INFO SUBMITTED BY SS ARTS
With the return of the Summer Outdoor Concert Series (SOCS), community members and island visitors will gather in Centennial Park every Thursday at 6 p.m. from July 18 to Aug. 22 to enjoy exceptional live music for free.
Salt Spring Arts, which organizes the series with support from marquee presenters Salt Spring Country Grocer and Island Savings, a division of First West Credit Union, and other groups, promises a vibrant lineup of performers, featuring acts local to the Southern Gulf Islands and quality touring musicians.
The series launches on July 18, headlined by renowned Australian-based singer-songwriter Steph Strings, bringing her compelling, percussive fingerstyle guitar to the island. New local act The Selkies of Salt Spring Island, an enchanting vocal harmony trio, will perform an opening set to warm up the stage.
The following week, July 25, will see the Jocelyn Pettit Trio’s “New-Trad Celtic” music fronted by vibrant fiddle player, singer and stepdancer Jocelyn Pettit. The five-time Canadian Folk Music Award nominee will be joined by Erik Musseau and Adam Dobres. Emerging young Pender Island singer-songwriter Sóley Ella May will open the evening with her unique voice and compelling songs.
Juno-nominated, hard-hitting Latin band Mazacote headlines SOCS’ third concert on Aug. 1, bringing energy deeply in the music of Colombia, Mozambique and Venezuela. Their Afro-Caribbean percussion and tropical party sounds will make you move. An opening set will be performed by Pender Island folk duo Peach & Quiet with songs inspired by 1970s Laurel Canyon.
On Aug. 8, acclaimed duo Blue Moon Marquee will showcase their genre-bending original music influenced by anything that swings, jumps or grooves. Opening act Chico Eh, created by local talents Billie Woods and ‘eljose,’ will share their eclectic music featuring lyrics in Spanish, Portuguese and English.
Aug.15 sees a co-headlining lineup of two Salt Spring local bands: Daryl Chonka and Caraluna, and the series ends on Aug. 22 headlined by vibrant collective Kárà-Kátà Afrobeat Band and local Indigenous fiddle player Wesley Hardisty opening the evening with his original compositions.
More information about the series is at saltspringarts.com/socs.