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Arts & Entertainment

Music at the Mansion: Michael Cleary Band

Middletown, CT.  The Friends of Long Hill Estate and the Long Hill Estate Authority with sponsorship from Connecticut Light and Power and Middlesex Mutual Assurance Company will host their tenth ‘Music at the Mansion’ season at the Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown  in  July and August. 

The season opens on July 11th will be The Bernadettes. On July 18th the Highland Rovers Band will perform.  Eight to the Bar will return on the 25th and closing out the season on August 1st will be The Michael Cleary Band.  The concerts begin at 6:30 and are free to the public.

Making their first appearance at the Music of the Mansion series are The Bernadettes. Those who have seen The Bernadettes perform live in their latest incarnation might be surprised to know that the Bernadettes started out in the early 1990s as a traditional-style blues band. The band soon began experimenting with their own unique versions of R&B classics. This evolved further with the addition of classic Motown hits, contemporary funk, soul, and R&B flavored rock songs to their large and varied, dance-oriented song list. The resulting mix has become the staple of the band's offering to live audiences. They were voted the best rhythm and blues band in the New Haven Advocate "Sounds of New Haven" 1996 readers poll, and also chosen by that paper as New Haven's #1 bar band. [www.thebernadettes.com]

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Also makeing their first appearance at the Masnion will be the Higland Rovers Band on July 18th.  The Highland Rovers Band fuses popular rock percussive rhythms, bagpipes, and vocal harmonies to create an intricate and fresh sound. HRB's multi-layered, upbeat, and danceable music showcases their universal, appeal to both mainstream modern rock lovers and culturally diverse audiences searching for a distinct Celtic flavor. [ www.highlandrovers.com]

Back by popular demand, Eight to the Bar will perform on July 25th. They were voted ‘Best Band 2008’ by Connecticut Magazine and ‘Best Jazz Band’ in the 2008 Hartford Advocate Readers Poll.    Drawing their musical influences from American roots music: swing, boogie woogie, rhythm & blues, soul, and Motown, Eight to the Bar is known for its outstanding its instrumentalists and sophisticated musical and vocal arrangements.  [www.eighttothebar.com]

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Making their third appearance at the Mansion on August 1st is The Michael Cleary Band. The Michael Cleary Band is a Hartford institution. They are celebrating their 20th year of making original Groove/Funk/Rock music with a twist and have been called Hartford's answer to the Allman Brothers. Their shows are filled with great songs, monstrous solos, epic jams, funky grooves and wacky humor. All in all, a diverse, joyous musical stew played and sung by talented musicians who love what they do.   [www.michaelclearyband.com]

 

All of the concerts will begin at 6:30 p.m.  The grounds will be open for picnicking at 5:30 p.m.  Parking will be at the Mansion, at the Wilbert Snow School, 299 Wadsworth Street, and at Mercy High School, 1740 Randolph Road.  Concerts will be held in light rain, or the threat of showers.  Concerts will be cancelled in electrical storms or threat to the wellbeing of the musicians or their instruments.  Information will be available on the Wadsworth Mansion website at www.wadsworthmansion.com 

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