Belleayre Music Festival Announces 2016 Season

After taking a year off to re-organize following financial troubles, the Belleayre Music Festival is back in business this summer, although now with some significant changes. The festival has downsized its schedule to six concerts spread out between July 2 and September 3. And while the festival performances had previously been held under a 700-plus capacity tent on the lawn of the Belleayre Ski Center in Highmount, this summer the concerts are moving indoors to the ski center’s intimate Discovery Lodge with a capacity of about 400 concert-goers.

Here’s the schedule of concerts for the 2016 Belleayre Music Festival:

SATURDAY, JULY 2, 8pm
THE YARDBIRDS
With Connor Kennedy & Minstrel
$28, $38 & $48
Led by drummer and founding member Jim McCarty, the British Invasion blues-rockers feature renowned guitarist Johnny A (Peter Wolf, Bobby Whitlock), bassist Kenny Aaronson (Bob Dylan, Billy Idol), singer-blues harpist-percussionist Myke Scavone (Ram Jam & Doughboys) and guitarist/singer John Idan playing those classic Yardbirds hits, including “For Your Love,” “I’m a Man” and “Heart Full of Soul.”

SATURDAY, JULY 9, 8pm
THE PAUL GREEN ROCK ACADEMY ALL-STARS WITH ED MANN
$13 & $23
Academy students will showcase skills beyond their years in performing the intricate compositions Frank Zappa joined by Zappa’s long-time percussionist Ed Mann, who appeared on over 30 of Zappa’s albums.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 8pm
PEE WEE ELLIS
With Billy Harper
$28, $38 & $48
A jazz concert featuring a double-bill of the genre’s all-time great saxophonists. An important alumnus of Van Morrison and James Brown’s bands, Ellis has long been known for his funky improvisation. Harper has played with a who’s who of jazz and tours extensively with his quintet.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 8pm
ANDERSON EAST
With Aubrie Sellers
$28, $38 & $48
A pair of rapidly rising Nashville stars take over Belleayre for a red-hot country concert. In addition to his acclaimed debut album Delilah, East is featured on the country concept album Southern Family alongside superstars Zac Brown, Jamey Johnson, Chris Stapleton and others. Sellers boasts a stellar musical heritage as the daughter of superstar Lee Ann Womack and singer-songwriter Jason Sellers, and she’s rapidly carving her own niche with a sound she calls “garage country.”

SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 8pm
CRISTINA FONTANELLI & HER FABULOUS FRIENDS
$38
Award-winning singer/PBS-TV and CBS-TV host, Fontanelli and her world-class guests – including baritone Ricardo Rivera – perform classic Broadway and opera.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 7pm
JON CLEARY & THE ABSOLUTE MONSTER GENTLEMEN
With Sleepy Man and Simi Stone
$28, $38 & $48
It’s a triple-bill finale headlined by the Grammy Award-winning New Orleans piano master. With the blazing bluegrass of the teenage Mizzone brothers and Woodstock’s own soul-rock vocalist-multi-instrumentalist.