Nightfall, Chattanooga’s original outdoor summer concert series will continue its 38th season on May 9th with a headline performance by an iconic bluesman Cedric Burnside at Miller Park.
Known for showcasing innovative original music in a variety of genres, Nightfall highlights a local band as the opener each week, followed by a notable national or regional headliner. Local food trucks and brews, local artisans and kids’ activities add to the fun.
Headlining Nightfall this Friday at 8pm, is blues great Cedric Burnside, a Grammy-winning blues musician, specifically known for his work in the Hill Country blues style.
This style is also referred to as North Mississippi hill country blues, defined by an upbeat tempo and driving percussion, guided more by feeling and intuition than convention. He has recorded eight studio albums and played behind and alongside some of the foremost figures in the blues tradition.
Cedric Burnside has won more than a dozen individual awards and has led or contributed to four Grammy-nominated projects, most recently his 2018 release "Benton County Relic.” He received the National Heritage Fellowship and the 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Art Award for Excellence in Music.
He has also appeared in several films and performed or recorded with diverse artists such as Jimmy Buffet and Widespread Panic. But perhaps his name carries the most weight, as the grandson of the legendary “Big Daddy” R.L. Burnside, whom Cedric played on the road with since age 13. Nightfall was proud to feature R.L. Burnside as headliner during its 1999 season.
Opening the show at 7pm is a standout bluesman, Jhett Black, an award-winning songwriter and blues musician who has recently made Chattanooga his home. Known for his Southern Gothic sound, characterized by a gritty slide guitar and baritone voice, Black gained experience playing folk-rock with the band Gleewood and later found his blues sound while touring nationally and internationally.
Since moving to Chattanooga, Jhett Black has purchased the St. Elmo music listening room, The Woodshop, and also hosts a blues radio show on Chattanooga’s NPR station, WUTC.
Although most Nightfall shows use the Miller Plaza stage, this show will be held on the Miller Park stage, as will next week’s show. Music then returns to the home stage at Miller Plaza for the following weeks.
Each week between 20-25 local artisans will offer their work for sale around the perimeter of Miller Park, and an array of local food trucks will be offering tasty treats in the street.
Nightfall bulk discount beer tickets will again be available this year at each show, offering a 20% savings on a packet of 20 beer tickets. No outside food or beverages are allowed to be brought into Nightfall since concession sales are a primary funder of Nightfall (outside alcoholic beverages are prohibited by law at Miller Park/Plaza).
Motorcycle parking will be made available in the 900 block of Market Street, between Miller Park and EPB.
Known for its family-friendly environment as well as being recognized nationally for the quality of its musical programming, Nightfall is a family-friendly concert series that brings the Chattanooga community together in the heart of our city.
For more information on this FREE community concert series and samples of this year’s music, visit NightfallChattanooga.com.
Nightfall is locally produced by Chattanooga Presents.