As we get deeper into September's event lineup and closer to season in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties, the local concert calendar is starting to heat up as well. For instance, while blues music is always popular in this area, this week will feature a Grammy winner in the genre visiting us, as well as a two-time Blues Music Award-winning artist.
You'll find notable musicians outside the blues genre locally as well, including a Nashville-based singer-songwriter who's appeared on official Spotify playlists such as Deep Dark Indie playing a rescheduled (and sold-out) show, and a jazz musician who was among the main stage performers at this year's Sarasota Jazz Festival. Here are this week's highlights. Event details are subject to change.
Don’t miss out! Top 5 things to do this weekend in Sarasota area: Sept. 6-8
50-plus things to do in September in Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice, Punta Gorda
Ticket Newsletter: Sign up to receive restaurant news and reviews plus info on things to do every Friday
Liz Longley
After an August show was postponed due to Tropical Storm Debby, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Liz Longley is set to play Fogartyville this weekend. Longley earlier this year released the EP "It's Me Again," a collection of acoustic remakes of her cornerstone songs, and she recently announced a new full-length, "New Life," set for release in 2025. Her previously released music, which includes her self-titled 2015 album, 2016's "Weightless" and 2020's "Funeral for My Past," has landed her on Spotify playlists such as Deep Dark Indie. 7 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. show Friday; Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center, 525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota; $25, $20 members, $12.50 students ages 13 and up (sold out as of press time); 941-894-6469; fogartyville.org
The Lee Boys
Miami-based group The Lee Boys, one of the biggest acts of the sacred steel music genre, will return to Big Top Brewing Company's Cock N Bull Live location on Cattlemen Road for a free concert Friday. Featuring brothers Alvin, Derrick and Keith Lee along with their nephews, the group plays in the sacred steel tradition, originating from church services featuring steel guitar for a sound that blends gospel with a hard-driving, blues-based beat. 7 p.m. Friday; Big Top Brewing Company Cock N Bull Live, 975 Cattlemen Road, Sarasota; free admission; 941-371-2939; bigtopbrewing.com
Frank Bang
Punta Gorda restaurant and venue Leroy's Southern Kitchen & Bar will welcome back bluesman Frank "Bang" Blinkal for a show this weekend. The performer started out in the blues hub of Chicago, working at Buddy Guy's Legends club before joining the blues legend's band as a touring guitarist for five years. These days, he serves as a frontman himself, having released albums such as 2016's "The Blues Don't Care" under the name Frank Bang & The Cook County Kings. 9 p.m. Saturday; Leroy's Southern Kitchen & Bar, 201 W. Marion Ave., Punta Gorda; 941-505-2489; leroyspg.com
Cedric Burnside
Downtown Sarasota comedy club McCurdy's Music Monday series, which has featured such acclaimed performers as Bill Evans and G.E. Smith in past months, will return this week with Cedric Burnside, the Grammy-winning blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, drummer and grandson of fellow acclaimed blues musician R.L. Burnside. Cedric won the Traditional Blues Album Grammy for 2021's full-length "I Be Trying," earning two other Grammy nominations along with several Blues Music Award wins and nominations in various categories. He visits McCurdy's while touring around his latest album "Hill Country Love," released earlier this year. 7 p.m. Monday; McCurdy's Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota; $44; 941-925-3869; mccurdyscomedy.com
Paul Gavin
Also taking place Monday night in downtown Sarasota will be the latest installment of Jazz Club of Sarasota's Monday Night Jazz Cabaret Series, featuring musicians in the genre performing at Florida Studio Theatre's John C. Court Cabaret. This concert will feature Tampa-based jazz drummer Paul Gavin, who along with his group Mosaic performed this year at Sarasota Jazz Festival during the same show as renowned, seven-time Grammy-winning Cuban jazz pianist Chucho Valdés. Gavin will perform with pianist John O'Leary and bassist Daniel Navarro. 6:30 p.m. doors, dinner/drinks, 7:30 p.m. show Monday; John C. Court Cabaret, 1265 First St., Sarasota; $34-$39; 941-260-9951; jazzclubsarasota.org
Zac Harmon
Bradenton restaurant and venue Cottonmouth, one of the top spots to see nationally touring blues music acts locally, will welcome Jackson, Mississippi blues musician Zac Harmon. After working as a studio musician, songwriter and producer, Harmon pursued a solo career in blues music, winning the 2004 International Blues Challenge with his band the Mid South Blues Revue and the 2006 Best New Artist Debut Blues Music Award for his album "The Blues According to Zachariah." Harmon recently won his second Blues Music Award in 2022, in the Soul Blues Album category for his 2021 full-length "Long As I Got My Guitar." 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12; Cottonmouth Southern Soul Kitchen, 1114 12th St. W., Bradenton; $15; 941-243-3735; facebook.com/cottonmouthsoul
If you would like to be considered for this story, please submit your event to tinyurl.com/SubmitEventHeraldTribune at least 10 days before our Thursday publication date.
Email entertainment reporter Jimmy Geurts at jimmy.geurts@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing .
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Top 6 concerts this week in Sarasota, Bradenton, Punta Gorda
Most Popular
Comments / 0