Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole will play in Fallon on June 19 at Oats Park.
Events in Churchill County are beginning to return to Centennial Stage, starting with the annual Concert in the Park on the day before Father’s Day.
Valerie Serpa, executive director of the Churchill Arts Council, said she’s received the “green light” from the city of Fallon to present Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole on June 19 at the Oats Park’s Centennial State. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. This free performance is presented in cooperation with the mayor, Fallon City Council and the city.
Serpa said concert goers either bring chairs or blankets to sit on. Many bring their own food and beverage. According to Serpa, several vendors will also sell food including Top Gun Burgers, and other vendors will sell beverages.
“And then we’ll have the Dusty 45s for the reunion weekend,” Serpa said, adding the band played at a previous All-Community Reunion and was a fan favorite.
The Dusty 45s will perform on Aug. 21 for the annual community wide reunion which draws former students and friends of the Greenwave to Oats Park for a night of remembrance and laughs. After both the June and August concerts, Serpa said the Arts Center and bar will open their doors at about 9 p.m. During the reunion weekend, Serpa said the arts center usually conducts a tour, but that depends on the reunion committee.
Serpa said the ChArts Store, which has local artwork and books for purchase, and the two galleries will open to the public. The E. L. Wiegand Gallery presents 3X: Painting and Sculpture by Michael Sarich, and the Kirk Robertson Gallery is hosting the Lahontan Valley Fine Arts Invitational.
Sarich is an associated professor of at the University of Nevada, Reno who has exhibited his works in many national and international exhibitions. His focus was on drawing, painting and sculpture. Sarich also studied at the College of Salzburg (Austria).
Serpa said she’s excited with the June presentation of Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole. Watson is a four-time Grammy-nominated fiddler, singer, accordionist and songwriter and according to the CAC website, “he resurrects the ancient sounds of the French and Spanish contra dance and bourré alongside the
spiritual rhythms of the Congo tribes of West Africa, who were sold as slaves in the Caribbean and Louisiana by the French and Spanish.”
Watson’s repertoire includes forgotten Creole melodies and modern Cajun and Zydeco songs.
