Moorea Masa & the Mood brought smooth rhythm and blues to the stage at The Amp, as they kicked off the Levitt Concert Series last Thursday. Toni Milbourne

SHENANDOAH JUNCTION — Moorea Masa & the Mood kicked off the summer Levitt Amp Music Series at The Amp at Sam Michaels Park last Thursday.

Despite some cooler temperatures, people turned out with their children in tow to enjoy the start of the summer music fun. The 10-week free concert series is scheduled for every Thursday through July 28. Gates will open at 6 p.m. each evening and the headliner will take the stage at 7 p.m.

The park department is able to bring the concerts to the public through a grant from the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, a private foundation that empowers towns and cities across America to transform underused public spaces into thriving destinations, through the power of free, live music.

This is the second season that The Amp at Sam Michaels will be home to a Levitt series. After securing the grant in 2020, through efforts of a public vote, the series was canceled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Concerts were, however, presented with the funds in 2021, and then the Levitt Foundation graciously extended the grant into 2022.

“Last summer was our first, and The Amp and JCPRC are thrilled to present the series for the community again,” said Becki Zaglifa, community development coordinator for the park system.

The concert series continues as on June 2, when The Woodshedders take the stage. An Indie Roots band, the group boasts four all-original studio albums and performances and hundreds of festivals and shows. Featured are Dwayne Brooke on guitar and vocals, Dave VanDeventer on fiddle, Jesse Schultazaberger on drums, Jacob Smith on saxophone and keys and Randy Ball on bass. They bring lyricism and musicality to fun, danceable shows that swerve from honky-tonk, gypsy, Appalachian and vintage rock n’ roll, often in the same song.

Curly Taylor and the Zydeco Trouble are scheduled for June 9, bringing Taylor’s soulful vocals and the band’s hard-driving beat, creating high-energy dance music for all audiences. The music is true to its roots in Zydeco and blues, but contemporary enough to appeal to a broad range of music lovers.

Dawn Renae Rix, a West Virginia native, will bring her powerful voice to the stage on June 16. In a sea of sound-alike would-be performers that flood contemporary country music, Rix is the most refreshing entertainer to hit Music Row in a long time.

June 23 sees the return of the Kelly Bell Band, the only artist to perform for the second time in The Amp’s Levitt series. The band was a huge hit in the 2021 line up, bringing elements of hip-hop, funk and blues to the stage.

Kipyn Martin, an emerging Indie folk artist whose roots sink deep into the banks of the Shenandoah River, will bring her talents to the stage on June 30. She plays festivals, concert halls, coffehouses and house concerts from New England to Texas, and has received honors, including multiple Gold Awards in the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest and the Washington Area Music Association’s WAMMIE Award for new artist of the year.

Martinsburg native Christian Lopez will light up the stage on July 7. Lopez, who was drawn to music at an early age, caught the attention of major Nashville talent-spotters while in his late teens. Fronting the Christian Lopez Band, which took cues from the Avett Brothers and the bluegrass music of his home state, Lopez traveled to Nashville and caught the attention of producer Dave Cobb, who steered him in the direction of modern country songwriting.

Wildermiss, an Indie rock band from Denver, Colo., is scheduled to appear July 14. Emma Cole sings and plays synthesizer, Joshua Hester plays guitar and Caleb Thoemke plays drums in the group that has sold out all of their hometown shows since 2017 and gained momentum nationwide, with multiple tours and festival spots.

On July 21, The Claudettes will be welcomed to The Amp stage, bringing Chicago piano blues, with the full-throttle energy of rockabilly and punk and the sultriness of ’60s soul. Johnny Iguana plays the piano alongside singer Berit Ulseth, bassist/guitartis/singer Zach Verfoorn and drummer Michael Caskey.

The concert series closes out on July 28, with Tall Tall Trees, which is the pseudonym of songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mike Savino. With aspirations of being a bassist in New York City’s vibrant jazz and experimental music scene, Savino soon switched his focus to banjo and writing songs. He has pioneered a world of psychedelic electric banjo music, captivating audiences with his loop-based one-man shows.

For more information about the Levitt organization, visit www.levitt.org.