Friday, July 13, 2007
“Wednesdays on the Gorge” Welcomes Pure Prairie League!
Authors of “Amie,” “Let Me Love You Tonight” Hit Artpark July 25!
(Lewiston, NY) Pure Prairie League, the pioneering country-rockers best known by the smash hits “Amie” and “Let Me Love You Tonight,” are the featured performers of Artpark’s “Wednesdays on the Gorge” free outdoor concert series on July 25. Presented by HSBC Bank and HSBC Mortgage Corporation, all “Wednesdays on the Gorge” events begin at 6:30pm and feature an array of interactive artistic workshops for children. The opening act is Jason Bravo.
Pure Prairie League was formed in Columbus, Ohio in 1969 by singer/songwriter/guitarist Craig Fuller, singer/guitarist George Powell, bass player Jim Lanham, and drummer Tom McGrail, who gave the band its name, which was the name of a women's temperance group in the 1939 Errol Flynn movie Dodge City. The band released its self-titled debut album in March 1972 with a cover depicting a Western character named Luke, an illustration drawn by famed naturalist painter Norman Rockwell that had first appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post in 1927. Luke would turn up on all the band's subsequent album covers, giving them a distinctive visual conception.
However, it was Pure Prairie League’s second album, Bustin’ Out, and the smash hit single “Amie” that jettisoned the band into full-fledged country-rock stars. By 1975, PPL had added leader/bassist Mike Reilly and its third record, Two Lane Highway, featured collaborations with country stars Emmylou Harris, Chet Atkins and Johnny Gimble, and provided the band with another Top-40 entry. Fourteen-time Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Vince Gill joined soon after, and the band enjoyed their biggest success with Firin' Up’s (1978) first single "Let Me Love You Tonight," which reached No. 7 on the Pop Charts and No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary Charts.
Although the band briefly dissolved in 1987 following the bankruptcy of its record label (Casablanca) and Gill’s departure, Fuller and Reilly began to fulfill their vision of PPL's return in the late 1990s, and in 2005 released its first new album in 24 years. Joining forces with them today are some of the top musicians available: Curtis Wright, a singer-songwriter-guitarist who has written and performed with many of today's top country acts, Rick Schell, co-founder of country music upstarts Pinmonkey, on drums and Fats Kaplin on pedal steel, fiddle, mandolin, washboard and accordion.
Artpark’s Outdoor Amphitheater can be accessed via the Upper Park’s Portage Road entrance off of Center Street or through South Fourth Street nearest the Mainstage Theater.
“Wednesdays on the Gorge” is also supported by Certo Brothers Distributing Company, Modern Corporation, Tim Horton’s, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission. Children’s art activities are sponsored by the New York Power Authority.
For more info, call the Artpark Box Office at (716) 754-4375 or go online to www.artpark.net
(Lewiston, NY) Pure Prairie League, the pioneering country-rockers best known by the smash hits “Amie” and “Let Me Love You Tonight,” are the featured performers of Artpark’s “Wednesdays on the Gorge” free outdoor concert series on July 25. Presented by HSBC Bank and HSBC Mortgage Corporation, all “Wednesdays on the Gorge” events begin at 6:30pm and feature an array of interactive artistic workshops for children. The opening act is Jason Bravo.
Pure Prairie League was formed in Columbus, Ohio in 1969 by singer/songwriter/guitarist Craig Fuller, singer/guitarist George Powell, bass player Jim Lanham, and drummer Tom McGrail, who gave the band its name, which was the name of a women's temperance group in the 1939 Errol Flynn movie Dodge City. The band released its self-titled debut album in March 1972 with a cover depicting a Western character named Luke, an illustration drawn by famed naturalist painter Norman Rockwell that had first appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post in 1927. Luke would turn up on all the band's subsequent album covers, giving them a distinctive visual conception.
However, it was Pure Prairie League’s second album, Bustin’ Out, and the smash hit single “Amie” that jettisoned the band into full-fledged country-rock stars. By 1975, PPL had added leader/bassist Mike Reilly and its third record, Two Lane Highway, featured collaborations with country stars Emmylou Harris, Chet Atkins and Johnny Gimble, and provided the band with another Top-40 entry. Fourteen-time Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Vince Gill joined soon after, and the band enjoyed their biggest success with Firin' Up’s (1978) first single "Let Me Love You Tonight," which reached No. 7 on the Pop Charts and No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary Charts.
Although the band briefly dissolved in 1987 following the bankruptcy of its record label (Casablanca) and Gill’s departure, Fuller and Reilly began to fulfill their vision of PPL's return in the late 1990s, and in 2005 released its first new album in 24 years. Joining forces with them today are some of the top musicians available: Curtis Wright, a singer-songwriter-guitarist who has written and performed with many of today's top country acts, Rick Schell, co-founder of country music upstarts Pinmonkey, on drums and Fats Kaplin on pedal steel, fiddle, mandolin, washboard and accordion.
Artpark’s Outdoor Amphitheater can be accessed via the Upper Park’s Portage Road entrance off of Center Street or through South Fourth Street nearest the Mainstage Theater.
“Wednesdays on the Gorge” is also supported by Certo Brothers Distributing Company, Modern Corporation, Tim Horton’s, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission. Children’s art activities are sponsored by the New York Power Authority.
For more info, call the Artpark Box Office at (716) 754-4375 or go online to www.artpark.net
The Earl W. Brydges Artpark is being operated by Artpark & Company, Inc. for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation under a license agreement.
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