When the musicians of Kalamazoo Avenue Band take center stage at Dowagiac’s Summer in the City Festival Thursday evening, July 28, their black suits with skinny black ties, fedora hats and Wayfarer sunglasses are sure to exemplify images of one of America’s iconic bands of the 1980s – The Blues Brothers.

Appearing for their second time in Dowagiac as the Beckwith Park Summer Concert Series overlaps with Summer in the City, Thursday’s concert by Kalamazoo Avenue Band opens at 7 p.m. during what organizers are calling Huntington Night, which pays tribute to the four-time underwriter of this community’s 12-week concert series.

As Dowagiac’s three-day summertime bash celebrates its 26th year, Kalamazoo Avenue Band will present an electric, high-energy Rock, Rhythm and Blues Revue, featuring music by Chicago, The Beatles and The Blues Brothers.

Summer in the City, which is staged in the central business district and presented by the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce, features 47 hours of vocal, instrumental and dance exhibitions, family events and Sizzlin’ Hot Sidewalk Days.

The festival opens Thursday morning and continues through Saturday, as family events kick off daily at 10 a.m.

The three-day event has been underwritten by a $10,000 fine arts grant awarded to the Dowagiac Downtown Development Authority from St. Denys Foundation, and by 26 corporate and activity sponsors that include Dr. Charles Burling and Dr. Jon Gillesby, Creative Vinyl Signs, Edward Jones and the Office of Kim MacGregor, Family Fare, Frontier Communications, LADD, Leader Publications, Lyons Industries, Dr. Alan Montgomery and Southwestern Michigan College.

Vickie Phillipson, program director for the Chamber of Commerce and DDA, who oversees scheduling and fundraising for both the 12-week concert series and the July festival, said she is pleased to present the Kalamazoo Avenue Band, which is known for its high-energy tribute productions of some of the most iconic groups of this generation.

The band will perform from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Haggin-Wimberley Bandstand, where audience members will enjoy a complimentary ice cream social and drawings in conjunction with Huntington Night.

Phillipson said several personnel from the Dowagiac branch will be on hand for this special evening of music.

“Kalamazoo Avenue’s forte reflects the American blues and soul revivalist band, The Blues Brothers, which was founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live,” Phillipson said.

The original Blues Brothers outgrew the confines of the television screen, releasing the 1978 album Briefcase Full of Blues, which was followed in 1980 by the Hollywood movie, The Blues Brothers.  The album’s success is credited with sparking a renewed interest in the genres of blues, R&B and jazz, especially in a new and much younger audience.

“Since then, there have been many takeoffs and parodies of the Blues Brothers, with Kalamazoo Avenue Band being among the best in southwestern Michigan,” Phillipson said.

Due to the size of the band, with six to eight members strong, Kalamazoo Avenue Band has the instrumentation to perform music that many bands are unable to.  Phillipson said Thursday’s audience will also hear musical tributes to The Beatles and Chicago, and music from the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s, as musicians feature a full horn section and rockin’ classical rock-n-roll.

Lead guitarist Greg Crawford, who also plays bass, rhythm, harmonica and piano, picked up his first guitar when he was 10.  By 13, he joined his first rock band.  When he was 15, he formed a concert band, began writing his own music, cut two 45s and began playing only concerts.  A music graduate of Western Michigan University, he operates a music publishing and production company.

Crawford and his long-time friend and fellow musician, Sam Rastoskey, who plays drum, harmonica and guitar, have performed together since the age of 13.

In later years, together they went on to share the same stage with such leading artists as Bob Seger. Trombonist and vocalist Blake Driver, who picked up his first horn at the age of 11, always dreamed of playing in a rock group like his favorite group, Chicago.

In a sense, his dream came true as the trombonist and vocalist for Kalamazoo Avenue Band, which is also known for its tributes to Chicago.

As a band director for the public schools, Driver also performs with classical orchestras, jazz big bands and chamber ensembles.

While vocalist and bass player Terry Marlatt took piano lessons as a child, he admits it wasn’t until the Beatles hit it big that he was hooked on music.

He also plays guitar and flute.

Like Crawford and Rastoskey, saxophonist Phil Nager’s path into music can be traced back to his early years in elementary school, when he played clarinet.

After studying music at Interlochen and playing in the Wind Ensemble and Concert Band at Central Michigan University, he went on to perform with classical orchestras, jazz big bands, chamber ensembles and community theater productions.

This tenor vocalist thought it would be great to play in a blues group with a “good” horn section.  As a member of Kalamazoo Avenue, that desire has been realized.

Rounding out the regulars who perform with Kalamazoo Avenue is Leonard Duke on guitar, bass, tuba, flute, trumpet and keyboard.  Fellow musicians say “The Duke” is at his best when performing one of his beautiful solos or adlibs.

For a full schedule of events for Dowagiac Summer in the City Festival, visit www.DowagiacChamber.com, where the festival brochure appears online.