Greenwich Town Party Returns For Annual Music Fest

From GTP: For the seventh consecutive year, the Greenwich Town Party has celebrated the talents of world-renowned bands as well as local musicians. This year, seven bands with Greenwich connections and familiar names will kick off Memorial Day Weekend with live musical performances on the Town Stage at the seventh annual Greenwich Town Party (GTP), the all-day, family music festival set for Saturday, May 27 at Roger Sherman Baldwin Park. The local bands are: Charlie Scopoletti & The Truth, The Bramblemen, The Clams, TIDES, Mongolian Monkfish, Emma Friedman, Jay and Ray Jams for Fams. Rang-A-Boom will return to the GTP this year, but for the first time, they will perform on the Main Stage.

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees and Grammy Award winners Steely Dan will headline the event from the Main Stage, in addition to the soulful and powerful Grammy award-winning Alabama Shakes, New Orleans-famed Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Texas blues rocker Carolyn Wonderland.

The second stage at Roger Sherman Baldwin Park, the Town Stage, was created to celebrate the diverse and abundant talent within the Greenwich community. The Town Stage offers the opportunity for local musicians of all ages and backgrounds to have the once-in-a-lifetime chance to open for world-renowned artists.

Performing on the Town Stage just prior to Steely Dan on the Main Stage are Charlie Scopoletti & The Truth, a band that aims to touch people’s lives through music. A two-time cancer survivor whose family are Greenwich residents, Scopoletti’s music draws from the unique perspective of someone who's faced and overcome adversity. His music speaks stories of the human condition, creating a combination of inspiring songwriting and thought-provoking lyrics.

The Bramblemen, a rock band with a country twist, will play before Alabama Shakes this year. Rich Bloom, who writes, sings and plays guitar for The Bramblemen, has been a Cos Cob resident for almost 30 years. The band’s first album “Fast Train to Memphis” features ten original songs, and they are currently working on a new album of originals and covers. This is their second performance at the GTP.

The Clams bring a high-energy blues and funk sound with a focus on '70s and ‘80s classic rock hits, featuring songs by such artists as Santana, Eric Clapton, The Allman Brothers and Van Morrison. Five of the band members graduated from Greenwich High School in the early '80s and reunited in 2013.

Before Carolyn Wonderland is TIDES, whose unique blend of soulful, R&B and electronic beats will entertain this year’s crowds. The two band members, Innocent Tswamuno and Dan Song, who hail originally from Zimbabwe and South Korea respectively, met at the selective Grammy camp in 2009. Despite a dual-coast divide -- Tswamuno lives in Greenwich, while Song lived in Los Angeles -- they continued to collaborate and in 2016, they produced their first tracks as the band TIDES.

The funk, rock and soul band with Greenwich High School roots, Mongolian Monkfish, will return to the GTP local stage this year to entertain crowds with their generation-transcending tunes. Their original music runs the gamut of musical influences, genres and styles: from the classic R&B and soul of the 60s and the guitar-driven anthems of the 70s, to the electro-pop of the 80s and funk/rock flavor of the 90s and bluesy brass that resonates across the eras.

Greenwich native and young singer/songwriter Emma Friedman will take the local stage to perform a song from her first, soon-to-be-released EP, “Full Circle.” Friedman was selected as one of the winners of the Performing Songwriter Showcase at the Berklee College of Music, where she was also awarded a merit scholarship to their summer performance program.

While the kids activities are in full swing, Jay and Ray Jams for Fams, a musical duo whose local popular performances are energetic, silly and fun, will entertain families while encouraging singing and dancing. Professional musicians and fathers themselves, their inspiration came from teaching and playing music with their own children, as well as creating something that was fun for the parents too.

GTP veterans Rang-A-Boom (Boom-a-Rang backwards), led by Brunswick Academy Upper School music teacher and saxophonist Shane Kirsch, will kick off the main stage music. Described as “a funky collaboration,” the band plays a mix of original material by Kirsh as well as some covers with their own funk/blues/soul-jazz flavor.

Operatic soprano Pamela Kuhn, a Greenwich resident and host of WGCH Radio’s The Center Stage, will return to launch the day’s performances by singing “The Star Spangled Banner” at 11 a.m.

General admission and Neighbor tickets are no longer available, but sponsor tickets can still be purchased at greenwichtownparty.org. In order to purchase tickets, one must be a Greenwich resident, Greenwich student, Greenwich business owner, or employee.

Held annually on the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, the GTP brings multiple generations of Greenwich residents together to celebrate town pride and the spirit of giving through live music, local food favorites, and family fun activities.

Image Courtesy of GTP