Live Bait in concert at Tinker July 26

Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum and Gardens is celebrating the rich heritage of southwest Rockford with the “Tinker with Music” 2009 Free Summer Outdoor Concert Series. The second concert will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m., Sunday, July 26, and will feature Live Bait featuring Dave Hackbarth on bass and Gregg Nybo on and Pete Jonnson on guitar.

This alluring musical group has been catching their limit since the mid-1980s with a large collection of old and new folk tunes, ballads, blues, pop, rock, swing and original songs. They’ve been casting their spell over numerous festivals, concerts, coffeehouses, homes, restaurants, libraries and backwater bars around southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois with an entertaining mix of humor and music. Two guitars and an upright bass with some tight harmonies form the core of this group. Throw in a tackle box of harmonicas, percussion instruments and some extra guitars in different tunings, and you have the recipe for a variety of songs.

The “Tinker with Music” 2009 Summer Outdoor Concert Series will continue Aug. 2 with Mike Alongi (Italian music and more); Aug. 16 with the Bluegrass Reunion (bluegrass music); Aug. 23 with the Armando Cardenas Trio with Naomi Cardenas and El Grupo Galaxia (Hispanic and Latino music); and the grand finale Aug. 30 with Miles Nielsen (Beatle-esque cosmic Americana).

The audience is encouraged to bring beach chairs, picnic blankets and picnic dinners to the concerts. Soft drinks and snacks will be available for purchase, and the Tinker Museum Gift Shop will be open during the concert.

In the event of inclement weather, the concert will be moved into the Tinker Visitor Center Community Room, where chairs will be provided. The Ethnic Heritage Museum, on South Main Street within walking distance of Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum and Gardens, will celebrate the music of the diverse communities of southwest Rockford this summer, and is open from 2 to 4 p.m., Sundays. Guests are encouraged to visit the Ethnic Heritage Museum before attending the “Tinker with Music” concerts.

Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum and Gardens—a Rockford Park District affiliate—is an educational, not-for-profit institution, dedicated to the preservation of and access to historic Tinker Swiss Cottage, its collections and the legacy of the Robert H. Tinker family for the community-at-large. Tinker is beside Kent Creek at 411 Kent St., Rockford. For more information about the “Tinker with Music” Summer Concert Series or other programs or tours offered by Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum and Gardens, phone (815) 964-2424 or e-mail bbroyles@tinkercottage.org. Visit the Museum’s Web site at www.tinkercottage.org to learn more about events and activities that will take place at Tinker this summer.

from the July 22-28, 2009, issue