The Power of
free live music
The Allegany Arts Council is pleased to announce the lineup for the 2023 Levitt AMP Cumberland Music Series which will take place on Thursday evenings from June 1-August 3, 2023, on the Festival Grounds of Canal Place.
The Levitt AMP Cumberland Music Series is supported in part by the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, which partners with towns and cities across America to activate underused public spaces through the power of free live music, creating welcoming, inclusive destinations. Presenting a broad array of music genres and cultural programming, Levitt venues and concert sites are community anchors where families, friends and neighbors of all ages and backgrounds come together. Learn more at levitt.org.
In April 2022, the Allegany Arts Council partnered with Allegany County, the Mountain Side of Maryland and Frostburg State University to develop a grant for a $90,000 Levitt Foundation matching award. The Levitt AMP program provides funding to small and mid-sized communities looking to activate underutilized public spaces, to develop community pride and to foster economic growth through the arts. In August 2022, we were named as one of 36 nationwide finalists, and in September, members of our community came out in force to vote for Cumberland as a next AMP site, elevating us to 8th in the rankings. In November, we were named as one of 15 U.S. cities to receive this prestigious funding, which will include 10 weekly concerts in 2023, 2024 and 2025, joining more than 650 Levitt AMP concerts across the nation.
The Levitt AMP funding guidelines require a diverse and broad range of artistic performances which stretch communities and pay all participating performers, both with artist fees and music royalties. In this year's lineup, attendees will see everything from Dixieland jazz to a world guitar ensemble, to a classic soul singer. Our performers will be representative of communities across the U.S. and feature a diverse array of performers and performances.
All concerts are free to the public and all are invited to attend. Levitt AMP performances are family-friendly and attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, picnic blankets, food and beverages. There is absolutely no cost to you to participate, although donations will be accepted.
All concerts in the series begin at 6:30PM with doors opening at 5:30PM. We ask that people do not arrive earlier than 5:30 as our sound and production teams will be making final adjustments.
The Levitt Foundation has specific guidelines for talent in its Levitt AMP program, which require all participating performers to be professional artists, play, perform and sell original music, and have an established internet and social media presence. You can check out our performers on streaming services like Spotify and others to learn more and to hear sneak peeks of their performance styles.
A goal of the Levitt Foundation funding is to introduce communities to a wide range of genres and experiences. It is a fun way to get to know new styles of music and artists.
Yes! Children and families are encouraged, and so is dancing, toe-tapping and singing along. We promise many of the performers will have you on your feet!
In 2023, it is unlikely food and beverage will be on-hand, which is why we encourage you to consider your own snacks and beverages as part of your concert plan. In years 2024 and 2025, we will consider additions to the series to include more activities, food and beverage providers, etc.
All of the 2023 concerts will take place on the Festival Grounds of Canal Place, which is a wide open lawn with no affixed seating. Parking is available in the Canal Place parking lot, located in front of the train depot building, or street parking may be found in and around downtown Cumberland. Paid garage spaces are available at the City Center Parking Garage.
You can also access the concert location on foot from Washington Street, from the C & O Towpath, or from Industrial Boulevard, or on bike from the Great Allegheny Passage.
Send us a quick note to be added to the e-mail list - dlitman@alleganyarts.org. Subject: Levitt.
Donations may be made below or by stopping by the Allegany Arts Council anytime during business hours. If your business is interested in becoming a sponsor of our 2024 or 2025 series, contact Julie Westendorff, Executive Director, at jwestendorff@alleganyarts.org.
Your donations help support expenses related to the concert series which includes artist fees, production and marketing costs, advertising, hospitality and rental equipment for performers.
The Levitt AMP Cumberland Music Series is pleased to kick off the 2023 program with Atlanta, GA-based, Blair Crimmins & The Hookers!
With a nod to ragtime and 1920’s-style Dixieland jazz, Blair Crimmins’ high-energy performances dazzle. He has opened for Mumford & Sons and Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and has several studio albums.
The Levitt AMP Cumberland Music Series is pleased to announce its next installment with Nashville, TN-based, Sugar Lime Blue!
Redefining Americana with influence by jazz, country and rock, this jam band has a strong presence at national festivals and has played with mainstays Umphreys McGee, Moe, Ween and Buddy Guy. With four studio albums and more than a decade touring, Sugar Lime Blue will take you on a journey.
The Levitt AMP Cumberland Music Series is pleased to announce its next concert with New Orleans-based, Shamarr Allen & The Underdawgs!
Shamarr Allen is the definition of New Orleans! Hailing from the Lower 9th Ward, Allen has been influenced by jazz, hip-hop, rock, funk rhythms, blues and country. He is the lead vocalist and trumpeter of the band and has collaborated with Willie Nelson, Patti LaBelle, Harry Connick, Jr. and Lenny Kravitz. His high-energy performances leave audiences on their feet and dancing! He is a frequent performer on Levitt AMP and Pavilion stages around the U.S.
The Levitt AMP Cumberland Music Series is pleased to announce its next concert with Los Angeles, CA-based, Incendio!
The acclaimed Los-Angeles-based group INCENDIO performs original “world guitar” compositions, featuring incredible guitar-playing across a variety of genres: latin, middle-eastern, and celtic grooves. Formed in 1999, the group has 11 CD’s and 2 DVD’s available internationally, variously hitting the Billboard, CMJ, NAV, and Amazon.com charts. Averaging over 150 shows a year since 2000 (until the COVID shutdown), INCENDIO’s live performance is an explosive improvisatory journey, garnering tremendous audience response in such diverse venues as the Strawberry Music Festival in Yosemite, the Sundance Film Festival, National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, California World Festival, the national Levitt Pavilions and many more across the U.S.
