Terrance Simien To Headline Levitt AMP Chattanooga Music Series Thursday

  • Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Terrance Simien
Terrance Simien

The Levitt AMP Chattanooga Music Series features 10 weeks of free, live music at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center featuring local, regional and national talent. This Thursday features headliner Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience.  Due to weather, the concert will be inside the Bessie Smith Cultural Center. 

Review for Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience:  

An eighth-generation Louisiana Creole, Terrance Simien taught himself to play accordion while still in his teens. As one of the most respected and accomplished artists in American roots music, Simien is internationally renowned for his grooving combination of New Orleans funk, reggae, blues and zydeco. His music was featured in several feature films, including The Princess and the Frog, The Big Easy, Exit to Eden and A Murder of Crows.

Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Experience has performed in more than 40 countries, sharing studios and stages with such artists as Paul Simon, Dave Matthews, Marcia Ball and Stevie Wonder.

In 2007, Simien and his wife Cynthia, who is also his business partner, helped establish a new GRAMMY voting category—Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album. The following year, Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience won the first GRAMMY ever awarded in that category. Simien has performed at Levitt Pavilion Arlington, Levitt Shell Memphis, Levitt Pavilion Westport and Levitt AMP Utica. 

Kelle Jolly and the Will Boyd Project will open the evening with a performance at 5:45 p.m. Kelle Jolly and Will Boyd reside in Knoxville where Will is a member of the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra and Kelle hosts a music radio show. Kelle is a member of the Tennessee Blues Society, and the couple represented Knoxville in its sister city of Muroran, Japan's Music Festival. They would later go on to record an album there. 

The Levitt AMP Chattanooga Music Series will be held on Thursday nights on the lawn of the Bessie Smith Cultural Center from Aug. 24–Oct. 26 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. This series will invigorate the lawn of the Bessie Smith Cultural Center in the historic Martin Luther King district, shining a light on the area’s renowned musical heritage.

Food for purchase will be provided by Dipped Fresh, Chew Chew Chattanooga, Chatter Box Cafe, Taqueria Jalisciense, Choo Choo Ice, and Bruster’s Ice Cream.  Beverage for purchase will be provided by Oddstory Brewing Company and Barley Chattanooga. 

There will be a wide variety of genres, some familiar and some new…including local, regional and national talent. Although every performer’s genre will vary, each artist will tie into the history and heritage of the Big Nine, continuing to enhance the MLK neighborhood as a cultural destination. See the full lineup here

The Bessie Smith Cultural Center has 70 parking spaces in its lot available. After 6 p.m., there is free street parking located along MLK Boulevard and Houston Street. After 6 p.m., there are various public parking lots near the property that are available. 

For concert schedule updates related to weather, please visit the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga's Facebook page.


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