Music fest to rock Depot Park

Top country, rock and bluegrass bands of the last 20 years come together for a full weekend of live music for the Montana Music Festival this weekend in downtown Whitefish.

Headlining the event are Southern rock pioneers The Outlaws, who perform Saturday, and country music hitmakers BlackHawk performing on Sunday.

“It’s a really great lineup,” said Kevin Gartland, director of the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce. “There’s a little bit of everything — country and rock. We’re trying to mix it up a bit and give people their money’s worth.”

The Outlaws are considered one of the top Southern rock bands of all time, known for their blazing triple lead guitars and instrumental jams. Along with the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd, they are credited with creating the Southern rock genre.

BlackHawk is known for a string of hits on country music charts during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The group made a name for itself with their debut smash “Goodbye Says It All” that sailed to No. 1. With a dozen top-10 hits including two number ones to their credit, they continue to write and record new music. Their new album “Down From The Mountain” was released last year.

This year the festival has added a third day of concerts.

Gartland said this is part of a continued effort to stretch the summer season into September.

“We want to make the last weekend of summer one of the strongest possible,” he said. “We’d like to see strong events every weekend through mid-October.”

The music festival begins Friday, Aug. 31 with the popular Montana Band Midnight Jam at the O’Shaughnessy Theater. The Montana Band features original band members Rob Quist, Mark Wittman and Jerry Zalnoski, along with David Griffith, Craig Davey and Halladay Quist. The Kayla Adams Band opens the show at 8 p.m.

The lineup for Saturday’s concert in Depot Park begins with the Flathead’s own Kenny James Miller Band at 2 p.m. The Knockouts, featuring legendary blues guitarist “Johnny V” Vernazza and acclaimed keyboard player Austin deLone, follow.

The Outlaws close Saturday’s show with a 5:30 p.m. set.

Sunday’s afternoon show begins with Moonshine Mountain, a “outlaw jamgrass” band, at 2 p.m. at Depot Park with BlackHawk taking the stage at 3:30 p.m.

The Montana Band & Friends will close the show with a 5:30 p.m. set, remembering the 25th anniversary of the tragic plane crash which claimed the lives of five band members in 1987.

Tickets for Friday’s show are $25 in advance or $30 the day of the show. Tickets for performances on Saturday and on Sunday are $30 in advance and $35 the day of the show for each day’s event.

Tickets are available at the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce and Whitefish Credit Union branches in Whitefish, Columbia Falls and Kalispell. For tickets and more information visit www.MTmusicFest.com or call the Whitefish Chamber at (406) 862-3501.