Their eleventh international release, SUMMONING THE MUSE, came out in June 2019. Their previous release, June 2013’s “The Shape of Dreams”, stayed at or near the top of the Amazon flamenco and world charts for the remainder of that year. They have reached over 100 million spins on streaming radio and have over 10,000 facebook likes. Their music can be heard on Pandora, Spotify, and other streaming outlets. Incendio is Jim Stubblefield (guitar), JP Durand (guitar, guitar synth), Liza Carbe (bass, guitar) and Tim Curle
The Levitt AMP Cumberland Music Series is pleased to announce its next concert with Binghamton, New York-based, Driftwood!
Anyone familiar with the Americana music scene knows this upstate New York-based band has cut their teeth on a killer live show. With a never-ending tour schedule and a steady buzz, they have built a very solid underground fan base. “The game has been live shows and nose to the ground since the beginning,” says guitarist/songwriter Dan Forsyth.
As well as a devout following and a sizable discography, the band’s hard work has also been a huge part of the inspiration for their music. The songs and arrangements have grown out of time spent on the road, growing closer, learning with and from each other and weathering the ups and downs of the journey together.
The Levitt AMP Cumberland Music Series is pleased to welcome singer/songwriter Eli Paperboy Reed!
Eli Paperboy Reed believes country and soul music are two parts of the same stream. Moving to Clarksdale, MS, after high school, he immersed himself in the juke joint culture of the Delta, and the south side of Chicago, where he played piano and organ in the church of famed gospel singer Mitty Collier in his twenties. In 2008, Reed returned to the Boston area and began turning heads with a series of studio albums that earned widespread critical acclaim, with NPR hailing his music as “inspired, raw and powerful” and Uncut lauding its “urgent, electric energy.” The records landed Reed multiple major label deals, scores of song placements in film and television, and festival dates around the world as he established himself as one of the most compelling and consistent soul men of his time.
The Levitt AMP Cumberland Music Series is pleased to welcome veteran performers, Special EFX featuring Chieli Minucci!
Guitarist, composer, producer, and arranger Chieli Minucci is longtime leader of the Grammy-nominated jazz-fusion group SPECIAL EFX featuring Chieli Minucci, a major force on the jazz and world music scene for 40 years.
Chieli has just released 2 brand new projects – the solo, acoustic “Someone’s Singing”, as well as his 40th anniversary Special EFX CD, “Twenty Twenty 2” (both ChieliMusic). Chieli & Special EFX’s previous release saw title track, “Deep as the Night”, win Billboard Magazine’s 2018 top honors, best-song-of-the-year.
Besides writing and performing his own music, Chieli shares his guitar brilliance throughout the entertainment world. He has recorded and performed with many top artists, such as Celine Dion, Lou Reed, Lionel Richie, Jennifer Lopez, Jewel, Mark Anthony, Michael Bolton, Rupert Holmes, Eartha Kitt, Eddie Fisher, Anastasia, as well as contemporary jazz artists Kirk Whalum, Maysa, Jeff Lorber, Norman Brown, Bernie Williams, Marion Meadows, Lao Tizer, Mindi Abair, Rick Braun, Gerald Veasley, Omar Hakim, and many others. Although renowned in the jazz and pop world, Chieli is also a gifted television and film composer. He has won 3 Emmy Awards and been nominated 10 times for his eclectic compositional work. His music can also be heard on the soundtracks of the films No Country for Old Men, Bowfinger, Legally Blonde, Panic, and others. Chieli's original scoring work can be heard in live stage productions of Peter Pan, Dora the Explorer, Thomas the Tank Engine, and others.
The Levitt AMP Cumberland Music Series is pleased to welcome Nashville-based, Six One Five Collective!
The Six One Five Collective is a collaborative effort and creative brainstorm of four artists steeped in the musical mix of country, Americana, folk, and pop. Their sound is an undeniable wall of distinctive harmonies, vocal prowess, and solo voices reminiscent of those great American bands that have come before them: Fleetwood Mac, Little Big Town, etc. They have toured the world opening for John Legend, India Arie, John Hiatt, Kenny Chesney, and others. They have played the Grand Ole Opry stage, C2C, and have toured extensively overseas. They are nationally awarded artists and songwriters with three Grammy nominations and an IBMA Song of the Year honor. They have written for household names like George Strait, Lee Brice, Marc Broussard, Sister Hazel, and several TV shows such as Nashville, Parenthood, and Virgin River.
The Levitt AMP Cumberland Music Series is pleased to welcome New York-based Morgan James!
The Wall Street Journal heralded soul singer Morgan James as "the most promising young vocalist to come along so far this century." James grew up listening to everyone from Joni Mitchell to Paul Simon to Prince to Aretha Franklin, cultivating an insatiable love for strong songwriters. After graduating from The Juilliard School with a classical music degree, and performing in the original companies of five Broadway productions, James began writing and recording her own music. Her latest full album, “Memphis Magnetic,” is the culmination of a life-long love affair with music. The album was recorded live to analog tape in Memphis Tennessee, and is an original soul album packed with emotion.
The Levitt AMP Cumberland Music Series is pleased to welcome New York-based Jessica Lynn!
Jessica Lynn is being hailed by press around the world as a rocket force and is quickly becoming a household name. A unique face and voice in modern music, she has been seen by millions on the road and in her three full-length nationwide concert television specials. Jessica’s powerful voice and fierce stage presence showcase the multi-faceted singer/songwriter’s instrumental talents playing piano, guitar, harmonica, and the drums. In five years of international touring, Jessica has shared stages with some of the most recognizable names in country and rock music such as Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Richard Marx, Montgomery Gentry, Lonestar, The Allman Betts Band, Phil Vassar, Jo Dee Messina, ZZ Top, and the “Queen of Country” herself, Loretta Lynn.
