Mayor: Jennifer P. Dougherty

FROM: Amy Riley, Manager, Office of Special Events
301-228-2845
DATE: June 6, 2005

SUMMER CONCERT SERIES BEGINS WITH DEANNA BOGART
LIVE IN BAKER PARK

Celebrate Frederick is excited to announce that regional favorite blues and boogie singer Deanna Bogart will kick off the 2005 season of the Summer Concert Series in Baker Park. The Deanna Bogart Band will perform live on Sunday, June 12th at 7pm in the bandshell. A Carillon concert beginning at 6:00 PM precedes the main performance. Come early, bring a blanket and friends, and purchase snacks from the concessionaires to enjoy a relaxing evening of live entertainment.

Deanna Bogart has been described as "an extravagant entertainer," and entertain is what Bogart does best. The Maryland-based blues and boogie pianist / saxophonist combines the energy of 1930's style boogie piano blues with contemporary blues sounds emanating from places like New Orleans, Chicago and Memphis.

Bogart began to develop her unique style as a sideplayer in Cowboy Jazz, a Maryland-based group that dedicated itself to the sound of 1940’s western swing music. She joined the group at age 21 as vocalist and spent several years learning and playing the cowboy rhythms that are central to western swing. As her musical appetite grew she spent nearly two years playing R&B with the Washington D.C.-based Root Boy Slim. Bogart combined these disparate influences in her own original compositions that blend elements of boogie music with modern jazz and rock. After getting her own band off the ground in 1988, she began playing throughout the mid-Atlantic region and the West Coast, slowly building a following and a reputation. After hundreds of live shows, Bogart made her recording debut in 1989.

Bogart's release of her 2002 album Timing is Everything helped garner her five awards in one year, including Best Blues Vocalist, Best Group, Songwriter of the Year, Song of the Year, and Musician of the Year. Despite the power of her recordings, Bogart still loves performing live with her band. Bogart has appeared on stage with the likes of BB King, Brian Setzer, Buddy Guy, James Brown, Doctor John, They Might Be Giants, Spyro Gyra, Ray Charles, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and the Neville Brothers.

The press raves "a big part of what makes Deanna Bogart such a delight is her vivacious, charismatic live show" and critics celebrate how Bogart “plays the keyboard and sings like nothing you've ever heard-but should! Her vocal style is as full of vitality as her piano playing-both are sexy and deep, with unstoppable strength and unflagging energy!”

While the concert is free, the Summer Concert Series Committee encourages you to bring a canned food item in lieu of admission to support the Frederick City Community Action Agency Food Bank.

This event would not be possible without the generous financial contributions made by the following community-minded businesses: Gold Sponsors - Bechtel Foundation, Cellular One, Chase Credit Card Services, Drees Homes, Sandy Spring Bank and Weis Markets; Silver Sponsors - Adelphia, COMSTAR Federal Credit Union, Farmers & Mechanics Bank, Frederick News-Post and Spectrum Federal Credit Union; Bronze Sponsors - BB&T, CitiMortgage and the Frederick Arts Council.

For more information, please call The City of Frederick Office of Special Events at 301-600-CITY (2489) or visit www.celebratefrederick.com.