The Gasoline Gypsies headlining inaugural River Raisin Americana Celebration in Monroe – Monroe Evening News

MONROE — In September, when Ashleigh Glass-Cooper and Cody Cooper opened up applications for April 26’s River Raisin Americana Celebration, they got a huge response.
“We were thrilled to receive over 100 submissions, some from as far away as Portland, Oregon,” Glass-Cooper said.
The inaugural River Raisin Americana Celebration, which features six musical acts, will take place from 6:30 to about 10 p.m. April 26 at the River Raisin Centre for the Arts, 114 S. Monroe St. in Monroe. Tickets are $30 each plus a $3 processing fee. Buy tickets here or call the RRCA box office at 734-242-7722. All proceeds will benefit the RRCA and its programs.
Glass-Cooper, the event’s executive director, works for Monroe’s TWB Company. In college, Cooper began performing in pit orchestras at the RRCA. Today, both perform in the local band Blockhouse Valley.
Also assisting with the event is Scott Boberg, executive director of the RRCA. Boberg was hired in the fall to replace Mike Trapp, who retired. The River Raisin Americana Celebration is the first RRCA program Boberg helped plan.
„Scott Boberg is an incredible advocate for the arts and became a champion of this event from our first meeting,“ Glass-Cooper said. „Scott and his team have made sure that we have everything necessary to put on a great show at the theater and have worked so hard to make sure that it is a success.“
„With the Americana genre being a mix of rock, folk, blues, roots, country and bluegrass, we know that most people will have a strong connection to at least one of our acts that night,“ Glass-Cooper said. „Cody and I have been fortunate to attend a lot of festivals and concerts over the years, and last year I shared my vision for a different kind of festival with him. There are certainly many festivals throughout Michigan and the country that include Americana music and artists. However, most are not focused on Americana music specifically.“
Listen to music samples for all six River Raisin Americana Celebration acts here.
Four of the acts are from Michigan.
“They have a huge presence in Michigan and beyond. Their unique brand of Americana that melds rock, folk, bluegrass and country has entranced and inspired a large-scale following of fans that call themselves the ‚Vagabundos.‘ They are down-to-earth musicians who we’ve been listening to for years. So, when they applied to be a part of the River Raisin Americana Celebration, we were certain they would be the perfect headliners,“ Glass-Cooper said.
„We frequently play in Monroe,“ Glass-Cooper said.
Previous Coverage: California native Scott Boberg to lead Monroe’s River Raisin Centre for the Arts
The River Raisin Americana Celebration also will offer concessions, beer and wine sales and a 50/50 raffle that supports the RRCA.
„There will be a merch stand where the audience can purchase T-shirts, CDs, etc. to support the bands,“ Glass-Cooper said.
She’s hoping the River Raisin Americana Celebration will become a yearly event.
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„We have every intention of this being an annual offering for Monroe and something that people from southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio look forward to every year,“ Glass-Cooper said. „If the support from the community is there, we would love to grow this into a larger festival event, but we’ll work towards that dream one step at a time.“
For more information about the River Raisin Americana Celebration, visit the website, Facebook or Instgram,@riverraisinamericana.
— Contact reporter Suzanne Nolan Wisler at swisler@monroenews.com.

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