Free Summer Concert Series begins Thursday in Hayden
Rockabilly Space Force plays music featuring Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and the Comets, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and other founders of the genre. The band will perform July 13 in Sherman Square Park as part of Handshake Productions' free Summer Concert Series.
Courtesy photo
Spokane show/party/dance band Rock Candy keeps audiences dancing and rockin' to tunes from Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars to Boston, Styx and AC/DC. Rock Candy will play in Sherman Square Park as part of the Handshake Productions free Summer Concert Series on July 20.
The free music that entices us to kick off our shoes and dance barefoot in North Idaho's grassy parks has been adding that special something to our summers for three decades.
"I can remember very clearly getting started in 1992," Chris Guggemos, owner of Handshake Productions, said Tuesday.
Guggemos, then-manager of the Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association Suzanne Kaderka and Don Johnston, who was in charge of Sherman Square Park at that time, put the first season together that summer.
"I’ve just been running with it since," Guggemos said. "I couldn’t have done it without them those first couple years."
Following a year that was unpredictable and canceled by coronavirus, Guggemos was pleased to announce that the lineup of the Handshake Productions free Summer Concert Series will feature 25 performances, including five new bands that have never played the series.
“It will be fun,” he said. "The business was good last year. I did have to change some dates and change some bands, but I didn't lose any work as far as the concert series."
A diverse selection of musicians and bands will take the stages this year, from party bands and Celtic style to acoustic, bluegrass, rockabilly and covers.
"There's one band, What About Bob. Two members of that band were in bands that played for me that first year in 1992," Guggemos said. "Bones Kasun and Tom Kuntz, they were playing in different bands for me in 1992. Here I am 30 years later, still working with some of the same people."
The opening show of the summer will be from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on July 1, in McIntire Family Park, 8939 N. Government Way, Hayden. The Hankers country rock band will light up the stage. The Hayden concerts will continue through the summer from 6 to 8:30 p.m., Thursdays.
The first downtown Coeur d'Alene concert is July 6. These performances will be from 6 to 8:30 p.m., Tuesdays, in Sherman Square Park, 316 Sherman Ave. Bad weather may move concerts indoors to The Coeur d’Alene Resort Plaza Shops.
The first show for the Coeur d'Alene City Park concert series will feature the Kelly Hughes Band from 1 to 4 p.m. on July 11. Performances will continue at the same time each Sunday through the summer.
"People enjoy the family aspect of it," Guggemos said. "They like the park atmosphere."
So bring a chair, bring a blanket, bring a friend. And don't forget your dancing feet!
Visit handshakeproductions.net for details.
