Residents and music fans are invited to a day full of live performances, original tunes and a farewell to longtime local act Fourwayfree at the Aug. 19 Morgan Hill Summer Jam.
Spearheaded by Jeff Nunes, Morgan Hill resident and lead guitarist for Fourwayfree, the “original music festival” will take place from 12 to 8 p.m. at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center amphitheater, 17000 Monterey Rd.
Admission to the festival is free. Vendors at the festival will be on hand to sell a variety of beer, wine, food and merchandise.
Local and regional acts in the lineup include The Fast Lane Band, Just Chill, Cadent, and Time and Pressure.
Nunes said the idea of the festival was conceived when he was talking to his bandmates about “calling it a career” and playing a farewell performance in Morgan Hill. The band originated in Los Angeles in 2001, and Nunes joined as lead guitarist in 2005.
Since then, Fourwayfree has played seven nationwide tours, including renowned events and venues such as the Summerfest in Milwaukee, the Playboy Mansion, and “every main stage along the Sunset Strip” including the House of Blues, the Key Club, the Troubador and the Roxy, Nunes said.
“Because I grew up in Morgan Hill, and returned to live here in 2004, the group started performing here at the end of 2005, and over time has adopted this area as a second home,” said Nunes, who works as a lawyer in Morgan Hill. “We have played many shows in the area including four sold-out performances at the Morgan Hill Playhouse and Sobrato Performing Arts Center.
“Our connection to Morgan Hill, including recording part of one album and an entire other album here in town, led us to want to hold our last show here, and to make it a free show, as a thank you to the people here who have supported us for these past several years,” Nunes continues.
From there, the band members began talking to potential sponsors including downtown music supply store The Music Tree (whose owner, Darin Dixon, happens to be a former member of Fourwayfree) and the idea of a farewell concert expanded into the festival now scheduled for Aug. 19, Nunes said.
Also taking the stage during the Summer Jam will be acoustic acts, including Callie Nunes (no relation to Jeff) who Jeff Nunes described as an “up-and-coming Americana/country artist,” and Scott Garcia “another locally well-known musician.”
The event will be co-sponsored by the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce and the Morgan Hill Downtown Association.
Chamber director Tim Hennessey said the two organizations share a common interest of promoting local businesses, so it made sense for them to share sponsorship of the Summer Jam.
Other sponsors include the Morgan Hill Youth Sports Alliance, Studio 13, the Music Tree, Audix Microphones, Rusconi, Foster, Thomas law firm, BookSmart, State Farm, and Boulder Creek guitars.
