With the end of the semester and final exams looming on the horizon, the thoughts of the majority of students have turned to Myrtle Beach and bolting from Durham as soon as possible. For those that have elected to stay local this summer though, Duke Performances’ Music in the Gardens series can erase the memories of all those late library nights.
On June 1, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys will bring their Louisiana Cajun flavor to the Duke Gardens to kick off the annual series, which will feature seven independent rock or folk bands before concluding with two chamber music concerts.
Music in the Gardens features local bands that are starting to build national profiles. This year, the series’ geographic range has expanded—it includes performances by Lost in the Trees, a Chapel Hill-based orchestral pop group that will end the rock portion July 13, and the Parkington Sisters, a folk band from Cape Cod, Mass. that will swing by June 15, three days after performing at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn.
About 1,200 Duke students attended at least one of the concerts last year, Director of Duke Performances Aaron Greenwald said, and the series is expected to draw similar numbers this year. The series serves as an introduction to the Triangle’s vibrant indie music scene for students not already familiar with the local vibe. Most of the concertgoers in the past have been Durham natives, who are encouraged to bring their own food and drinks (or purchase them on site) and perhaps even a child or two.
“There’s a lot of people living in Durham that are in their 30s, 40s or early 50s, who have kids that grew up going to rock shows around here,” Greenwald said. “For them, at this point in their lives, to see a 10 o’clock set at Cat’s Cradle on a Tuesday night is just not possible.”
Riley and his band will perform songs inspired by last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill, among others, from their latest album Grand Isle. Their songs, which are primarily sung in Creole, are a reflection of the Cajun heritage found in Mamou, La., Riley’s hometown.
“It was just another low blow, especially after all the hurricane damage that we had to deal with,” Riley said of the oil spill. “But in our history as a Cajun people, it’s been a struggle to maintain our language and our culture, but we’re survivors. A poor household down here is one without an accordion.”
A few of the featured artists have appeared in a Duke Performances show before, including Fight the Big Bull, an eight-piece jazz collective from Richmond, Va. The band performed in Durham this past Sept. 17-19 at the Sounds of the South shows with Megafaun, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Sharon Van Etten.
Composer and guitarist Matt White, a 28-year-old graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, hesitates to ascribe the band’s sound to a particular genre. His preferred term, he said, is “Avant Americana”—a mix of all types of Southern music, including gospel, historic slave spirituals, reggae, soul, funk, blues, folk and of course, jazz.
“There’s a lot of personality,” he said. “It’s a handful to be around. On the stage, it comes across, too. Everyone has their own voice.”
Music in the Gardens performances will run every Wednesday from June 1 to July 27 in the Duke Gardens.
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