[Preview] Nashville Dancin’ Week 5: Dumpstaphunk, Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience, and Kansas Bible Company | Tonight @ Riverfront Park

The free weekly concert series Nashville Dancin’ is still going strong, and tonight’s (July 10th)  installment will bring another set of fantastic acts to the Riverfront Park stage right downtown. Tonight, you’ll be able to catch Dumpstaphunk, get down to Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, witness Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience, and groove to Kansas Bible Company. It’s a pretty stacked lineup, especially for a free show, so we figured we’d treat you to a rundown of each of the bands after the jump. That way, you can all be educated listeners, which is, frankly, the best kind of listener. See ya’ll there!

DUMPSTAPHUNK

For a concert series titled Nashville Dancin’, there could perhaps be no better headliner than New Orleans based funk act Dumpstaphunk. While the group have experienced a great measure of success recently, especially in the music festival circuit, the filthy grooves and brash low end remain true to the group’s roots in the bayou. The five piece have been playing for more than a decade now, which means they’ve had plenty of time to hone their stage presence and tie up any loose ends within their music. For this reason, we suspect that the funk act’s set tonight will be particularly tight, and we can’t wait to get our groove on to one of the biggest forces in modern funk. 

SISTER SPARROW AND THE DIRTY BIRDS

While Dumpstaphunk will definitely bring the funk, they aren’t the only group playing this evening that prefers the groovier side of music. The NYC based soul/funk group Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds will be the final opener this evening, assigning them the monumental task of opening for Dumpstaphunk. However, we suspect the group will be more than up for the challenge, especially considering their reputation as a live band (they play about 150 shows each year).  Their most recent EP, Fight, showed us an impressive range of dynamics not previously seen in their music, which no doubt will lead to an engaging live show. We loved the Sister Sparrow show when they were in town last March at the High Watt, and we imagine the larger venue and increased crowd size will only serve to heighten the band’s infectious energy this evening.

TERRANCE SIMIEN & THE ZYDECO EXPERIENCE

In case you’re unfamiliar, the word zydeco refers to the musical style developed in Louisana within the Creole community; therefore, it’s not a stretch to imagine that Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience will be a very fitting opener for Dumpstaphunk. However, the group could easily have headlined this evening, as the 7000 shows and 32 years of experience has definitely equipped the band with the tools necessary to throw down on a fantastic set. Furthermore, the band have actually won a Grammy, a claim that very very few acts can make. With their years of experience up on stage, Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience will no doubt play a fantastic set this evening, and we can’t wait to see these living legends do their thing.

KANSAS BIBLE COMPANY

Kicking off the evening will be the local 12 person outfit Kansas Bible Company. The group is fronted by five man horn section, which should already tell you that they know how to get down and dirty. Throw in the tight bass grooves, three guitars, two percussionists and a key player, and it’s easy to see why this band have built a very solid reputation in just a handful of years. The large number of players lends a very communal feel to Kansas Bible Company’s tunes; this attitude translates very readily to the audience, inviting them to participate in the music with their voices and bodies. As one might imagine, this makes the Kansas Bible Company live performances quite a lot of fun, and there’s no reason to suspect tonight will be any different.

Dumpstaphunk, Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience, and Kansas Bible Company will perform TONIGHT, July 10, at Riverfront Park. The show is all ages, begins at at 6 pm (doors at 5 pm), and is free.