Wednesdays will sound very good this summer at Valhalla Tahoe. The Valhalla Summer Concert Series on the lakeshore off Emerald Bay Road in South Lake Tahoe has 13 shows, each on a Wednesday with the exception of one show on a Sunday and another on a Tuesday night. Ten of the concerts are in the Valhalla Boathouse Theatre, and three are on the Valhalla Grand Lawn.
Tickets go on sale May 1.
Valhalla’s longest-running event, the Tahoe Improv Players, will appear three times. A children’s program Young Shakespeare Program will be presented.
“Silent Sky,” a story about 19th century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt and other women scientists, will be the summer’s theater production. Also, the playwright competition, Word Wave, will return.
Americana duo Jenni Charles and Jesse Dunn of the Dead Winter Carpenters open the music series June 15 with a show on the Grand Lawn. Red Dirt Ruckus, a West Slope jamgrass band with reggae stylings, will be on the green July 31.
Achilles Wheel will be the only returning outdoor band from last season, which was interrupted by wildfire smoke and an evacuation.
“Achilles Wheel is really excited to be playing on the Grand Lawn at Valhalla state park again this summer,” guitarist and songwriter Paul Kamm said. “It just so happens that we wrote some new songs since then.”
Tim Snider and Wolfgang Timber opens the first of nine consecutive Wednesday night shows on July 6 in the Valhalla Boathouse Theatre. A barefoot fiddle player, Snider toured nationally for years with Nahko and Medicine for the People. He recently moved back to his native Reno. During the live-show lockdown he formed a unique world folk band comprised of players from various local bands.
A group of indigenous musicians from the Four Corners region, D’DAT – Delbert Anderson Trio, will play July 13. The instrumental jazz and funk band plays originals and covers from Thelonious Monk and Chick Corea.
“The hottest band in the Wasatch,” Pixie and the Partygrass Boys (July 20) played this year’s WinterWonderGrass Festival. The soulful string band features ukulele player and lead singer Katia “Pixie” Racine.
Eric Henry Andersen (July 27) is a pop songwriter/keyboardist who previously appeared at Valhalla with his band The Novelists. His solo chapter includes a five song EP, “Holding Space.”
Spike McGuire started a monthly event, Loud as Folk in Sparks, Nevada, in 2011, helping kindle music careers for numerous guest players. The event debuted at Valhalla in 2019 to a huge success. LAF returns Aug. 3 with headliners Lauren Napier and Vic Ruggiero, the 1991 founder of internationally acclaimed ska band from Manhattan, The Slackers.
The Renegade Orchestra is coming to Valhalla to perform as a rock and roll symphony that’s been often described as, “Face-melting.”‘ With 25 in the band, it might be stage-bending as well.
“We’re going to cram everyone in and it’s going to be a fun time,” cello player Rebecca Roudman said.
The old-timey Earles of Newton are a perfect fit for the atmosphere of the Tallac Historic Site. A 2021 appearance was smoked out. The band calls its sound “Swing Dixie” and its co-lead singer Chad Conner Crow “General Madness,” who said, “We are the feral rebels of this jazz culture attempting to bring the folklore and style to a new generation with swift and elaborate solos, modern subject matter and great dance appeal.”
Jimbo Scott String Band has guitar, fiddle and cello, and Scott sings a classic country timbre reminiscent of Randy Travis. The Aug. 24 appearance could be a summer highlight. Finally, on Aug. 31, a band that plays in a nearby festival (we guess it’s High Sierra) will perform. The announcement will come after the festival. If this is the new normal, that’s cool. We could use more music and fewer fires and pandemics.
Ticket prices are reduced for Valhalla members. For show information, go to https://valhallatahoe.showare.com/
-Tim Parsons
Music concerts
Valhalla Grand Lawn
Wednesdays from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Tickets: Tables available for reservation 6-person $180, 2-person $80. Lawn seating is free.
June 15: Jenni Charles & Jesse Dunn of Dead Winter Carpenters
July 31: Red Dirt Ruckus
Sunday, Aug. 14: Achilles Wheel Trio
Valhalla Boathouse Theatre
Wednesdays from 7:30 to 10 p.m.
Tickets: $35
July 6: Tim Snider and Wolfgang Timber
July 13: D’DAT – The Delbert Anderson Trio
July 20: Pixie and the Partygrass Boys
July 27: Eric Henry Andersen
Aug. 3: Loud as Folk – Lauren and Vic
Aug. 10: Renegade Orchestra
Aug. 17: Earles of Newtown
Aug. 24: Jimbo Scott String Band
Aug. 31: TBA (but they’re really big)
Tuesday, Sept. 13: Julian G
Comedy
Valhalla Boathouse Theatre
General admission: $10-25
Tuesday, June 14: Tahoe Improv Players
Tuesday, July 5: Tahoe Improv Players
Tuesday, Aug. 2: Tahoe Improv Players
Wednesday, Sept. 28: Matt Donnelly – The Mind Noodler
Theater
Valhalla Boathouse Theatre
Time: 7:30-10 p.m.
General admission: $25
‘Silent Sky’
Dates: June 23, 24, 26, 30 and July 1 and 2
‘Word Wave’
Date: Saturday, Sept. 11
Special events
Friday, July 29: Will’s Kids, featuring Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival’s D.G. Menchetti, Young Shakespeare Program, on the Valhalla Grand Lawn
Nov. 18-20: Valhalla Holiday Fair in the Valhalla Grand Hall