Arts & Entertainment

SOMO Concerts Launch Outdoor Series With Recording Artist Sharon Jones and Dap-Kings

Electrifying rhythm & blues headliner to showcase Sonoma County's newest outdoor music venue.

ROHNERT PARK, CA -- Sonoma County will usher in a new era of live music when the county’s newest music venue, The Sonoma Mountain Village Event Center,  welcomes soul sensation Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings for an outdoor dance concert on August 21, 2014.  

When the lights go up on the 3000-seat outdoor venue, the space will immediately become one of the largest music venues in Sonoma County.   

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Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings is one of the most celebrated and sought after R&B bands on tour today (the band will be playing the Hollywood Bowl with John Legend in Los Angeles the night before the Event Center outdoor show). 

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Known for their explosive live shows and prolific output of Motown-inspired studio recordings, the band’s breakout independent release, 100 Days, 100 Nights, sold over 150,000 copies worldwide. The follow-up I Learned the Hard Way, almost single-handedly steered today's return of soul music to its more traditional sound. 

The band’s most recent album, the critically acclaimed Give the People What they Want, was recorded while Jones was diagnosed and treated for cancer. 

The SOMO Outdoor Concert Series is the brainchild of two legendary Bay Area music business veterans.  Lee Smith is the former president and chairman of Live Nation (formerly Bill Graham Presents) and currently head of Prescient Entertainment, the exclusive promoter of performing arts events at the award-winning Mountain Winery in Saratoga, CA. 

Morty Wiggins, the former VP of Bill Graham Presents and general manager of A&M Records, is now president of Petaluma-based Second Octave Talent, Sonoma County’s only licensed and bonded booking agency and artist management company.  

“Outdoors at the Sonoma Mountain Village Event Center works on so many levels.  It is large enough so that we can book nationally and internationally-known performing artists, the location is comfortable, parking is ample, and the venue is located in the heart of Sonoma County but close enough to attract visitors from San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland and points beyond,” said Smith. 

“Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings is the perfect group to kick off what we hope will be another two to three concerts this year and as many as 12 shows next year.  The outdoor venue has a fun social atmosphere with plenty of room for dancing and mingling.  There will be food, drinks and alcoholic beverages available for purchase from Sally Tomatoes, a great restaurant located within the Event Center” said Wiggins. 

The Sonoma Mountain Village Event Center is solar powered and features the latest sound and lighting technology custom designed for the venue’s outdoor 1200-square-foot stage.  

 It is located in the heart of Sonoma Mountain Village, an environmentally friendly 200-acre, planned mixed-use community in Rohnert Park, CA, forty miles north of San Francisco.

Brad Baker, CEO and Chairman of Codding Investments and developer of Sonoma Mountain Village (SOMO), shares “The opportunity to partner with two renowned music industry powerhouses in hosting the SOMO Outdoor Concert Series compliments the lifestyle we provide at Sonoma Mountain Village. Easy, attractive, affordable choices to live a healthier, happier, high quality lifestyle centered around the internationally acclaimed One Planet Communities program. As the First One Planet Community in North America, the SOMO Concert Series is One Planet Living…Sonoma Style!”. 

“We are truly excited to be bringing a new level of entertainment to Sonoma County and look forward to many great shows to come,” said Smith.

Info provided by Second Octave Talent and Prescient Entertainment


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