TONIGHT: The Great Pretenders Debut Tunes @ Tapps Series

Bonney Lake's summer event series kicks off tonight at 6:30 p.m. in Allan Yorke Park with The Great Pretenders, a Tacoma-based rock-and-roll cover band that has wowed Pierce County crowds for the past 40 years.

The band plays hits from the '60s, '70s and '80s and has special ties to the Bonney Lake area.

Court Clerk Helen Williams grew up with the music of The Great Pretenders -- her stepfather Ron Smith was a founding member of the band and played lead and rhythm guitar.

An article published in the Puyallup Herald last year and featured on the band's website describes Smith's Bonney Lake home as a "musical sanctuary," where fellow musicians would gather to rock out in "Smitty's Garage."

Smith's last show was a 2012 New Year’s Eve party, held at the Buckley Eagles Club. It was the 40th anniversary of the band, which formed at a New Year's Eve party held back in 1970. Just a month later, he passed away.

Now the band has new members but kept the old flavor -- tonight's show is sure to be filled with favorite standards from what could arguably be the best decades of music in our nation's history. And they will definitely be rocking tuxedos.

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Join The Great Pretenders at Tunes @ Tapps tonight, 6:30 p.m. in Allan Yorke Park. The free music series happens every Wednesday evening through August 29. Check out the city website for performer information.