Second Annual Bridge Street LIVE! lineup to bring a variety this June

BSL!

The following is from a Visit Hot Springs news release. All photos are provided by VHS.

Bridge Street LIVE! will return to downtown's entertainment district once again every Thursday in June with five family-friendly performances set to take the stage on Hot Springs's shortest street.

This second annual free public concert series begins June 2. Each concert will run from 5-10 p.m. The schedule is as follows:

• June 2: The Party Jammers

Describing themselves as a high-energy band, jam-packed with soul, this seven-piece ensemble performs tunes from a spectrum of genres. It consists of two vocalists and one male lead vocalist, drums, bass, guitar and keyboards.

• June 9: bluesman Larry McCray

This Arkansas native plays scalding hot Southern blues rock. Now residing in Michigan, McCray counts among his influences B.B. King, Albert King and Freddie King. He has performed and recorded with Dickey Betts, Derek Trucks, Erick Clapton, The Dead, The Allman Brothers Band, Phil Lesh &a Friends, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Los Lobos and Jimmy Herring.

• June 16: country band Texas Hill

Country band Texas Hill is a new vocal trio of Craig Wayne Boyd, Adam Wakefield and Casey James. Boyd offers a voice full of gospel-tinged country smoke, Wakefield blends a rootsy bluegrass-and-Americana rasp, and James wraps it with a blue-eyed soul quality and deft blues guitar chops. Each of the individual Texas Hill members earned a national presence as contestants on TV music competitions – Boyd and Wakefield were both members of Blake Shelton’s team during different seasons of NBC’s The Voice, and James developed a following during the Simon Cowell era of FOX’s American Idol. Texas Hill's debut album, Heaven Down Here, was released in January. Sounds Like Nashville praised the project.

• June 23: The Big Dam Horns

Formed in 2012 by a group of friends from Henderson State University’s Band program, the group, which takes its name from Little Rock’s Big Dam Bridge, says it performs a high-energy horn-infused punch of jazz, blues, soul, R&B and rock n’ roll.

• June 30: DJ Kramer

Known for his energetic on-air personality, DJ Kramer has spent the better part of the last 20 years in radio, beginning his career in Hot Springs on 105.9 KLAZ. Kramer pioneered the on-air mix-show having DJs like Chaos, Big Brown, Chris K and others doing live mixes on the air. Currently Kramer can be heard in on over 20 stations across several markets stretching from across the U.S., Pacific Islands to the UK.

“We have four great bands and a DJ scheduled to bring free family-friendly block-party entertainment to Hot Springs,” Visit Hot Springs Marketing Director Bill Solleder said in the news release.

“We’ll have live music, food and drink vendors and other vendors selling T-shirts and other merchandise in a secure environment. And did I mention that the concerts are free?”

All events will be confined to an area immediately surrounding Bridge Street that does not include the west side of Central Avenue. The Hill Wheatley Plaza portion of the district will not be used, nor will the area of Malvern Avenue from Convention Boulevard to Church Street.

Bridge Street LIVE! shirts and hats will be available for purchase in the vendor

area. Other vendors include artists, crafters and other local businesses.

Fans are invited to bring their own folding chairs, but no coolers will be permitted. Dogs must be on a leash.