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Music in the Mountains

For more than a decade, Music in the Mountains has been Montana’s finest free outdoor concert series, featuring the best up-and-coming touring musicians in the country as well as established, well-known artists. Our state-of-the-art venue (Center Stage at Town Center Park) provides the perfect backdrop for locals and visitors to come together and enjoy incredible live music under the Big Sky. These family-friendly concerts are held every Thursday from June-September starting at 6 p.m., and the series also includes our annual July 4 concert!

The park opens at 6 p.m. each week, and music starts at 6:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. and will be noted on each concert event listing. Each week enjoy rotating food and beverage vendors at Music in the Mountains. 

NO DOGS OR GLASS CONTAINERS ARE ALLOWED IN THE PARK.

TOBACCO USE IS PROHIBITED IN THE CONCERT AREA.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING!


2023 SCHEDULE

6/22 - Midnight North with emerging artist Flapjack based out of Bozeman

6/29 - Joslyn & the Sweet Compression with emerging artist Dammit Lauren! based out of Big Sky

7/4 - The Tiny Band with emerging artists DJ Jenn N Juice and DJ Take A Chance based out of Big Sky

7/6 - Paco Versailles with emerging artist Desperate Electric based out of Butte

7/13 - Jennifer Hartswick Band with emerging artist Emma and the Ledge based out of Belgrade

7/20 - Madeline Hawthorne with emerging artist Amanda Stewart based out of Bozeman

7/27 - Funk You with emerging artist MINT! based out of Bozeman

8/3 - TK & the Holy Know-Nothings with emerging artist Mike Murray Duo based out of Kalispell

8/10 - Matt Nathanson with the Freddy Jones Band with emerging artist Benn and Abel based out of Bozeman

8/17 - AJ Lee & Blue Summit with emerging artist the Timber Rattlers based out of Missoula

8/24 - Futurebirds with emerging artist The Dead and Down based out of Bozeman

8/31 - Jesse Daniel with emerging artist Marcedes Carroll based out of Belgrade

9/7 - Pinky and the Floyd


Thanks to the Spanish Peaks Community Foundation for supporting our Emerging Artist Series again this summer! This series showcases local and regional opening bands to the weekly concert audience by featuring the area's best up-and-coming talent!

Check out our 2023 Music in the Mountains Spotify playlist here!


METAL IN THE MOUNTAINS

INTRODUCING THE FIRST-EVER METAL IN THE MOUNTAINS EVENT

The Arts Council of Big Sky is adding one more event to this summer’s Music in the Mountains free summer concert series. This one, however, will have a different—and louder—flavor than the rest of the music presented so far.

On Thursday, September 14, the Arts Council will present Metal in the Mountains, an end-of-summer festival featuring three local heavy metal bands. The event includes Big Sky’s Scavenger as the headliner, with support from Belgrade’s Liquid Gnar and Big Sky’s own Stoneman’s Way, and will take place in Len Hill Park.

“We’ve been planning this for a few months and are super excited to announce this lineup to our Music in the Mountains series,” said Brian Hurlbut, the Arts Council’s Executive Director. “It will be great to showcase the area’s burgeoning heavy metal scene to a Big Sky audience.”

This year marks Scavenger’s 10-year anniversary since their first show at the Broken Spoke Bar in Big Sky. The riff-heavy metal band has played more than 150 shows since then at venues around Montana and beyond, showcasing their original material. Their first album, Cliff Manor, was released in 2018, and the quartet will release its second album later this year. The band members—which include Timmy Bowers on drums/vocals, Ben Blodgett on bass/vocals, Joey Mathis on guitar, and Brent Philippi on guitar/vocals—have been part of the Big Sky community for decades.

“We’ve seen many shows in the park and it’s very validating to us all to get to showcase our music on that same platform,” said Philippi. “We are aware people look at metal music differently, but we’re committed to staying true to ourselves artistically while at the same time changing a few minds when it comes to heavy metal music.”

Liquid Gnar is based out of Belgrade and recently won the Belgrade High School Battle of the Bands competition, which included groups from all over Gallatin Valley. The band is also performing at this year’s Rockin’ the Rivers Festival in Three Forks on August 12. The group’s latest single is Eye of the Sun.

Stoneman’s Way is a punk-influenced rock band based in Big Sky and Bozeman that released their debut album, Get It Right, earlier this year. The band frequently plays at venues around the area.

