For Riverbend 2015, scheduled Friday, June 5, through Saturday, June 13, Friends of the Festival has booked two acts to play on the Coca-Cola Stage on all but one of the nights the celebration is at the riverfront.
As is tradition, the music moves to M.L. King Boulevard on Monday, June 8, for the Bessie Smith Strut. Back at the riverfront Tuesday, June 9, there’s a single performer for Faith and Family Night.
Here’s a look at the marquee names on Riverbend’s main stage.
COKE STAGE HEADLINERS
FRIDAY, JUNE 5 6:30 p.m. St. Paul & The Broken Bones 9:30 p.m. 3 Doors Down SATURDAY, JUNE 6 6:30 p.m. War 9:30 p.m. Martina McBride SUNDAY, JUNE 7 6:30 p.m. Leon Russell 9:30 p.m. Merle Haggard MONDAY, JUNE 8 Bessie Smith Strut on M.L. King Boulevard TUESDAY, JUNE 9 9 p.m. Matthew West WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10 6:30 p.m. Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick 9:30 p.m. Melissa Etheridge THURSDAY, JUNE 11 6:30 p.m. Little River Band 9:30 p.m. Hunter Hayes FRIDAY, JUNE 12 6:30 p.m. Cole Swindell 9:30 p.m. Gregg Allman SATURDAY, JUNE 13 6:30 p.m. Here Come the Mummies 9:30 p.m. Stone Temple Pilots
Riverbend 2015 online
Visit timesfreepress.com/news/riverbend to get complete coverage of the 2015 Riverbend Festival.
RANDOM FACTS ABOUT THE ACTS
* For Record Store Day on April 18, Birmingham soul band St. Paul & The Broken Bones released a highly unusual vinyl single to independent record stores. The record – red in color and shaped like the state of Alabama – contains two tracks, covers of “Sing a Simple Song” by Sly & the Family Stone and “Moonage Daydream” by David Bowie.
* In 2003, 3 Doors Down started The Better Life Foundation with the goal of giving as many children as possible a better life. It has since supported numerous charities nationwide and provided aid and assistance to the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina.
* War‘s 1975 hit “Why Can’t We Be Friends was played in space when NASA beamed it to the linking of U.S. astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts in 1975 for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.
* Martina McBride can cook too. Last October, the country megastar released her first cookbook, “Around the Table: Recipes and Inspirations for Gatherings Throughout the Year” (William Morrow, $30 hardcover, $20 e-book).
* Leon Russell‘s fans are known as Leon Lifers, so named because the prolific talent of this singer/songwriter/Rock and Roll Hall of Famer inspires lifelong appreciation.
* When Merle Haggard was doing time in San Quentin, a fellow inmate devised an escape plan, according to the country legend’s online bio. The inmate told Haggard he could come along but probably shouldn’t since he had a good shot of making a career from his singing.
* Matthew West was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Original Music & Lyrics for “The Heart of Christmas” from the film of the same name. In addition to his own successes, his songwriting credits include cuts by Rascal Flatts, Billy Ray Cyrus and Diamond Rio.
* Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick first gained success in 1985 with the release of the single “The Show” and its even more popular B-side, “La Di Da Di,” which featured Rick (then known as MC Ricky D) rapping over Fresh’s beatboxing. An early hip-hop classic, the song has been sampled by multiple artists.
* Bald from the chemotherapy to fight her breast cancer, Melissa Etheridge took the stage at the 2005 Grammy Awards to perform “Piece of My Heart,” a tribute to Janis Joplin. The performance inspired India.Arie to write “I Am Not My Hair” as a tribute to Etheridge.
* Little River Band was name-checked in the 2010 film “The Other Guys” when the character portrayed by Will Ferrell played “Reminiscing” while driving his Toyota Prius. The character played by Mark Wahlberg threw the CD out the window, but Ferrell played it again later, saying that he always had six identical LRB CDs in his car.
* On March 4, Hunter Hayes earned three certifications in one day from the Recording Industry Association of America. His No. 1 smash hit “I Want Crazy” reached double-platinum status, selling more than 2 million copies since its release. “Everybody’s Got Somebody But Me” and “Invisible” were both certified gold for 500,000 copies sold.
* Cole Swindell, known for the 2013 breakout hit “Chillin’ It,” may be singing more than his own singles. A prolific songwriter, he has scored hits for Craig Campbell, Luke Bryan, Thomas Rhett and Scotty McCreery, and he co-wrote Florida Georgia Line’s “This Is How We Roll.”
* Gregg Allman is both a founding member of one of the most important American bands of all time, the Allman Brothers Band, and a critically acclaimed solo talent. Though the band was obviously a group effort, Gregg wrote wrote many of the Southern rockers’ most memorable hits, including “Whipping Post,” “Dreams,” “Midnight Rider” and “Melissa.”
* Here Come the Mummies are rumored to be the unearthed undead from a 1922 archaeological dig in Tunis. More likely, they are a dectet of Grammy-winning studio musicians who found a gimmick (dressing in bandages) to keep their true identities under wraps.
* Though initially unpopular with critics, Stone Temple Pilots became one of the most commercially successful rock bands of the 1990s, selling nearly 40 million records worldwide and charting 16 Top 10 singles, eight of which peaked at No. 1. They won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1994 for the song “Plush” from the album “Core.”