Annual free concert series to include Mississippi musicians, Southern studies alumni showcase
The 2023 Summer Sunset Series, a sequence of free concerts on the Grove, will this year include Rachel Maxann, The Perry Family, The Fabulous Doo Vays and a showcase of alumni from the university’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture. Photo by Christian Johnson/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services
MAY 28, 2023 BY CLARA TURNAGE
Each Sunday in June, members of the Lafayette-Oxford-University family can gather on the Grove for a night of music and culture as the annual Summer Sunset Series returns to the University of Mississippi.
The free concert series will kick off at 6 p.m. June 4, and each Sunday includes blues, Southern rock and vintage indie rock, along with an alumni showcase.
Blues musician Bill Perry is set to perform June 18 for the Summer Sunset Series. Submitted photo
“The Arts Council is proud to work with community cultural partners to organize this summer series, which brings families together in one of our most beautiful places to highlight music of the region,” said Wayne Andrews, executive director of the Yoknaptawpha Arts Council.
Cincinnati-born artist Rachel Maxann, who describes her music as Memphis-influenced “vintage indie-rock and post-modern folklore,” will take the stage on June 4 for the first concert. Yoknapatawpha Arts Council members can also partake in art activities for children and refreshments provided by event sponsor Farm Bureau.
On June 11, the Center for the Study of Southern Culture has organized an alumni showcase in honor of Ted Ownby, author and UM William Winter Professor of History, who is retiring at the end of June. Southern studies alumni Tyler Keith, Kell Kellum and Bryan Ledford will perform during the showcase.
Ownby will give a free lecture at 3 p.m. in Barnard Observatory before the concert.
The Perry Family, featuring Bill Perry, son of legendary blues artists Bill “Howl-N-Madd” Perry, and Shy Perry, will return to the Summer Sunset stage on June 18, where the band has played many times before.
The final artists to take the stage will be Keith Collins and Richie Burnette in their ’60s cover band The Fabulous Doo Vays. Collins and Ritchie are staples of the north Mississippi music scene and have been playing in and around Oxford for more than 50 years.
The Summer Sunset Series is sponsored by the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council, Visit Oxford, University of Mississippi Museum, Center for the Study of Southern Culture, Gertrude C. Ford Center for Performing Arts, Oxford Toyota and Belk Ford. For more information on the series, go to http://visitoxfordms.com.