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Community Corner

Prescott Park Arts Festival's Showcase Festival Hosts Impressive Line-up on July 13

Portsmouth, NH – Prescott Park Arts Festival will host the Showcase Music Festival in Portsmouth’s Prescott Park on Saturday, July 13 starting at 1 pm. The Showcase Festival includes a full roster of exceptional performers including Melissa Ferrick, Vishten, The Defibulators, and Dan Walker on the FairPoint Communications MainStage.

Melissa Ferrick is a music icon with a voice that's instantly familiar and comfortable. Her impressive career longevity as a predominantly independent artist is virtually unheard of and speaks to her talent and the world she has built for herself. There is her expansive body of work, mapped out over the sixteen albums that comprise her career to date. Her most recent studio release, Still Right Here, serves as a definitive reminder that she is back and better than ever. Simply put, her music will inspire with a voice burnished by breakdowns and breakthroughs, refined over twenty years.

“Ferrick gave a stunning performance with Ani DiFranco last year, so her return was simply a must,” explains executive director Ben Anderson. “The lineup as a whole is an exceptionally talented group, and there’s a reason they were selected to perform as part of the Showcase Festival. With the exception of local Dan Walker, these groups hail from all over North America, and it’s high time their music is “showcased” to the Seacoast community.”

It’s no question that Vishten is ready to take Prescott Park by storm. To start, this Francophone trip just won the East Coast Music Awards Recording of the Year Award. The group dazzles audiences with their fiery blend of traditional French songs and original instrumentals that fuse Celtic and Acadian genres with a modern sensibility of rock influence. Hailing from Prince Edward Island, Vishten is comprised of twin sisters Emmanuelle and Pastelle LeBlanc join musical forces with Pascal Miousse, and form a sophisticated sonic signature combining tight sibling harmonies, layered foot percussion, viruoso acoustic and electric instrumentation.

The Defibulators promise to delight audiences, having emerged as one of the most engaging live acts from the thriving roots scene in Brooklyn, NY; melding bluegrass, rockabilly, classic country, and punk, into their own eclectic indie honky-tonk sound. This band jump-started new life into vintage country music and deliver a unique sound that's anything but old-timey. Their sonic buckshot is a mix of sawing fiddle, fat telecaster twang, howling harmonica, a driving rhythm section of upright bass, drums, and washboard, heavy vocal harmonies, and surreal lyrics that spin big-rig tales of deception, debauchery, depleted bank accounts, domestic dilemmas, fanaticism, vintage firearms, biological anomalies, airline intoxication, and animal ennui.

Included in this line up, is Dan Walker, a local favorite who is a prominent part of the Seacoast’s musical community. Spotlight Magazine said it best: "Dan Walker is quite simply one of the finest singer/songwriters on the Seacoast. He's got a voice that belongs smack-dab in the middle of popular radio's programming. A furious picker and relentless strummer with a knack of turning the body of his acoustic guitar into a glorified hand-drum, Walker is the real deal."

The Showcase Festival is a part of a summer line up of genre based music festivals that feature artists throughout the day including the Folk Festival (July 26), Kid’s Festival (July 20), the Country and Rib Fest (August 3), and Roots and Rhythm (August 10).
 
The Festival’s renowned River House Restaurant Concert Series also offers a full range of concerts including acts like Mary Chapin Carpenter & Marc Cohn (July 24), Judy Collins (August 7), The Head and the Heart (July 31), Justin Townes Earle (July 10), Carolina Chocolate Drops (July 17), Bruce Cockburn (September 1) and more. Visit the Festival’s website, www.prescottpark.org, for a full schedule and details.
 
Tables on the Federal Savings Bank VIP Seating Deck are available for reservations through Prescott Park’s website, in addition to the blanket reservations in front of the FairPoint Communications MainStage. Special discount pricing is available for Festival members.
 
In the event that the Festival’s limited seating areas are sold out for the Showcase Festival, all are encouraged and welcomed to bring blankets and chairs to the Park to enjoy the show. As with all of Prescott Park Arts Festival’s family-friendly events, the Music Festivals in Prescott Park are free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $5-$8 at the gate.
 
Prescott Park Arts Festival, a non-profit organization, is the Seacoast’s premier outdoor performing arts venue, offering a uniquely accessible experience of high quality live theater and music -- no fixed admissions fees -- in an idyllic natural setting. For more information contact Ben Anderson at (603)-436-2848 or info@prescottpark.org.

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