Stranahan’s Free Summer Concert Series 2024

Music at the mountain returns this summer with the Free Stranahan’s Concert Series in Steamboat Square. There’s no better backdrop for live music than the mountains of Steamboat Springs and this summer Stranahan’s will bring six concerts to the Steamboat Stage – the perfect way to spend time with friends and family!

Local’s Tip: Concerts are start at 5:30pm with an opener and headliners take the stage at 7:00pm. Come early to snag a seat or bring your own chair!

SWEET LILLIES’

Opener (5:30pm): Apple Pie Order
Four-piece all-female string band playing Americana, Country, and Rock classics

Headliner (7:00pm) Sweet Lillies’
The Sweet Lillies’ music is, first and foremost, heartfelt and collaborative. Those defining traits are given life by the quartet of musicians who make up the Lillies’. Together they have combined their individual strengths to deliver powerful narratives of life in song. With their lineup of guitar, viola, upright bass, drums and ethereal vocal harmonies that float like a dream, the Sweet Lillies’ music has a hard hitting original flavor with a forward-looking eye. They have incorporated all of their cumulative life-experiences into their music, song-writing, and artistry, crafting an uncommonly-beautiful style they have christened “String-Americana” – a nod to the band’s all encompassing musical tastes and willingness to experiment with genres ranging from folk and rock all the way to hip-hop.

JOHN PAPA GROS

Opener (5:30pm): Eric Delaney’s Taste Test
Rock n’ Roll Groove Jams

Headliner (7:00pm): John Papa Gros
“Sharing New Orleans with the world is my calling,” says pianist and organist John “Papa” Gros (pronounced grow). For over three decades, Gros has brought his city’s celebratory culture to listeners around the globe. Gros mixes all the sounds of New Orleans – funk, trad jazz, brass band, blues – and makes it his own signature gumbo. His new solo album Central City shows Gros capturing New Orleans’ distinct feel-good charm with help from some of its’ most renowned players.

BOOMBOX

Opener (5:30pm): DJ Aloha Pants
Electronic Dance Music

Headliner (7:00pm) BoomBox
Electronic rock duo BoomBox, consisting of brothers Zion Rock Godchaux and Kinsman MacKay bring heavy organic grooves and soulful beats that penetrate through the dancefloor, and on to all facets of the human experience. BoomBox has a signature type of groove rooted in a back-beat driven style, wrapped around smooth vocals and original lyrics. BoomBox songs also pull from a wide range of genres to cultivate a fusion of music that appeals to a broad audience. “The sound is about pulling from anything that you’d hear coming out of a boombox, and distilling into a distinctive style,” explains Godchaux. It’s this formula that gives BoomBox the unique ability to connect with any crowd regardless of age or origin

PINK TALKING FISH

Opener (5:30pm): JR Adams Band
Americana, Rock and Roll, Blues, and original music

Headliner (7:00pm): Pink Talking Fish
Pink Talking Fish is a Hybrid Tribute Fusion Act that takes the music from three of the world’s most beloved bands and creates a special treat for fans of the music.
Pink Floyd, The Talking Heads and Phish are all more than just bands…they are Phenomenon’s. Their creations have artistically inspired people and their mind-blowing live performances have brought people together to form a special sense of community around the love for their favorite band.

Although the music from each act is different, Pink Talking Fish has discovered that fusing the material together creates an amazing story. The epic emotion of Pink Floyd… The funky, danceable layerings of The Talking Heads… The multitude of styles, unique compositional structures and pure fun of Phish… to merge these three into one gives music lovers a special experience.

DIGGIN DIRT

Opener (5:30pm): Colony Funk
Funk, soul, blues, revival R&B supergroup with influences from every facet of the musical spectrum for a truly unique and one of a kind musical experience.
They affectionately call their style “Indie Core Alt Country Pop,” a tribute to their versatility.

Headliner (7:00pm): Diggin Dirt
From behind the redwood curtain of Humboldt County, California, the seven piece funk-soul band Diggin Dirt has carved out a niche as a live party not to be missed. Shoveling their own path, Diggin Dirt has seen sustained growth over the past few years, with multiple national tours and festival stops at Jam Cruise, High Sierra, Same Same but Different, Live Oak, Cascade Equinox, Joshua Tree Music Festival and many more.

Their infectious sound is fueled by blazing horns, searing guitars and a relentlessly driving rhythm section, and tying it all together is the band’s frontman who launches the ensemble into rarefied air with his pipes, charisma and natural-born soul. With flashes of James Brown or Sly and the Family Stone, Otis Redding or Tower of Power, the band’s sound is both familiar and yet refreshingly original, layering psychedelic rock, Motown soul, afrobeat and even reggae atop a thick foundation of late-60s inspired funk.

MAMA MAGNOLIA

Opener (5:30pm): Bella Acre Band
They affectionately call their style “Indie Core Alt Country Pop,” a tribute to their versatility.

Headliner (7:00pm): Mama Magnolia
For the bicoastal six-piece Mama Magnolia—vocalist Megan Letts, saxophonist Alex Cazet, guitarist Thomas Jennings, drummer Jackson Hillmer, trumpeter Carrie McCune, and bassist Zach Jackson—the process of making their first full-length Dear Irvington was an essential remedy amidst distress. Following a successfully overfunded Kickstarter campaign, Dear Irvington was a comfort for Mama Magnolia to lean into amidst a continually harrowing time, while also turning tumultuous, personal stories into ostensibly groovy jaunts. They enlisted producer Robert Ellis and former White Denim drummer and engineer Josh Block to help funnel their ideas and further animate their intricate, sometimes nerdy, sophisticated rock compositions. There’s no reservation in diving into the deep end of depression (“Grey”), unpacking the betrayal of a loved one (“Each Time You Lie”), or expressing frustration with another who won’t take a chance on a relationship (“Try Me”). Dear Irvington focuses on empathetic missives, highlighting Mama Magnolia’s emotional maturation to explore complex emotions rather than run away from them.

For more info about Steamboat Springs, CO check out these other great resources:

• How To Pack For Your Steamboat Ski Vacation
• Child Care & Babysitting Options in Steamboat
• Top 15 Restaurants in Steamboat Springs