Spend an evening in Wake Forest with family and friends and enjoy some foot-tapping, finger snapping good times during the 2017 Concerts in the Park at E. Carroll Joyner Park, 701 Harris Road.
Diali Cissokho and Austin McCall will perform the first Concert in the Park on Sunday, Aug. 6, while the second will feature The Piney Woods Boys on Sunday, Sept. 3. Free and open to the entire community, both performances are scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m.
Diali Keba Cissokho is a renowned kora player and percussionist from the Casamance region of Senegal. Diali moved to the United States after years of performing and teaching in Senegal and in Europe. Born into a rich ancestry of Manding griots (the musician caste), Diali has been playing traditional West African music for as long as he can remember. Diali’s greatest love is the kora, the 21-stringed African harp-lute that is at the heart and soul of much West African music, while he is also a passionate singer, percussionist and dancer. Crossing cultural boundaries with a wide range of sounds, he brings a unique personal style to this respected traditional art form. Diali finds joy in playing music from the heart as he shares his own love for life, music, and peace with each audience.
Austin McCall grew up in Saxapahaw listening to and playing blues, Afro-Cuban, Jazz, and West African style music. He has studied various styles of drum set and percussion with the influential teachings of Frank Worrell, Mama Kone, and the World.
The Piney Woods Boys are Wayne and Margaret Martin, Matt Haney and Jim Collier. Together they play Southern traditional stringband music that has its roots in old-time and bluegrass. Enjoy the sounds of fiddles, guitar, autoharp and mandolins and soak up that pure Southern traditional sound. These guys bring a lifetime of love of old time country music and the musicians that played it.
The Sept. 3 concert, will be a tribute to Doc Watson. The Piney Woods Boys draw from the golden age of music that inspired Doc’s playing. Included in their set is “Cold Frosty Morn,” a tune that Doc learned from the Piney Woods Boys’ own Jim Collier, who in his youth played in a band with Doc’s father-in-law, Gaither Carlton, and brother Arnold Watson.
Before the Sept. 3 concert, the Wake Forest Recreation Advisory Board will provide an array of organized games and activities as part of the eighth annual Wake Forest Unplugged … Get Connected. This free, family-friendly event offers Wake Forest-area residents a unique opportunity to disconnect from their cell phones, computers and other electronic devices and reconnect with their community, friends and family by engaging in healthier, more active pursuits. For more information about Wake Forest Unplugged, visit wakeforestnc.gov and search “Unplugged.”
Area residents are encouraged to bring a picnic, leashed pets, a blanket or lawn chair and enjoy the music. Concert-goers are reminded that alcoholic beverages, smoking, and unleashed pets are prohibited at Joyner Park.
In the event of inclement weather, the performances may be relocated to the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre, 405 S. Brooks St. Updated concert information will be available by 3 p.m. on the day of the concert on the Town’s Facebook page and by calling the Wake Forest Weather Line at 919-435-9569. Smart phone users who have downloaded the Town’s app will receive a push notification message informing them of any schedule changes. To download the Wake Forest app, visit www.wakeforestnc.gov/app.aspx.
The Aug. 6 and Sept. 3 Concerts in the Park are presented by PineCone, the Piedmont Council of Traditional Music, and co-sponsored by the Wake Forest Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Department. These concerts are also supported with funds from the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County.
PineCone will provide assisted listening devices at both concerts.
For more information about this year’s Concerts in the Park, visit wakeforestnc.gov and search “Concerts” or visit PineCone’s website at https://pinecone.org/.
