FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- 8/15/08
Morgan Arts Council • Berkeley Springs, WV
Press Contact only: Mary Hott --304-258-2300
PHOTOS AVAILABLE

SKA BAND TO PLAY IN BERKELEY SPRINGS

BERKELEY SPRINGS, WV --- Introducing a new hybrid sound to the concerts in the park series in Berkeley Springs, the ska band Westbound Train arrives from Boston via the Fillmore in New York City on Saturday, August 23 at 5:30pm. Produced by the Morgan Arts Council, the concert's rain location is the nearby Ice House.

For the uninitiated, ska is a morphing of Jamaican pre-reggae from the 1960s through several generations of influence by blues and soul. Its contemporary form adds touches of jazz and country at least as played by the seven piece Westbound Train. "We planned it as a way to bring young musicians together with the older audience," says concert planner Gordon Macleod. The group has three recordings, a European tour and several music award nominations to its credit.

Their expert musical skills and expansive selection of instruments -- there's even a trombone -- results in an exuberant and buoyant sound matched with beautiful and emotional original lyrics that are honest explorations of daily life problems. The music with its fast tempo and a strongly accented offbeat is highly danceable.

According to band member and prime soungwriter, Obi Fernandez, the band's message is simple. "Westbound Train is going to continue doing what we do regardless of whatever obstacles may turn up. We are determined to leave our mark on the music world and we want to accomplish that together as a family." The rest of the band family is Eric Novod, Johnny DeCarlo, Thad Merritt, Rich Graiko, Gideon Blumenthal, and Josh Cohen

The MAC Summer Concerts in the Park are sponsored by Carl M. Freeman Foundation. Additional funding for the free concert is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, West Virginia Commission on the Arts and local hotel/motel tax revenues. For more information about the Morgan Arts Council and the calendar of upcoming concerts visit www.macicehouse.org or call 304-258-2300.

MAC Concerts in the Park 2008 Schedule