DUMMERSTON — On Sunday, June 21, at 8 p.m., Simba celebrates the Summer Solstice of 2015 at the Evening Star Grange in Dummerston Center.
This annual music and dance party happens on the first day of summer.
In 1989, the band started by playing a benefit on the Brattleboro Common to shut down the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant; they called themselves the “No Nukes Band.” That group became Simba, and 26 years later, they have played on dance floors, lawns, and small town gazebos all around southern Vermont and New Hampshire.
The band will play funk, reggae, Latin, worldbeat, soca-calypso, ska, jazz and blues; and features horns and percussion.
Playing that night will be Dan De Walt (keyboard, steel drum, trombone), Derrik Jordan (guitar, percussion, violin, vocals), Steve Sonntag (trumpet, percussion), Steve Leicach (congas, talking drum, percussion), Jon Weeks (saxes, flute, percussion), Jared Shapiro (bass), Johnny Yuma (drums, vocals), and special guests.