Patty Griffin Kicks Off Concert Series

The Prescott Park Arts Festival is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a star-packed 2014 concert season, and Grammy Award-winner Patty Griffin kicks it off June 21.

Mary Chapin Carpenter, whose double-bill performance with Marc Cohn last year set an all-time attendance record for the Portsmouth festival, was voted "most wanted to return," and she will return for another show on July 12.

The River House Restaurant Concert Series is sure to pack the park again and again with performers like Patty Griffin, Rosanne Cash, Loudon Wainwright III and Dr. John & the Nite Trippers appearing on the Wilcox Industries Main Stage this summer.

"We are so incredibly excited, but also really, really proud," Ben Anderson, Prescott Park Arts Festival Executive Director Ben Anderson said in announcing the lineup. "To be able to offer this caliber of acts, and this experience to the full community on a give-what-you-can basis is truly quite special and unique."
 
Founded in 1974, and operating as a non-profit, the festival has continued to offer its events on a suggested donation basis for its entire history. It raised the amount only once in the early 1980s from $3 to the current amount of $5.
 
"This is a really important part of our mission," explained Anderson. "Regardless of whether you are struggling to pay your electric bill, put gas in your car, or food on your table – you can enjoy the same magical and high-quality experience in Prescott Park."

Grammy Award-winner Patty Griffin kicks off the series June 21 and musical icon Dr. John – Dr. John & the Nite Trippers – closes the season out in style on Sept. 13. Dr. John will "take the audience on a funky roller-coaster ride of timeless swampy soul blues classics with his soundtrack of tunes from an illustrious fifty-plus Rock & Roll Hall of Fame career," according to the Prescott Park Arts Festival.

Anderson hints there are some other great acts to be added to the schedule later this season.

The 2014 Prescott Park Arts Festival Season:

• Saturday, June 21 – American Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and musician Patty Griffin kicks off the series. Known for her stripped-down songwriting style centered around the folk music genre, her songs have been covered by a host of musicians including Emmylou Harris and the Dixie Chicks.

• Saturday, July 5 – American singer-songwriter and author Rosanne Cash. The eldest daughter of country music icon Johnny Cash, Rosanne has charted twenty-one Top 40 country singles, including eleven Number Ones. She has also received a Grammy Award, and twelve other nominations.

• Saturday, July 12 – Mary Chapin Carpenter, voted "most wanted to return" after a phenomenal performance in 2013. 

• Wednesday, July 23 – Houndmouth, an up-and-coming Indie folk powerhouse.

• Friday, July 25 – The Wood Brothers and Shakey Graves for folk and "gritty, soul-drenched Americana."

• Wednesday, July 30 – Celebrated Country-Folk star Iris Dement

• Wednesday, Aug. 6 – Acclaimed soulful singer Martin Sexton.

• Saturday Aug. 9 – Hot, swinging Austin-based Hot Club of Cowtown.

• Wednesday, Aug. 13 – Grammy Award-winner Loudon Wainwright III.

• Wednesday, Aug. 20 – Soul and blues sensation Ruthie Foster.

• Saturday, Aug. 23 – Legendary "songwriter's songwriter" Chris Smither.

• Wednesday, Aug. 27 – Heart-stopping harmonies of The Wailin' Jennys.

• Saturday, Sept. 13 – Dr. John & the Nite Trippers. Six-time Grammy Award-winner and musical icon stars in the season finale.