If you go
› What: Nightfall featuring The Suffers› Where: Miller Plaza, 750 Market St.› When: 7 p.m. Friday, May 12› Admission: Free› Phone: 423-265-0771› Online: thesuffers.com
More downtown music
NoontunesFolk singer Megan Saunders will be the featured performer Wednesday, May 17, for Noontunes in Miller Plaza. The free hour-long performance begins at noon.Saunders conveys a sense of story and place through her music, drawing inspiration from her travels on the back roads of rural America. She uses a variety of acoustic instruments for a sound that is playful, sultry and haunting.Picnic in the PassagewayRandy Steele will entertain visitors from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Picnic in the Passageways on Friday, May 12, in 700 block of Cherry Street.I Love Tacos food truck will be on-site for lunch purchases.Picnic in the Passageways is designed to engage the downtown workforce with the Passageways’ art installations. Grass Garden Inversion alley is located at 730 Cherry St.; Urban Chandelier is found at 709 Cherry St.Picnic in the Passageways is a free River City Co. program offered during May. For more information: PassagewaysChattanooga.com
It probably isn't an accident that The Suffers have shared a few festival billings with Mavis Staples and Alabama Shakes, but lead singer Kam Franklin shrugs off any attempts to link the three.
"Oh, we've played some of the same festivals, but we're not at that level," she says.
The question comes up only because Franklin's voice has qualities reminiscent of Staples and Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard, though she and the band have their own sound. It's a blend of soul, blues, R&B and gospel. Her big voice is backed by a big band - a solid rhythm section, guitars, keyboards and horns.
The 10-piece band will headline the second Nightfall show on Friday, May 12. The Houston-based group started as a fun project based on playing reggae and ska versions of popular covers. Franklin says pretty soon after forming in 2011, fans filled up every room where they played and started asking for recordings and original material.
They all quit their day jobs in January 2015 to focus on the band full-time.
"We all got together and decided we wanted to continue and we wanted to make original music that we love playing."
Sounds simple enough, and it appears to be popular with fans, as well. They did about 150 shows last year around the country and made appearances on NPR's "Tiny Desk Series." They have appeared on "The Late Show With David Letterman," "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and "The Daily Show With Trevor Noah."
The band was originally put together by Adam Castaneda and Pat Kelly, but also includes Jon Durbin, Michael Razo, Kevin Bernier, Jose "Chapy" Luna, Nick Zamora, Cory Wilson and Alex Zamora.
Franklin says they were all friends who thought it would be fun to play together. She says that has created a loose, but loyal band that wants to see where the road will take them, as long as it's a fun ride.
"We are not a band filled with hired guns," she says.
"We all just came together and discussed what we wanted to do. Mainly we want to keep having fun and building our band."
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.