LIVERPOOL — For the past two summers, the Liverpool Is The Place Committee was forced to cancel its summer concert series at Johnson Park due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, after local governments lifted bans on public gatherings, the committee managed to stage four guitar-oriented concerts in late July and August.

This year, a full 22-concert series will open at 7 p.m. Monday, June 6, with the FabCats, and will continue every Monday and Wednesday through Aug. 17.

On Wednesday, June 8, Syracuse Area Music Awards Hall of Famer Joe Whiting will impress the park’s audience with his blend of roots rock, blues, country and soul music.

Many Liverpool-area musicians will be featured in several of the concerts. The Ron Spencer Band, led by the Galeville guitarist, will perform classic American blues-roots music and original compositions on June 13. The Liverpool Community Concert band will present a program of patriotic tunes on July 4.

On July 6, drummer Jan Fetterly pounds out the backbeat for The Cobblerockers as they get the park hoppin’ to the tune of rock ’n’ roll oldies.

The Stan Colella Orchestra, featuring Liverpool-bred trumpeter Rob Robson, will perform swing standards on July 18. Liverpool lawyer Ralph Coleman plays lead guitar for the Lunch Ladies as the band performs tasty blues and roots rock on Aug. 1.

The Mario DeSantis Orchestra will celebrate its 75th anniversary here on Aug. 15 and will spotlight vocalist Keith Condon who grew up here on Fourth Street, classical singer Nick Blaney, who is a member of the local school board, and saxophonist/arranger Joe Riposo, who taught at Liverpool schools for decades.

On Aug. 17, the final day of this 36th annual series the park audience will enjoy an acoustic double bill with Two Feet Short and Liverpool’s own Power of Two, husband-and-wife guitarists Patrick and Gwen McCarroll.

Sponsors sought

Since 1985 when the park’s amphitheater was constructed, the Liverpool Is The Place Committee has staged more than 800 concerts there. The committee, now chaired by Gwen McCarroll, sells popcorn, soda and coffee at the concerts which routinely draw more than 400 music lovers.

Businesses interested in sponsoring a concert this year should contact LITP Treasurer Colleen Gunnip at [email protected] or 315-652-5029.

“Without the financial support of the local businesses in our community this concert series would not be possible,” Gunnip said. The LITP Committee is a sub-committee of the Greater Liverpool Chamber of Commerce.

The 2022 concert series is generously supported by a grant administered by CNY Arts and funded by the New York State Council on the Arts to foster the continuing development of local cultural programs.

36th Annual Liverpool Is The Place Concert Series