FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE View this email in your browser STERN GROVE FESTIVAL 2017 LINE-UP OF ADMISSION-FREE CONCERT S

San Francisco's Original Outdoor Music Festival

Celebrating 80 Years! San Francisco, May 1, 2017.....Stern Grove Festival, a San Francisco summer tradition celebrating eight decades, announced its line-up of admission-free concerts—Sundays at 2:00 pm from June 25 through August 27, 2017—at Sigmund Stern Grove, located at 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard in San Francisco. This summer’s 10-week concert series kicks off with Kool & the Gang, and features performances by Mavis Staples, Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers, WAR, Fantastic Negrito, Amadou & Mariam, Eric Burdon and The Animals, Brazilian Girls, Los Ángeles Azules, and more, as well as the Festival’s classical partners San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Ballet.

The 80th Season takes a look back at the Festival’s history with performances from some favorites who are returning to the Grove—Mavis Staples, Amadou & Miriam, Quinn DeVeaux— as well as a roster of other artists who reflect the vibrant, eclectic spirit for which the Festival, and the City of San Francisco, are known. Since 1938, Stern Grove Festival has fulfilled its long-standing mission to make the arts accessible to all in one of the country’s most beautiful natural settings, completely free of admission. The Festival offers Bay Area locals and visitors a 10-week series of performing arts concerts in a space that encourages all to relax and spend time with friends and family.

As a cherished summer ritual with programming as diverse as the city it calls home, Stern Grove Festival presents a wide range of musical performances to 10,000 people every summer Sunday. A distinctive aspect of the Festival’s programming is to introduce local up-and-coming artists and emerging talents from around the globe to a broad audience.

For the third season, Stern Grove Festival has commissioned local performers to create original works that will premiere on the Festival stage this summer. The artists performing commissions are noted with a * in the list below.

Stern Grove Festival’s 80th Season is made possible with support from Grants for the Arts, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Parkmerced, Kaiser Permanente, The Bernard Osher Foundation, The Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund, Walter and Elise Haas Fund, Levi Strauss Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation, Sonoma County Visitors Bureau, Anchor Brewing, Fairmont Hotel, United Airlines, Bouchaine Winery, and media sponsors San Francisco Examiner, SF Weekly, SFMTA, and KPIX - CBS 5, and KBCW. Stern Grove Festival is presented in collaboration with the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department and Commission. ABOUT THE CONCERTS



June 25 – Kool & the Gang

and Quinn DeVeaux* Kool & the Gang. Opening the show is the Bay Area’s own Quinn DeVeaux. The Big Picnic features a ticketed benefit party at 11:30 a.m. followed by the admission-free concert at 2:00 p.m. Tickets for the benefit party are available on Stern Grove Festival’s website at

For nearly five decades, Kool & The Gang’s signature funky R&B sound has influenced generations of fans and musicians. With classic hits like “Celebration,” “Cherish,” and “Jungle Boogie,” Kool & The Gang has earned two GRAMMY Awards, seven American Music Awards, 25 Top Ten R&B hits, nine Top Ten Pop hits, and 31 Gold and Platinum albums. Kool & the Gang has sold 70 million albums worldwide and influenced the music of three generations. Their funky, tough jazzy arrangements have also made them the most sampled band of all time. The Big Picnic, An Opening Day Benefit and Concert kicks off the 80th Season with an admission-free concert starring R&B sensation. Opening the show is the Bay Area’s own. The Big Picnic features a ticketed benefit party at 11:30 a.m. followed by the admission-free concert at 2:00 p.m. Tickets for the benefit party are available on Stern Grove Festival’s website at www.sterngrove.org/thebigpicnic. For nearly five decades,signature funky R&B sound has influenced generations of fans and musicians. With classic hits like “Celebration,” “Cherish,” and “Jungle Boogie,” Kool & The Gang has earned two GRAMMY Awards, seven American Music Awards, 25 Top Ten R&B hits, nine Top Ten Pop hits, and 31 Gold and Platinum albums. Kool & the Gang has sold 70 million albums worldwide and influenced the music of three generations. Their funky, tough jazzy arrangements have also made them the most sampled band of all time.

Oakland-based Quinn DeVeaux serves up early R&B, modern soul, and timeless blues, channeling the likes of Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and Ray Charles but creating a fresh sound that is all his own.

This performance is dedicated to the memory of Rosalie M. Stern, donor of Stern Grove to San Francisco and founder of the Stern Grove Festival Association. The Big Picnic is made possible with support from AT&T, Bank of the West, Bulgari, Neiman Marcus, Wells Fargo, Capital Group, PG&E, Bingham, Recology, Osborn & Scarborough LLC, Ruben Law Firm, California College of the Arts, Anchor Brewing, and Bouchaine Vineyards. July 2 – Fantastic Negrito and

Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers Oakland’s blues guitarist and singer Fantastic Negrito won the GRAMMY Award this year for Best Contemporary Blues Album for his 2016 debut "The Last Days of Oakland." He arrived on the national stage in 2015 when he won the NPR Tiny Desk Contest, beating out nearly 7,000 entries with his one-take performance in a freight elevator; his self-titled EP ascended to #1 in Blues in the US, UK, Germany, and Asia. He describes his musical style as “a man’s truth told in the form of black roots music,” akin to the sounds of Lead Belly and Skip James. Soulful local singer, musician and songwriter Nicki Bluhm and her band The Gramblers blend rock, country, blues and folk for an original sound that is reminiscent of the ’70s California music genre. A powerhouse vocalist, Nicki draws immediate comparisons to Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, and Janis Joplin. She and the band became widely known outside the Bay Area in 2012 when they started performing cover songs in a van while driving between gigs and posting their "Van Sessions" videos on YouTube. Their cover of Hall and Oates “I Can’t Go For That” has well over three million views. Concert sponsored by Kaiser Permanente. In-Kind sponsor is Bouchaine Winery.