Fridays on the Promenade, a weekly live music concert at the Roth Fountain in downtown Sioux City, will kick off next month.  Here is a lineup and bio of the bands slated for the event.

June 12 - Kelly Richey
Kelly Richey has been described as "Stevie Ray Vaughan trapped in a woman's body with Janis Joplin screaming to get out." That's an apt appraisal of the Lexington, Kentucky native who's been based in Cincinnati for many years. Richey has often been compared to such greats as Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan because of her ability to capture and entertain an audience with ripping guitar leads that both sing and astonish. Richey's songwriting and vocals underscore her powerful, take-no-prisoners guitar playing, firmly expressing her genuine talent and versatility.

Since establishing her own label, Sweet Lucy Records, Richey has released 11 albums and a live DVD, as both a solo artist and as The Kelly Richey Band. Richey's involvement with music goes way beyond recording and performing. A longtime private guitar instructor, in 2003 Richey began developing a Guitar Workshop and a Blues History program to take into the schools. In 2004, she became an "Artist on Tour" with the Cincinnati Arts Association, and in 2005, was added to the Kentucky Center's artist roster. The following year, Richey created Music for Change, a non-profit committed to music education in today's public schools.

The Everett Smithson Band plays an interesting variety of music as well as standards that have a unique spin on them and many delightful originals. They play Zydeco (swamp rock), Rock and Roll, Country, Blues and Rockabilly. The band members have played together for several years and when they get together on stage they really tear it up with their solid rhythms and red hot instrumentals. The band keeps their sets up tempo to appeal to dancers.

They have become a popular pick for entertaining at Festivals, Cookoffs, Town Celebrations as well as Bars, Nightclubs and Parties for the past several years. With male and female vocals, harmonica, accordion and a standup bass, the Everett Smithson Band has a very different appeal than what most people are use to seeing. Their mission is to keep things upbeat, have fun and make the crowd happy! This band will take you on a musical journey from the Southside of Chicago to Bourbon Street and dip into the Delta for an entertaining evening of music and fun.

"Big James" Montgomery got his first taste of the blues when as a young teenager he would stand outside of a club on the southside of Chicago and listen to B.B. "Big Voice" Odum sing with Billy Branch and the Sons of Blues. Eventually, he was allowed to sit in with the band and as the old saying goes, "The rest was history." After playing with Little Milton and Albert King for several years, Montgomery and his sidekick Charlie Kimble joined the famed Buddy Guy's Blues Band.

They performed all over the world with the master bluesman, with the highlight being the "House of Blues Barnburner Tour" and a performance on the "Tonight Show" featuring Jay Leno. Today, Big James fronts one of the hottest blues/funk bands in the land. His trombone play and powerful vocals make every show a jumping dance party. The band consists of his long time friend Kimble and other seasoned Chicago bluesmen who can lay down a fresh twist to the popular Chicago sound. Be on the lookout for this young and exciting bluesman.

Fronted by brothers Dick and Dave Pruitt on bass and electric guitars, with Michael Cherry on drums, the Bel Airs play a danceable mix with an authentic but eclectic bluesy-countrysoul-and-rock-n-roll sound influenced by the likes of Wilson Picket, Slim Harpo, Howlin' Wolf and Johnny Cash. Performing together for more than 20 years, the Pruitt brothers' harmony vocal style sets them apart in the contemporary music scene. David's "big guitar" and Dick's howling vocals over soulful, right-on rhythm playing make this trio a powerhouse.

Now based in Columbia, Missouri, the Bel Airs are easily one of the hardest working and most entertaining bands in the country. These veterans have delivered some of the hottest dates at legendary clubs around the globe. They are perennial favorites in the US and British Virgin Islands and recently began building a following in Europe with performances in France, Corsica, Belgium and the UK. Their musical approach and superbly crafted showmanship make for a more than memorable concert wherever they appear. "The Bel Airs deliver killer dance grooves, seamless medleys, and a contagious, unpretentious party spirit." Twin Cities Reader

More than 200 shows a year. Jubilant fans who follow him from Minnesota to Mexico. More than 70,000 albums sold. A crushing liveperformance DVD and a nightclub named after one of his songs...Meet GB Leighton, a band named after one of the region's most incendiary live performers and consistently solid songwriters, Brian Leighton. Through more than a decade and nine studio albums, Leighton and his six-piece band have been tearing up rock clubs, church fundraisers and even a few fan's living rooms with a slew of songs that connect with the heart and couples singing along out on the dance floor. "I'm just a common guy, a working class kid from a Twin Cities suburb who loves to put on a good show and hopefully write some good songs in between", says Leighton.

His tenth album, Shake Them Ghosts, is Leighton's finest effort to date. Longtime fans wonder if this is the one to break him out nationally. But whether or not that happens, Brian's doing what he does best, rocking the house. People might wonder how a big national audience might shake things up. But one thing's sure: Brian Leighton was born to it.

Pert' Near Sandstone is a hard-driving stringband from Minneapolis and St. Paul. Gathered round an old-timey microphone, the boys play well-crafted original stringband material, as well as being purveyors of many songs from the old-time and bluegrass traditions. They are a riot to see live--this ain't no shirt and tie bluegrass music--this is high-octane, gritty, stringband music that's sure to get you outta your seat and keep you dancing all night... With the release of their newest album, "Needle and Thread" the boys are continuing to take their music out on the rivers and roads of the country as a part of the revitalization of the American stringband tradition.

In the band's 2 year history they have created an incredible pace, already making friends and playing with national acts such as Darius Rucker (formerly of Hootie and the Blowfish) Joe Firstman (Carson Daly Show), Robert Randolph, Ben Kenney & DJ Killmore (Incubus), Rehab, Days of the New, Kamasi Washington & Steve Bruehner (Snoop Dogg) and more. The band has played all different shapes and sizes of gigs ranging from coffee houses, packed clubs, arenas, 14,000 people festivals to singer Isaiah playing on Last Call with Carson Daly to millions of late night TV watchers.

 In this short amount of time Liquid Thin has been there and done it, proving that in any situation they will bring the one thing they know best, an incredible live show and always more than enough soul. Liquid Thin is a fusion rock band that prides themselves on presence, energy and showmanship while still maintaining poise and professionalism. The incorporation of jazz, rock, blues and hip-hop feels enables the band to show many different facets and emotions throughout the live show.

Seamlessly blending their rock and Celtic influences into a high energy, anthemic and lyrically poignant mix, the band whose lineup since 2002 includes co-founder Keith Roberts (vocals, guitar), fellow Dubliner Brendan Holmes (bass, vocals), American-born members Bob Boulding (guitar, vocals), Chas Waltz (violin, keyboards, harp, mandolin, vocals) and Dave Ingraham (drums, percussion)--jumps energetically from ballad to barn burner, documenting as they go the vibrant yet chaotic world they find themselves in.

Keith Roberts and Paul OToole first met on L.A.'s vibrant pub scene circa late 80s at a time when Roberts was composing some Irish ballads and thought casually about assembling a rag-tag team of fellow Irish transplants and like-minded American rockers. From their humble beginnings at the Irish Rover, the band evolved through various personnel changes into a pugnacious, crazy but coolly irresistible force of nature. The Young Dubliners have over the years become notorious for the whirling jig pits that erupt at their live shows. The Young Dubliners have headlined or co-headlined major US tours with the likes of Jonny Lang, Collective Soul, Great Big Sea and many more. The power and energy that infuse their must-see live performances keep them in high demand for many of the largest festivals around the country and the world.