'Rock The Bronx' Summer Music Series Begins This Weekend

The Bronx Music Heritage Center has announced the latest slate of "Rock the Bronx" summer concerts on the plaza outside the Bronx Music Hall (438 East 163rd Street). The series features emerging artists from the borough and the surrounding area that span various genres bringing a variety of new sounds to the South Bronx throughout the summer. The series will be emceed by Marco Soccoli. Soccoli is a New York City music mainstay who played drums for the band the Roxx, and managed the drum departments at Sam Ash Music and Manny's Music on 48th street's legendary music row. Soccolli also has deep roots in the music industry as he has worked as a representative for Vic Firth Drumsticks, D'Addario Strings, Regal Tip Drumsticks and Evans Drumheads providing gear for many musicians in the jazz, rock and Latin music scenes.

On Saturday, June 25th, at 3:00pm, the series kicks off with two performances. Leading off the series is Blackfort, a duo of artists hailing from the Bronx influenced by soul, rock, hip-hop, blues and Afro-Punk. Following up is Black Lotus Band known for their melding of soul, jazz, rock and R&B. The band is comprised of vocalist, songwriter and guitarist Duo Greene from Manhattan, keyboardist Sean from the Bronx, bassist and guitarist K$tuss from Brooklyn and drummer V from Long Island.

On Saturday, July 23rd, at 3:00pm, two women-fronted acts will pack the plaza. Francesca Lamantia Savoy from A Multitude of Drops will start the show. Francesca and her band play both electric and acoustic music and formed in the Bronx in 2019. Then, Left in the Attic, another Bronx-based trio will perform their style of garage band rock. They feature Jacks on guitar, Crissy on bass and Murphy on the drums. The band members met in high school and have been performing together since 2008.

On Sunday, August 21st at 3:00pm, singer-songwriter and performer Duriex will close the series. They will be joined by other performers to be announced later in the summer.

"The Bronx has a history of being the nexus of important music scenes-from being the cradle of hip hop to the center of salsa music," said Elena Martinez, co-artistic director of the BMHC. "The young musicians in this series are carrying that banner into the 21st century playing rock and R&B on their own terms, revitalizing the music scene of the Bronx.

Each performance is presented in partnership with The Underground FLC and The Fox and King. Seating in the plaza is limited, so attendees are welcome to bring lawn chairs. In the event of inclement weather, the performances will move inside the Bronx Music Heritage Center, located at 1303 Louis Nine Blvd, at 4:30pm.

Events on the Bronx Music Hall plaza are free. For those unable to attend in person, a livestream will be available on the BMHC's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bxmusic/. For more information, call (917) 557-2354.

These events are just three of the many cultural events by the BMHC. The BMHC's Bronx Rising! Series is a multi-disciplinary series that brings the Bronx's cultural riches, past and present, to life through music, comedy, film screenings with Q&As, poetry readings, and spoken word events. The Bronx Living Legends series commemorates the contributors to the borough's unparalleled musical heritage throughout the decades from doo-wop to hip-hop to Latin jazz. The BMHC also features classes and exhibits year round illuminating the rich and diverse cultural legacies of the borough that are known throughout the world.

The BMHC is run by the nonprofit Women's Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDco). Earlier this year, WHEDco received a $2.5 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to complete construction of the Bronx Music Hall, which will be the future home of all BMHC programming when it opens later this year. The 14,000 sq. ft. music hall will be the first newly constructed music performance venue to open in the Bronx in more than a half century. It will offer a variety of flexible indoor and outdoor spaces for concerts, film, dance, live theater, and spoken word events, as well as music and dance classes, serving 20,000 in-person audience members and students annually at full capacity post-pandemic.

For the last decade, BMHC's programming has been held primarily at the BMHC Lab, a storefront space at WHEDco's Intervale Green affordable housing development.

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