Have you ever attended Friday Night Concerts in the Park, grabbed a deal at Dine Downtown Week, shopped at the Downtown Farmers Markets, or skated at the Downtown Holiday Ice Rink? Most likely--even if you’ve lived in Sacramento for just a short period of time--you’ve crossed paths with one of these events. But, do you know who puts in all the behind-the-scenes work? It’s the Downtown Sacramento Partnership (DSP), a hard-working organization dedicated to the ongoing preservation and improvement of the Downtown Sacramento area. In addition to producing fun-filled events, the DSP works tirelessly throughout the year to provide ongoing services and programs to the downtown neighborhood, comm

After two years of planning and organization, renovations will begin on Feb. 6 for the Cesar Chavez Memorial Plaza. Since its construction 150 years ago, the park has been renovated many times to maintain it and adapt it to the new needs of the public. “It’s a prominent public space, and I’m looking forward to giving it a facelift,” said J. P. Tindell, park planning and development manager of the Sacramento Department of Parks and Recreation. Lisa Martinez, marketing director for the Downtown Sacramento Partnership (DSP), also said that she looks forward to the “beautification efforts” on the park. The DSP is known for holding many events in the park, including Friday Night Concerts in t

Here are some of the many music events happening in the Sacramento area this week. For more detailed information on these events and many more go to www.eMusiConnect.com. Sacramento Area Concerts & Music Events Defending The Caveman at Cosmopolitan Cabaret on 1000 K Street in Sacramento. Continues WED-SUN. Show times are at 8PM or 7:30PM with some 2PM matinees. Tickets are $33.00 - $48.00. Friday, July 8th: Friday Night Concerts in the Park will feature The Nibblers - Gerald Pease Combo -The Bell Boys with James Cavern and Jesi Naomat at Cesar Chavez Plaza at 10 & J Street in Sacramento. 5PM/Free Friday, July 8th: Bone Thugs N-Harmony with White Minorities at Ace of Spades 1417 R Stree

Now that summer is finally in full swing, join The Sacramento Press at Cesar Chavez Plaza for Friday Night Concerts in the Park. Los Blazing Hangovers will open the evening with zesty Latin honky-tonk. Headliners and longtime Northern California favorites, Mumbo Gumbo blend the flavors of Cajun, zydeco, blues, folk and good old rock and roll to create the unique of form of Americana that has kept crowds dancing for 20 years. This week’s show kicks off at around 5 p.m. and runs until 9 p.m. Located between Ninth and 10th and I and J streets, this free, all-ages outdoor concert series will run every Friday until Aug. 12. See a full schedule of this season’s lineup here. Street parking ca

Just to maintain a little perspective - while our "summer" weather thus far has been a little abnormal and certainly not conducive to our usual late Spring ballyhoo , we really can't complain that much, can we? That said, the unseasonably late rains of 2011 have claimed another victim, and it is tonight's Friday Night Concert in the Park at Cesar Chavez Plaza, which has been cancelled due to inclimate weather, according to a news release from Downtown Sacramento Partnership. Fear not, revelers! Tonight's bill, which was to feature venerable local festival act Mick Martin & the Blues Rockers, Tess & the Hip Trash and Kyle Rowland, has been rescheduled for Friday, August 19. That just mean

Here are some of the many music events happening in the Sacramento area this week. For more detailed information on these events and many more go to www.eMusiConnect.com. Sacramento Area Concerts & Music Events Friday, May 20th: Friday Night Concerts in the Park will feature Agent Ribbons - Golden Ghosts - The Kelps at Cesar Chavez Plaza at 10 & J Street in Sacramento. 5PM/Free A Grand Night For Singing at Cosmopolitan Cabaret on 1000 K Street in Sacramento. Continues WED-SUN. Show times are at 8PM or 7:30PM with some 2PM matinees. Tickets are $33.00 - $48.00. Saturday, May 21st: Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra presents Home grown Sacramento at Sacramento Community Center Theatre on

