SummerSounds Toubab Krewe

SummerSounds is a free series of exciting and interesting concerts under the stars in Greensburg's beautiful downtown St. Clair Park. The concerts are produced by dedicated volunteers on behalf of The City of Greensburg. Emphasizing high standards of contemporary musicianship in a family atmosphere, this series has been called "the best outdoor music series in Western PA."

Our concert series has always been known for its diversity in sound and the calculated risks we take with bands like Gjallarhorn, Cello Fury and Dr. Draw. 

Those of our fans with discerning, eclectic taste let us know when we’ve intrigued and inspired them. And in our 20 years of music perhaps no band has struck a greater chord with fans that expect the unexpected than Toubab Krewe. 

Begun by two teenagers from Asheville, NC, Justin Perkins and Drew Heller, Toubab (meaning stranger, foreigner, traveler in different African languages) came from Heller’s and Perkins’ burgeoning interest in West African rhythms and percussions. Their fascination led them to travel to Guinea and Mali, where Perkins was drawn to the kora, a 21-string harp-lute formed around a large gourd. He became a student of Lamine Soumano in Mali, and while traveling back and forth between Asheville and Bamaki, Mali, their band, Krewe, emerged, becoming regulars at Bonnarroo, High Sierra and other jam band sanctuaries. 

This is music that requires attention and a suspension of some of the usual expectations of rock. Patience is essential, to absorb a slowly building melody, on kamelongoni or kora or guitar, while a rhythm of kit and percussion rolls, and pushes the melody on. Or, sometimes, the beat starts and leads the rest. There are echoes of African greats like Ali Farka Toure, or Seattle greats like Jimi Hendrix, that inform and instruct this Krewe. When you hear a band so well versed in what African music can do, you will understand what fascinated Paul Simon so much that he recorded “Graceland.”