The park will open at 5 p.m., with Stoneman’s Way kicking things off at 5:30. Liquid Gnar will take the stage at 6:30, and Scavenger will start at 8 p.m. Like all Music in the Mountains concerts, the event is family friendly and there will be food and beverage trucks available. This event is presented by the Arts Council and the Rocks Tasting Room and Liquor Store with additional support from Big Sky Build, Herbaceous and Liquid Death.

PAST PERFORMERS IN THIS ACCLAIMED SERIES INCLUDE:

2005 ▸ Reggae Cowboys, Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart, Jeni Fleming Acoustic Trio, The Waybacks 2006 ▸ Eightrack Mind, Uncle Earl, Illsauce, Storyhill, Tom Freund, Too Slim and the Taildraggers 2007 ▸ Asylum Street Spankers, Eightrack Mind, Reggae Cowboys, Martha Scanlan, Billy Pilgrims, Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband, Left Ear Trio, Toubab Krewe, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Steam Powered Airplane 2008 *start of free Music in the Mountains Series ▸ Rob Quist and Great Northern, On the One, Flowmotion, Wailin’ Jennys, Jeni Fleming, Spring Creek Bluegrass Band, Feast, Delta Nove, Young Dubliners, Clumsy Lovers, Jawbone Railroad 2009 Seven Nations, Sam and Ruby, Corb Lund, Micky and the Motorcars, Patrick Sweany, John Reischman and the Jaybirds, Mingo Fishtrap 2010 ▸ Freddy Pink, Infamous Stringdusters, Ian McFeron Band, Young Dubliners, Dusty Rhodes, Lisa Haley and the Zydekats, Brothers of the Baladi, Orgone, Cold Hard Cash Show 2011 ▸ Freddy Pink, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Chuck Mead, Head for the Hills, The Mother Hips, The Black Lillies, Cold Hard Cash Show, Dave Walker Band, Keegan Smith and the Fam 2012 ▸ Freddy Pink, B-Side Players, The Black Lillies, Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers, Morgan Frazier, Clumsy Lovers, The Elders, John Reischman and the Jaybirds, Mike Beck and the Bohemian Saints, Cold Hard Cash Show, Pinky and the Floyd 2013 ▸ Freddy Pink, California Honeydrops, Eilen Jewell, The Deadly Gentlemen, Jeanne Jolly, Mountain Standard Time, Chuck Prophet, Lake Street Dive, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Dead Winter Carpenters 2014 ▸ The Slide Brothers, The Main Squeeze, Red Elvises, Dead Winter Carpenters, Della Mae, Fox Street, Black Lillies, Sweetback Sisters 2015 ▸ The Tiny Band, Sons of Bill, Incendio, The Suffers, The Whiskey Gentry, Corb Lund, Royal Southern Brotherhood, The Brothers Comatose, Euforquestra 2016 ▸ Black Lillies, Blitzen Trapper, Band of Heathens, Jamie McLean Band, Todo Mundo, Lukas Nelson, The Iguanas, Amy Helm, DeadPhish Orchestra, Fruition, Cure for the Common, The Tiny Band 2017 ▸ The Lil Smokies, New Orleans Suspects, The Quebe Sisters, Assembly of Dust, Dirty Revival, Turnpike Troubadours, The Last Revel, Deadphish Orchestra, Andy Frasco and the U.N., The Ghost of Paul Revere, Con Brio 2018 ▸ Kitchen Dwellers, Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal, Mandolin Orange, Joe Pug, Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, Polyrhythmics, Shovels and Rope, Cordovas, The Elders, Jeff Austin Band, Dustbowl Revival, Pinky and the Floyd 2019 ▸ Futurebirds, Halden Wofford and the Hi-Beams, The Commonheart, Orgone, Hayes Carll, Marcia Ball, Town Mountain, Mt. Joy, Honey Island Swamp Band, Ron Artis and the Truth, Pinky and the Floyd 2021 ▸ Steep Canyon Rangers, The Dusty Pockets, Sneaky Pete and the Secret Weapons, Magnolia Boulevard, Toubab Krewe, John Roberts y Pan Blanco, Dammit Lauren!, Laney Lou & the Bird Dogs, Erica Falls, The Waiting, Pinky and the Floyd 2022 ▸ Satsang, Fireside Collective, Jeffrey Foucault, The Tiny Band, New Orleans Suspects, Chancey Williams, Will Hoge, Southern Avenue, Tommy Castro and the Painkillers, Caitlin Krisko and the Broadcast, The Nth Power, The Last Revel, Pinky and the Floyd