A couple of GREAT outdoor concerts near our area this coming Friday!

As the summer season of outdoor concerts starts to wind down, we've still got a few EXCELLENT shows to tell you about!

Over in Bryn Mawr at their Twilight Concert Series will be Jonatha Brooke + Liz Longley on Friday, August 28th starting at 7:00 PM...

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Merging evocative folk, melodic pop, and an edgier roots rock sensibility, singer/songwriter/guitarist Jonatha Brooke began releasing music in the early 1990s, first as a member of duo The Story and more enduringly as a solo artist.

Born in Illinois and raised in Massachusetts, Brooke was already writing songs when she met singer Jennifer Kimball while they were students at Amherst College in the early '80s. Though they played regular local gigs as Jonatha & Jennifer during their time there, the duo never issued any recordings and took a break after graduation. By the end of the '80s, however, the group had re-formed under the moniker The Story, and they issued a demo called Over Oceans in 1989. The Story was promptly signed to the independent label Green Linnet, which issued their debut album, Grace in Gravity, in 1991. It wasn't long before Elektra Records expressed interest in the band, in turn reissuing their debut the same year, as well as a sophomore LP, The Angel in the House, two years later.

Though credited as Jonatha Brooke & the Story, she made her solo debut with 1995's Plumb before cracking the Billboard 200 with her third set of original songs, 2001's Steady Pull. A year later, she performed two songs for the Disney film Return to Never Land. In 2008, Brooke issued The Works, which paired her original music with previously unrecorded Woody Guthrie lyrics, and an album based on her own one-woman play, My Mother Has 4 Noses, arrived in 2014, reaching the Billboard Americana/folk chart's Top Ten.

A Jonatha Brooke concert is a reminder of what live music can be at its best: honest, intimate, and human. Her artistry lies in the balance between vulnerability and strength. Between songs she engages in easy banter, with subjects as varied as marriage, sex, menopause, and guitar tuning, all served with a large dose of humor. In a world where many singer-songwriters perform by rote and make limited effort to connect personally with the audience... Brooke makes you feel like you are seen AND heard. It's for is reason that an evening spent with Jonatha end's up being a memorable, musical treasure.

Along those same lines, another one of our favs, Liz Longley, will be a part of the program!

In our streaming era, when it proves more and more difficult for artists to find the support they need, independent singer-songwriter Liz Longley stands out as a singular exception. The Downingtown born & bred, Nashville-based musician has found a loving give-and-take with listeners. The bond she shares with her fans transcends the usual artist-fan dynamic, and never has this been more apparent than in the build-up to the release of her seventh studio album, Funeral For My Past. After extensive touring, Longley returned to Nashville to record her latest effort at Smoakstack Studio with 5x Grammy nominated producer, Paul Moak. She realized soon following the LP's completion that it needed a home other than her former label Sugar Hill Records.

Showing the tenacity & grit that is in all of our Philly-area DNA, the amicable split led to Longley gathering funds via Kickstarter to both purchase the rights to Funeral For My Past and cover promotion costs. Her fans (known fondly as Lizards) quickly surpassed her original goal of $45,000, raising a shocking $150,000 and making Longley the fourth most-funded solo female musician on Kickstarter. 


Liz's latest album, New Life, is the perfect companion for the heavy-hearted, but can also soundtrack deliriously joyful moments. She navigates this emotional elasticity with an earthy, unmistakable voice while proving that positive steps forward in life, both personal and professional, start with letting go of the past.

REALLY looking forward to seeing this pairing! More info on this show can be found at brynmawrtwilightconcerts.com/

Also on Friday night, Spafford will be appearing as part of King of Prussia's Concerts Under the Stars series.

They are a jam band that blends multiple genres of music including rock, funk, jazz, reggae, ska, and electro-pop. The group self-releases its recordings, including studio albums, improvisational sessions, and soundboard releases of their live shows.

What separates Spafford from a lot of jam bands is their command of space. They know when to pile on and when to pull back just enough to make the next tune land harder. By way letting grooves simmer, they allow tension to hang. Then they break it open. It's a high-wire act that only works when everyone on stage is listening as closely to the rest of the band as they're playing.

From the jump, they perform an all-gas, no-brakes show. The kind where music's not about structure because the songs are launchpads. Grooves lock in, then explode. Solos don't politely take turns. They overlap, tangle, and dare each other to go further. This is a band doesn't just play music, they play possibilities. They're a band that trusts the fall because they know exactly how to land it.

Opening the festivities in KoP will be local jam-ers Morel...

They are comprised of guitar player Will Gardiner and drummer Brett Flynn, along with bass player Brad Herring, and guitarist Matt Vitali. Their shows a diverse, jammin' rock show with improvisational detours that can land anywhere from Bluegrass to Funk. They take influence from many different genres from many different eras, this allows them to keep their fans on their toes.

Expect nothing less than high energy & tremendous musicianship from this crew... More info on this show can be found at concertsunderthestarskop.com/

Phew! Think we're done yet with these outdoor legendary events?!? Just wait until you see what's on tap for NEXT week! lol - Hope to see you out there!