Beginning in May, Saturday mornings will start off with free yoga at 10:00 am under the River Journey Pavilion. BYOM (bring your own mat) and enjoy the Chattanooga Community Yoga class along the beautiful Tennessee River.

Matt Downer, from Chattanooga TN, performs traditional old time music on fiddle, banjo and guitar. Growing up on Sand Mountain, AL, he learned to play music from his grandfather and the elder musicians of the area. A veteran performer, he has played at various venues and festivals including – Rock City, Tivoli, Nightfall, Riverbend and the International Stringband Festival, performing with legendary artists such as – Carolina Chocolate Drops, Pokey Lafarge, Jack Rose, Michael Hurley and Norman Blake. His most recent album was recorded without electricity, directly to wax cylinders, on a 1906 Edison Gramophone at the MTSU Center For Popular Music. A performance by Matt is a trip back in time to the “good old days” of early American music.

Beginning in May, Saturday mornings will start off with free yoga at 10:00 am under the River Journey Pavilion. BYOM (bring your own mat) and enjoy the Chattanooga Community Yoga class along the beautiful Tennessee River.

Maria Jordania has been a musical force in Chattanooga for several years. Her sound is constantly evolving, from the cool jazz and funk sounds of Smooth Dialects, to one of the voices behind Tennessee’s Dead. As a fan, you don’t want to look away because you might just miss the next installment of Maria’s fascinating career. A commanding stage presence, fashion icon when she walks in a room, a Maria Jordania (LVNDR) is a show not to be missed.

With their own fawnky take on bluegrass, Blue Cumberland will have you singing and dancing your cares away!

New Grass Express is a popular band based out of Chattanooga, Tennessee, who began their extraordinary journey playing bluegrass music together in 2011. This energetic group of very experienced musicians/singers play hard-driving contemporary and traditional Bluegrass/Gospel music capturing the very essence of the bluegrass genre’ and beyond.
Additionally, their sincere gospel message along with their “honor tribute” to all Veterans and Active-Duty Service members alike, sets them apart as a musical group during each and every performance. Their distinctive harmonies, coupled with their “fast pickin” undoubtedly makes even the staunchest of listeners tap their toes and smile. Their intention is to touch hearts, lift spirits and hopefully take the audience away from the world’s stresses that encompass everyday life.

Chattanooga multi-instrumentalist and mountain dulcimer maestro Butch Ross has tackled everything from Radiohead to Bach and come away with a renewed appreciation for what the humble dulcimer is capable of. No genre is off-limits, nor is there a limit to what Ross has envisioned for this specific instrument. The dulcimer is an unassuming thing, with a handful of strings and a history that feels embedded in the lineage of countless Appalachian musicians. But Ross has taken it and made it something more, something remarkable and versatile. His music is born from his respect for its abilities, a respect born from the years he’s spent prying apart its pieces and discovering new sounds where none existed before. It is this groundbreaking and iconoclastic approach that caused ukulele-virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro to comment, “Now I know what a dulcimer is supposed to sound like.”

Beginning in May, Saturday mornings will start off with free yoga at 10:00 am under the River Journey Pavilion. BYOM (bring your own mat) and enjoy the Chattanooga Community Yoga class along the beautiful Tennessee River.

Chattanooga multi-instrumentalist and mountain dulcimer maestro Butch Ross has tackled everything from Radiohead to Bach and come away with a renewed appreciation for what the humble dulcimer is capable of. No genre is off-limits, nor is there a limit to what Ross has envisioned for this specific instrument. The dulcimer is an unassuming thing, with a handful of strings and a history that feels embedded in the lineage of countless Appalachian musicians. But Ross has taken it and made it something more, something remarkable and versatile. His music is born from his respect for its abilities, a respect born from the years he’s spent prying apart its pieces and discovering new sounds where none existed before. It is this groundbreaking and iconoclastic approach that caused ukulele-virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro to comment, “Now I know what a dulcimer is supposed to sound like.”

Opal Entertainment is an acoustic indie-folk duo hailing from the Midwestern plains of Minnesota, now living in Nashville, TN consisting of Aidan Driscoll and Olivia O’Neil. Their catalogue of original music shifts back and forth between heartfelt ballads and catchy, upbeat folk tunes. Aidan’s intricate instrumental work, Olivia’s warm vocals, and their story-driven lyrics makes for an evening of fresh new music that continues to advance the indie-folk genre. You’ll often find their audiences going from a state of pondering to smiling from ear to ear and dancing around within the same song.

Opal’s music is inspired by alternative folk bands like, Wild Child, Mumford & Sons, and The Oh Hellos with lyrical and melodic hints towards the giants of the silver age of jazz like Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, and Billie Holiday, making it a fusion of everything you love.

