JP Blues Band to Kick Off Fall Concerts at O'Neal Plaza

The CAC will showcase the JP Blues Band, on Saturday, Sept. 7; Tommy Talton on Saturday, Sept. 14; and swing and big band classics performed by Atlanta Seventeen on Saturday, Sept. 21. All evening performances begin at 7 p.m. These special outdoor events are free and open to the general public. Listeners are reminded to bring their own chairs.

On the first Saturday of the fall series, Sept. 7, the Cultural Arts Council features JP Blues Band. John Pagano started playing guitar when he was 8-years-old. His passion and talent for guitar was recognized by legendary bluesman, Sam "Bluzman" Taylor. Taylor took JP under his wing and began to school him on the blues. Under his watchful eye, JP began to flourish as a musician and a bluesman. JP has had the pleasure of performing with such legendary artists as Michael Falzarano of Hot Tuna, Chris Beard, Debbie Davies, Pete Sears of Jefferson Starship, Buddy Cage of New Riders, Caroline Aiken, Geoff Ackerson, Jon Paris, Derek Trucks, Johnny Winter, Robben Ford, Pat Adkins of Gary US Bonds, Joe Bonamassa, and Cactus. The JP BLUES BAND brings soul searing guitar for the first time to O’Neal Plaza.

The second Saturday, Sept. 14, Tommy Talton entertains listeners with his classic rock. A founding member of Capricorn Records group Cowboy. Tommy Taltonwas also the guitarist on Gregg Allman's "Laid Back" album. While in Macon, GA through most of the 70s, Tommy Talton was a studio musician recording with artists such as Gregg Allman, The Allman Brothers Band, Bonnie Bramlett, Martin Mull, Mountain, Dickey Betts, Clarence Carter, Alex and Livingston Taylor, Arthur Conley of Sweet Soul Music fame, country legend Kitty Wells. He has toured extensively throughout the U.S. with both Cowboy and Gregg Allman, including a performance at Carnegie Hall. Tommy Talton has recently released his third album, Let’s Get Outta Here. Always known as a gifted wordsmith and creator of timeless melodies, Tommy Talton has reached deep within to create a classic Southern Rock masterpiece. The new release features outstanding musicians like Chuck Leavell, Paul Hornsby, Rick Hirsch, Scott Boyer, Bill Stewart, Kelvin Holly, Brandon Peeples, David Keith and Tony Giordano. The CAC is delighted to present Southern Rock legend, Tommy Talton, for the first time this year on O’Neal Plaza.

On the third and final Saturday concert of the 2013 Fall Concerts on the Plaza series produced by the Cultural Arts Council, Sept. 21, Atlanta Seventeen, widely recognized as one of the metro Atlanta area’s finest big band groups, will take listeners on a musical excursion by recreating the smooth and stylized arrangements from the name bands of yesteryear. The band is a unique group of business and professional executives, successful in their individual vocations by day, who perform as talented musicians by night. Atlanta Seventeen, organized as a non-profit corporation, has donated a substantial portion of the proceeds of many appearances since the year 1960 to more than 50 worthy local and national organizations and foundations. Big band enthusiasts of all ages will identify with the kind of excitement generated only by precision playing. The blended reeds, strong but subtle brass and pulsating rhythm section speak with a cohesion and unity rarely heard these days. Atlanta Seventeen has been featured in the ballrooms of the Hyatt Regency, Ritz-Carlton, Westin Lenox, Hyatt Ravinia, Marriott and other fine hotels; at country clubs such as the Piedmont Driving Club, Atlanta Country Club, Cherokee Towne Club, Atlanta Athletic Club; and at special events and conventions held at the Fox Theatre, World Congress Center and the Omni. The band has performed throughout the Southeast including at Asheville's renowned Grove Park Inn. In presenting their fine music, the group has even discovered a new generation of fans in high schools and colleges avidly following their parents in appreciating the big band sound, such as the Georgia Tech Swing Dance Association. 

The Cultural Arts Council of Douglasville/Douglas County is supported by its membership, sponsors, the City of Douglasville, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners, and the Georgia Council for the Arts through appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. Georgia Council for the Arts also receives support from its partner agency, the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Cultural Arts Center of Douglasville/Douglas County is located at 8652 Campbellton Street in historic downtown Douglasville, Georgia, about 20 miles west Atlanta and just off I-20 (exit 36). Hours of operation are Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. All three free spring concerts are held at the O’Neal

Plaza in historic downtown Douglasville. Please contact the Cultural Arts Council at 770-949-2787 or visit our website, www.artsdouglas.org, for further information or directions to the concert venue.

Note: These are outdoor concerts; in case of inclement weather, cancellations will be posted on the CAC website, Facebook page & telephone.