By Julie Krienke
Staff Writer

DELANO, MN – This year’s concerts in the park series in Delano will feature six Wednesday night shows taking place throughout the summer.

A variety of musical performances will be offered to the public at the gazebo in Central Park in Delano.

All of the shows will take place at 6:30 p.m., except for the Aug. 10 concert, which will begin at 7 p.m.

In the event of rain, the shows will take place in the Delano Middle School auditorium.

The concerts are sponsored by the General Federated Women’s Club (GFWC) of Delano and Delano Community Education.

Wednesday, July 13: Ole Olsson’s Oldtime Orkestra

The first concert in the series will be given by a group of musicians who first met each other at Good Templar Hall in Minneapolis at one of Dick Rees’ Sunday evening social dances.

Now-a-days, the group plays Scandinavian music for old-time dancing or just plain enjoying.

The group plays fiddles, accordians, a pump organ, and guitars, and they sing some funny Scandinavian vaudeville songs.

Even though he has not turned up at any gigs, Ole Olsson of Snoose Boulevard fame is said to be the leader of this musical group.

Folklore has it that Ole owed someone a musical favor, so he was forced to search the entire state of Minneota looking for muscians to make a band.

In the end, he was able to put together this group of musicians.

Nothing has been heard from Ole since, but the band carries on, hoping one day he may appear.

The group plays for festivals and lutefisk feeds all around Minnesota and even make it out of the state once in awhile.

Wednesday, July 20: Galactic Cowboy Orchestra

The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra is a unique and powerful musical ensemble that fuses an eclectic mix of traditional bluegrass-edged tunes with jazz elements.

Their music is Chick Corea meets The Dixie Dregs meets A Prairie Home Companion.

The mix ranges from highly- accessible bluegrass tunes to extreme arrangements of East Indian ragas.

The instruments used by The Orchestra include guitars, fiddles, bass, and drums. This wide variety of instruments allows the group’s music to be enjoyed by people of all ages.

It is a new band that is already making a name for itself in the national music scene. Two of The Orchestra’s pieces were performed on A Prairie Home Companion in November 2008.

The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra’s first album, “Lookin’ for a Little Strange,” was released in November 2009.

Wednesday, July 27: Minnesota Percussion Trio

The Minnesota Percussion Trio has been performing for the past 17 years throughout the Twin Cities, greater Minnesota, and western Wisconsin, and will be at Central Park Wednesday, July 27 at 6:30 p.m.

This trio has been performing since 1987. In that time, the trio has had more than 1,000 performances in schools, libraries, museums, and fine art series.

The Minnesota Percussion Trio was honored in 1999 as the Artist of the Year, presented by Young Audiences of Minnesota.

Founding member Robert Adney has been a freelance percussionist in the Twin Cities for 31 years.

In that time, he has recorded more than 20 CDs with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra.

Steve Yeager, another member of the tio, is a percussionist and jazz vibe specialist who teaches, performs, produces, and writes music.

The third member of the trio, Eric Strom, is a dedicated educator and percussionist.

Strom is president of the Percussive Arts Society, Minnesota Chapter – a music service organization promoting percussion education, research, performance, and appreciation throughout the world.

Wednesday, Aug. 10: Bend in the River Big Band

The Bend in the River Big Band was formed in 1987 from alumni of Gustavus Adolphus College under the direction of Dr. Mark Lammers.

The group is a 17-piece big band with vocalists in the “traditional style.”

Songs by Gershwin, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Tommy Dorsey, and Woody Herman are played by the band.

The band recently released a new CD titled “Bad Habits, Good Intentions.”

Wednesday, Aug. 17: Hillbilly Cadillac

Enjoy the toe-tapping rhythms, melodies, and humor of Hillbilly Cadillac as they perform a concoction of country, old-time, folk, gospel, and bluegrass.

Wednesday, Aug. 24: Wobblebox

Based right in Delano, Wobblebox is a four-piece classic rock band that performs a blend of the most danceable rock, country, blues, and other tunes.

The song list for Wobblebox contains selections from Jerry Lee Lewis, The Rolling Stones, Big & Rich, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and many more.

Members of the band include Josh Perisian doing lead vocals and guitar, Scott Nelson doing vocals and playing the guitar and harmonica, Paul Larson doing vocals and playing the bass and fiddle, and Russell Dugger on the drums.