Tonight, the Downtown Sacramento Partnership (DSP) is adding a new twist to the Friday Night Concerts in the Park. Concertgoers can now compete for prizes in a series of challenges and receive special Concert Deals at local businesses on their mobile phones via the SCVNGR app. Participants start by downloading the free SCVNGR app for iPhone or Android. To play, look for the “Friday Night Concerts” trek and complete a series of quick concert-themed challenges to earn points. Challenges consist of snapping pictures, answering trivia questions, and social check-ins by bumping phones with friends. Challenges will rotate each week throughout the concert series giving players more chances to wi

Things to count your blessings for in Sacramento: 1. The best that the local music scene has to offer, all played free. 2. A giant beer garden that features the best people watching to be found anywhere in town. 3. The fact that we have now finally gotten to the point where, when people say "we're going to the park tonight," no one asks "you mean the Park Ultra Lounge?" anymore. Downtown Sacramento Partnership has unveiled the lineup for what is and has always been "the park" in this town, the Friday Night Concerts in the Park series, which has been packing thousands into Cesar Chavez Plaza every Friday summer evening for the last 20 seasons. The series begins Friday, May 6 and runs th

Sacramento chef Jason Lockard is drawing up plans to entice customers to his new restaurant and bar, Blue Prynt, expected to open this month. The 30-year-old will use social media marketing, drink specials and tie-ins to popular community events to attract clientele to a somewhat hidden spot where several restaurants have failed. Lockard, who has been the chef at Brew It Up! for seven years, is opening his first business inside the Best Western Sutter House at 11th and H streets. After Sofia restaurant closed in that location last September, Lockard is developing plans for events and specials to coincide with the Second Saturday Art Walk and Friday Night Concerts in the Park at nearby C

Yes, that really did happen here. The complaints and rumblings about music in Sacramento have been mounting for years: a perceived disconnect between the local music scene and the community, the glaring lack of consistent all-ages music venues in the downtown area and a debilitating middle child syndrome caused by big name touring acts that often pass the Capitol City over for gigs in the Bay Area. In the face of the retrospective on local music provided by Downtown Sacramento Partnership’s newest walking tour, it becomes hard to find anything to complain about. Entitled “Locally Grown, Internationally Known: The history of the Sacramento Music Scene,” this hour-long tour offers not onl

A mom and pop Grocery Outlet is expected to open in Midtown this summer. An Orange County family is relocating to Sacramento to open a branch of the chain that calls itself the country's largest "extreme-value" grocery retailer. The store is expected to open July 1 in the former Rick's Uptown Market at 17th Street and Capitol Avenue. Mindi and Ken Admire want to set their store apart from other Grocery Outlets by operating a family-friendly business and really getting to know their customers. Their children, Kristina and Kenneth, a recent college graduate, will be an integral part of that. "We hope that we stand out as a different model in that we're going to be completely family-orient

The Downtown Sacramento Partnership (DSP) has released the 2010 schedule for the Friday Night Concerts in the Park. The free, outdoor concert series will rock Cesar Chavez Plaza (10th and J streets) every Friday night from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. starting May 7 though August 13. For the latest concert news, visit www.downtownsac.org/concerts. 2010 CONCERT SCHEDULE* May 7 - Kepi Ghoulie The Kelps, Dog Party, Simpl3jack May 14 - Rick Estrin & The Nightcats Low Down Dirty Dogs May 21 - Dance Gavin Dance Phallucy, Con of Man, Desario May 28 - Mike Farrell Aaron King & The Imperials, One Eyed Rhyno June 4 - Method Echo The Nibblers, Live Manikin June 11 - The Nickel Slots Los Blazing Hangovers

"Country" music means different things to different people. To Rowdy Kate lead singer Keri Carr, it means feeling at home. She recalled that during her childhood, her father was a cowboy who rode horses and bulls and listened to country music. After her parents divorced, Carr and her mother moved away, distancing her from her father. "I missed him a lot when I was growing up," she explained. "It feels like home to me when I sing country music." Friday night, Rowdy Kate will bring the "back home" country spirit to Concerts in the Park. The band will headline a show that also includes Hellbound Glory and Flounder (click links for MySpace). Hellbound Glory members describe themselves as, a