Opal Entertainment first started sprouting in the minds of Aidan and Olivia in early 2016 when the two of them were taking a creative writing class with an emphasis on short stories. One of their classmates wrote a story about a woman named Opal who belonged to a town with two feuding sides. Opal wanted to reunite this town by bringing them together with a music festival.

That idea of uniting a community through music stuck with both Aidan and Olivia for many years before the idea of the two of them starting a collaboration even came to mind. Opal was more than just a cool band name for Aidan and Olivia, it represented an idea of a creative community dedicated to unity, creativity, and celebrating the joys belonging to something bigger than oneself.

Beginning in May, Saturday mornings will start off with free yoga at 10:00 am under the River Journey Pavilion. BYOM (bring your own mat) and enjoy the Chattanooga Community Yoga class along the beautiful Tennessee River.

Maria Jordania has been a musical force in Chattanooga for several years. Her sound is constantly evolving, from the cool jazz and funk sounds of Smooth Dialects, to one of the voices behind Tennessee’s Dead. As a fan, you don’t want to look away because you might just miss the next installment of Maria’s fascinating career. A commanding stage presence, fashion icon when she walks in a room, a Maria Jordania (LVNDR) is a show not to be missed.

Beginning in May, Saturday mornings will start off with free yoga at 10:00 am under the River Journey Pavilion. BYOM (bring your own mat) and enjoy the Chattanooga Community Yoga class along the beautiful Tennessee River.

Beginning in May, Saturday mornings will start off with free yoga at 10:00 am under the River Journey Pavilion. BYOM (bring your own mat) and enjoy the Chattanooga Community Yoga class along the beautiful Tennessee River.

Matt Downer, from Chattanooga TN, performs traditional old time music on fiddle, banjo and guitar. Growing up on Sand Mountain, AL, he learned to play music from his grandfather and the elder musicians of the area. A veteran performer, he has played at various venues and festivals including – Rock City, Tivoli, Nightfall, Riverbend and the International Stringband Festival, performing with legendary artists such as – Carolina Chocolate Drops, Pokey Lafarge, Jack Rose, Michael Hurley and Norman Blake. His most recent album was recorded without electricity, directly to wax cylinders, on a 1906 Edison Gramophone at the MTSU Center For Popular Music. A performance by Matt is a trip back in time to the “good old days” of early American music.

Nick Tabron is a Singer- Songwriter from Raleigh, North Carolina and has recently been establishing his roots in Nashville,TN. Nick makes music that encompasses sound from slide guitar and lively upbeat production to a stripped down soulful performance with just him and his guitar accompanied with powerful vocals. Pulling from personal experiences an the call to spread positivity Nick seek to inspire generations to come. His most recent single “Brown Eyes,” is describes as an heartfelt unexpected jolt of optimism to life.

Shani Hedden Palmer is a prominent professional vocalist based in Chattanooga, Tennessee who has been performing regularly for 31 years to rave reviews. She has been the singer of several Nashville songwriter demos, many famous musicals, the Patsy Cline catalog, and all kinds of contemporary music through the decades. Shani’s musical tastes are quite varied and she, when singing solo to tracks or with her Shani Palmer Electric Band, truly offers something for everyone!

Beginning in May, Saturday mornings will start off with free yoga at 10:00 am under the River Journey Pavilion. BYOM (bring your own mat) and enjoy the Chattanooga Community Yoga class along the beautiful Tennessee River.

I became attracted to playing music at the age of 9 while emulating television advertising jingles on my father’s dusty guitar. At about 11 years old, and after listening to a lot of traditional country radio and tunes like “Misty” and “East Bound and Down”, I became highly interested in the 5 string banjo. I quickly realized that at least in our part of Oklahoma, a teacher was not to be found (no internet, no youtube in those days)! Doing the best we could, my parents finally helped me to settle on music theory classes taken from an elderly jazz piano player. He found and gifted me my very first set of steel banjo picks! As I progressed, I quickly had to change from those pointed Ernie Balls to a rightful set of Nationals. I probably still have those first picks…somewhere.

I spent the majority of my early teenage years listening to AM 650 WSM Nashville and WBAP 820 in Fort Worth, while at the same time playing in various local bluegrass bands. That was a time when my best music memories were made. I was very blessed to have performed with many of the greats. From local opry’s to the stages of Nashville, Tennessee, it was a golden time in my learning and experiences.

My music career has taken on many configurations over the years from bluegrass bands, southern rock, traditional country and gospel groups. In 2022, I completed my long awaited first album and EP titled “Joel Scarbrough Singer Songwriter.” This record features songs that all tell stories of life. From a young age and growing up on a farm, to breakups, and of course loneliness. The contemporary light rock piece “Who Made the Light” is a song about this blue marble that we all inhabit and a one sided discourse on where it all came from. I’ve always been a writer, and there’s something refreshing about putting that ability to file and letting other instrumentalists follow your lead.