Red Wanting Blue to headline JD Eicher’s Songfest

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

JD Eicher’s annual Summer Songfest will take place Aug. 24 with headliner Red Wanting Blue, plus the Shootouts, the Labra Brothers, Nashville artist Paul Pfau (who appeared on NBC’s “The Voice” in 2015), and of course, Eicher and his band.

Now in its fifth year, Songfest is a family-friendly summer street festival at which the bands take an acoustic approach to their music. It takes place on South Champion Street, downtown, in front of and adjacent to Soap Gallery, with the loading dock next door as the stage. The event includes a bar and food vendors.

Tickets are $12 in advance at jdeicher.com/songfest ($15 at the door; free for children under 12). Gates open at 3:30 p.m. Some seating will be available, but guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs.

A VIP package is available for $50 that includes a reserved seat the pre-show event with Eicher the night before at Quaker Steak and Lube in Austintown; a Songfest V poster, a $10 gift card from Quaker Steak that can be used that night; and a Songfest pass that includes early entry.

Eicher will release “The Compass EP” on March 7 and has a record-release show planned that day at Christman Hall at Stambaugh Auditorium. Tickets are $20 and available at jdeicher.com.

After that, Eicher and drummer Dylan Kollat will embark on a 16-city tour of Germany and Austria. Eicher toured in Germany last year, but this will be his first run there as a headliner.