Levitt At The Falls Announces First Free Outdoor Concert

Levitt at the Falls announces its first free outdoor concert set for Friday, August 3rd at the 8th & RR Center in Sioux Falls at 7 PM. The concert will be a one-of-a-kind musical collaboration between Southern raconteur Paul Thorn and his five-piece band and GRAMMY-winning gospel legends Blind Boys of Alabama.

This free concert is possible thanks to the generosity of the Levitt Foundation, the local Friends of Levitt Shell Sioux Falls, lead sponsor Lloyd Companies, and key sponsors First National Bank Sioux Falls and MetaBank. The support of Downtown Sioux Falls (DTSF) has also helped make this event a reality.

"This concert will give Sioux Falls a taste of the music and sense of community that is to come when Levitt at the Falls opens in 2019 and offers free summer concerts every week," says Jennifer Kirby, President of the Friends of Levitt Shell Sioux Falls Board of Directors.

Construction of the City of Sioux Falls-owned Levitt Shell outdoor performance venue is currently underway and slated for completion in 2019 at Falls Park West. The performance by Paul Thorn and Blind Boys of Alabama is part of a national tour traveling to seven Levitt sites throughout the country.

For more information on Levitt at the Falls, see www.levittsiouxfalls.org

For more information on the Levitt Foundation and this national tour, visit https://levitt.org/national_tour

Billed as the "Mission Temple Fireworks Revival," the show will include songs off of Thorn's 2018 album Don't Let The Devil Ride-a celebration of classic gospel, soul and spirituals that pays homage to Thorn's gospel roots and features collaborations with none other than Blind Boys of Alabama themselves. Witnessing Thorn and his longtime idols perform side-by-side will make for an unforgettable night-get ready to move your feet to the exhilarating music!

Thorn boasts an innovative and impressive career, pleasing crowds with his muscular brand of roots music-bluesy, rocking and thoroughly Southern American, while speaking universal truths. He has performed on major television shows like Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Kimmel Live!; been the subject of numerous National Public Radio (NPR) features; charted multiple times on the Billboard Top 100 and Americana Radio Charts; and performed alongside living legends like Bonnie Raitt, Mark Knopfler, Sting, and John Prine among many others.

Blind Boys of Alabama-referred to as "gospel titans" by Rolling Stone magazine-continuously push musical boundaries with remarkable interpretations of traditional gospel and contemporary spirituals by songwriters such as Eric Clapton, Prince and Tom Waits. Celebrated by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) with Lifetime Achievement Awards, inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and winners of five GRAMMY Awards, they have attained the highest levels of achievement in a career that spans almost 80 years. They've recorded with fellow musical greats Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Aaron Neville, Susan Tedeschi, Ben Harper, Patty Griffin and Taj Mahal. Blind Boys of Alabama have appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Late Night with David Letterman, The Grammy Awards, 60 Minutes, The Colbert Report and many other television shows. Levitt National Tour audiences are in for an electrifying evening of gospel meets blues meets rock!

Friends of Levitt Shell Sioux Falls, known locally as "Levitt at the Falls" is a non-profit organization dedicated to building community through music. Founded in 2012, the group has formed a partnership with the City of Sioux Falls, as well as the national Levitt Foundation to give everyone in Sioux Falls the chance to experience the power of live, outdoor music at Falls Park West. Once construction of Levitt at the Falls is complete, the group will offer 30 free concerts in 2019 and then 50 free concerts in 2020 and every year thereafter. Levitt at the Falls will be the 8th venue in the Levitt outdoor concert venue network.