetons.
Zivanai Masango and ZiMBiRA will take audiences around the world on Thursday, June 20. Led by award-winning Zimbabwean multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Zivanai Masango, this band will take the audience on a musical journey to Southern Africa that will leave the spirit uplifted and beaming with joy. Rooted in the rhythms, as well as cultural and musical traditions of Zimbabwe and South Africa, the beautifully polyrhythmic music of ZiMBiRA makes the body want to dance!
AJ Lee and Blue Summit headlines Thursday, June 27.This is award-winning neo-traditionalist bluegrass and folk band is an energetic and technically jaw-dropping group quickly rising on the national roots music scene. Based in Santa Cruz, California, the group met as teenagers, picking and jamming together as kids at local music festivals and jams. Formed in 2015, this outstanding young California band also takes in elements of Western swing, soul, folk, jazz and pop. A powerful singer, talented mandolinist and gifted songwriter, AJ Lee has been making waves on the acoustic scene for many years, performing with family band The Tuttles (alongside celebrated guitarist Molly Tuttle) since she was just ten, and has won the coveted IBMA Vocalist Momentum Award.
After skipping the holiday week of the Fourth of July, Music on Main returns on Thursday, July 11 with Michigan’s hottest alternative indie groove outfit Joe Hertel and The Rainbow Seekers. With spectacular energy pulsating from every member of the band, the Rainbow Seekers could illuminate the stage. Lead singer Joe Hertler splashes through lyrical puddles of golden rain, leaving his audience wearing flowery crowns and bubbling smiles. A ride on the Rainbow is a journey across the mountains of Motown, through the fjords of folk, over the archipelagos of Americana and into a funky firth, where only the fiercest of friendships can be found.
On Thursday, July 18, the Tetons will pay homage to the legacy of the Grateful Dead with The Deadlocks and Special Guests. The powerhouse Dead cover band found its calling fourteen years ago at a Music on Main after-party at The Knotty Pine. And what a strange trip it has been since then as the group has matured into a sound of their own while welcoming big names to the stage to play.
The Rumble featuring Chief Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. will bring the sounds of NOLA to Teton Valley on Thursday, July 25. Featuring seven GRAMMY-nominated musicians, The Rumble is more than just a band — it’s an opportunity to be immersed in a wholly unique facet of New Orleans culture. The Rumble’s debut album, “Live at the Maple Leaf,” received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Regional Roots Album in 2024. Their live show is a symphony of rich color and propulsive sound, with each member sharing vocal duties and engaging the audience in the classic Mardi Gras Indian-style call-and-response chanting. The group pays homage to trailblazers like Wild Magnolias and Golden Eagles, both of which featured the vocal stylings of Boudreaux’s father, Monk Boudreaux. The Rumble continues the fight to preserve the legacies and traditions of the community for the next generation while bringing new layers of depth to their live performance.
No Such Animal will go wild in Teton Valley on Thursday, August 1. No Such Animal hails from Utah and is sure to convert fans in just three chords with their dedication to a hard rock sound that is simultaneously intimate. The band consists of Finn Morrison (frontman, vocals), Max Miller (drums, vocals), Cole Harris (guitar), Ella Morrison (keys) and Teton Valley native, Seth Jensen (bass). They put energetic riffs and catchy melodies together to create a sporadic blend of almost every rock subgenre.
One of the hottest acts on the bluegrass scene, Mountain Grass Unit will headline on Thursday, August 8. This trio of Birmingham pickers adds country, jazz, funk, rock and even metal to their vocal harmonies and musical arrangements. The band will please bluegrass traditionalists and can adapt to almost any genre. Their competency is as exciting as their passionate hunger to deliver a hard-driving show. The youthful exuberance and energy that the Mountain Grass Unit brings to the stage is always remarkable. Opening for MGU, for a very special engagement following his week of teaching at the Targhee Music Camp, is award-winning multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Darrell Scott.
The Concert Series will close out on Thursday, August 15 with reggae star Mike Love. Love fuses progressive and classic rock, soul, blues, flamenco, jazz and classical with a spiritual and message-based blend of reggae and Rastafari. Love started playing guitar at the age of 15, and soon after began performing live as frontman for the 10-piece band Dubkonscious. He then furthered his talents as a composer/lyricist, arranger and also producer on the band’s album “At the Foot of the Mountain.” He has now become an internationally recognized, power-packed, one-man-band style show, using looping, multiple instruments and an array of different vocal techniques and musical styles to create a full and powerful sound that belies the fact that he is on stage alone. Love’s solo performances have since taken him to some of the largest stages in the world.
This season’s openers are Calle Mambo (6/20), One Ton Pig (6/27), Triple Lindy (7/11), Batdorf and Brother Wolf (7/18), Cache Funk Music (7/25), Box Elder (8/1), Darrell Scott (8/8) and Chanman Roots Band (8/15).
Presented by the Shefter Family Foundation, the 2024 concerts will run from 6 to 10 p.m. at Victor City Park, on Thursdays, June 20 through August15 with a suggested donation of $5. No concert will be held on the Fourth of July. Music on Main showcases unique and delicious food vendors that focus on local favorites and flavors. Just show up!
Listen to the Spotify playlist for 2024 Headliners.
