Venture Richmond’s FREE signature summer concert series, Friday Cheers, is back on Brown’s Island for its 24th season and includes the Easy Star All-Stars, Carbon Leaf, Sam Bus, Arrested Development, Dr. Dog, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, and the Spam Allstars.

The series kicks off Friday, May 9, and continues Fridays through June 27, 6-9:30PM. All events are on Brown’s Island.

May 9, Easy Star All-Stars (w/ Trumystic)

From its inception in 1996, Easy Star Records has been at the forefront of a growing revolution in reggae music. Easy Star evolved from an idea hatched by four friends into a vibrant independent record company that has been called “…one of the most important reggae labels in America today.” [Full Watts, 9/98] Easy Star has helped to foster this renewed interest in Jamaican music, and can now be rightfully considered one of the leaders in the modern reggae industry.
In February 2003 Easy Star released the now classic Dub Side of the Moon project, which is a song-by-song reggae recreation of the classic Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon. The album has sold over 100,000 copies and spent over 200 weeks on the Billboard charts. The live version of the album has been selling out shows all over the US, Europe, South America, the Middle East and beyond since 2004.

May 16, Carbon Leaf (w/ Moossa)

Carbon Leaf is a rock band with many influences. If you need more biographical information than this, we welcome you to visit the BIOSPHERE.

May 23, Sam Bush (w/ The Whiskey Rebellion)

Though he admits a certain discomfort with the moniker “King of Newgrass,” Sam Bush has more than earned it. As cofounder and leader of the seminal progressive bluegrass band New Grass Revival through 18 years during the 1970s and ’80s, Bush may not be the only person responsible for newgrass, the wild bluegrass stepchild that features rock ‘n’ roll grooves and extended virtuosic jams, but since New Grass Revival’s dissolution in 1989, Bush has certainly been one of the most brilliant of newgrass’s many bright lights. He helped create newgrass music almost 35 years ago, but Laps in Seven is evidence that he’s still as vital a presence on the acoustic music scene as ever: still making new sounds, still rockin’ out on great songs, and still pushing the bar higher for the legions of his protégés, fans and friends.

May 30, Arrested Development (w/ Crucial Elements)

The group describes their sound as “Life Music.” A.D. respects women, and promotes family, spirituality and “male responsibility.” They are about consciousness, the earth, African self determination and love. They define themselves as hip-hop artists but also “just artists.” They are dancers, vocalists, turntablists, drummers, and everything in between. Arrested Development is and has always been a communal music community with any number of talented members on board – a family reunion but more musical.

June 6, Dr. Dog (w/ The Palominos)

Dr. Dog has been creating music in various incarnations for four years. Although Dr. Dog has as many as 20 honorary “members” who have assisted in various (mostly spiritual) capacities through the years, the core of the band consists of five musicians. The standard instrumentation includes two guitars, bass, drums, keyboard and three part harmonies. The Beach Boys, Beatles, Tom Waits, David Bowie and Neil Young are cited as influences, along with Pavement, Palace Brothers, R. Stevie Moore and Roy Wood.

June 13, Dirty Dozen Brass Band (w/ Southside Funk)

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a New Orleans, Louisiana, brass band. The ensemble was established in 1977 by Benny Jones together with members of the Tornado Brass Band. The Dirty Dozen revolutionized the New Orleans brass band style by incorporating funk and bebop into the traditional New Orleans style, and have been a major influence on the majority of New Orleans brass bands since.

June 20, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit (w/ Mozely Rose)

Jason Isbell may still be young, but he’s packed an enormous amount of musical experience into his 28 years. Growing up in a family of musicians, he absorbed everything he heard and began channeling it into guitar at age six and piano at 12. For the past six years, Isbell was one of three front men for the critically acclaimed Drive-By Truckers (DBT)—and although fans may have been shocked by his leaving the band in April, once you hear his solo debut Sirens Of The Ditch (which was co-produced by Isbell and DBT’s Patterson Hood) it will only confirm that Isbell has his own unique voice.

June 27, Spam Allstars (w/ Farm Vegas)

DJ Le Spam & the Spam Allstars blend improvisational electronic elements and turntables with Latin, funk, hip hop and dub to create a sound that is unique – an electronic descarga.