If Baby Grand keeps their current lineup and releases an album this year, it will be a huge first for the band. It will be the first time one of their albums shares the same lineup as their current gigging band. This Friday at Cesar Chavez Plaza, Baby Grand will bring their most solid unit ever: a six-piece playing mellow organic pop. Opening for them will be Dog Party, The Poplollys and Ricky Berger. Dog Party is a duo consisting of 11- and 13-year-old sisters who play original songs and covers on drums and guitar. The Poplollys are a local trio who play Americana style country, while another favorite, multi-instrumentalist Ricky Berger, sings mellow folk music. Baby Grand first formed

Leading a band is like managing a kitchen, according to Jason Boggs. As both executive chef of The Shady Lady and lead singer of The Snobs, Boggs is qualified to make the analogy. "A lot of the same stuff that goes on in a kitchen goes on in a band on tour: drinking, bad tempers and egos to worry about," Boggs said. "You're trying to make a group of guys work together and most of the time they're misfits not [fit] for regular society." In order for the "misfits" to form a cohesive band, The Snobs created rules. Boggs, who played saxophone for local ska/reggae band Filibuster, was banned from playing saxophone. "It was the other guys in the band protecting themselves from me [playing reg

Golden Shoulders is a "breakup-proof" band. That's because it consists of Adam Kline and whatever friends are standing near him at any given time. In the past eight years, there have been 48 part-time collaborators, including former members of local bands Cake and Hella, as well as local singer Joanna Newsom. But one time, it was just Kline. Headlining Concert in the Park Friday night, Golden Shoulders will be a four-piece. The concert also features openers Radio Orangevale, Jeepster and Trainwreck Revival (click links for MySpace pages). Back in 2001, Kline formed Golden Shoulders with his friends from Nevada City. Since then they've recorded three albums and one EP, toured the U.S., a

When thinking of Mumbo Gumbo's gig this Friday, the word "regulars" comes to mind. This year marks the 16th year in a row the band will play at Concerts in the Park. As the name suggests, the New-Orleans-flavored septet blends many genres to create its sound. From soul to Zydeco and from ballad to boogie, the band has covered the gamut in its nearly 20-year history, during which the members have produced eight albums. They have been a big part of the Northern California concert scene. Many of the band members have even formed successful side projects over the years. Guitar player Jon Wood, sax player Reggy Marks and bass player Lynn Michael Palmer recently formed The Nibblers. The seven

"Exhilarating, like running naked through a bee storm," said music magazine NME of Middle Class Rut, or MC Rut for short. The duo headlines Friday's Concert in the Park in which Lite Brite, Consider The Thief and Early States will also play (click links for MySpace pages). MC Rut's style has been compared to Jane's Addiction and Rage Against the Machine, but the duo evokes a simpler feel than the The White Stripes, a band with similar instrumentation. Even so, the two-piece packs a fury of sound that never lets up. They recently released an eight-song EP entitled 25 Years and completed a tour of the United Kingdom. Lite Brite is a rock and roll trio that exudes a punk attitude, but can

Friday Night Concerts in the Park have filled Cesar Chavez Park on 10th and J Streets with jammin' bands since the beginning of May and will continue every Friday night from 5-9 p.m. until August 14. In this storyline, The Sacramento Press will preview the concerts and help provide additional information on the artists and their music. Friday, June 5 Bucho will headline the concert, with Righteous Movement and Happy Mayfield opening (click each band's name for a link to their MySpace page with music samples). Bucho consists of singer and guitar player Gerald Pease, bass player Josh Lippi, Ben Schweir on the Hammond B3 and Fender Rhodes keyboards and Derek Taylor on percussion, as well a

 Sacramento's Friday Night Concerts in the Park came on strong for the huge crowd in Caesar Chavez Park in downtown Sacramento. Here are some photos taken of The Fortunate Few, an Americana / Rockabilly / Country band featuring Michael Ray Strauch - vocals, Guitar -  Bob Wood,  Todd "Uncle Buck" Hinton - Upright Bass. and  Todd Lewis - Drums. The main event was Rick Estrin and the NightCats. Estrin is singer/harmonica player/songwriter with Hansen on drums; Lorenzo Farrell, bass and Kid Andersen, guitar.