Every Friday and Saturday evening during the summer, the Mariposa County Arts Council hosts Music on the Green Summer Concert Series in downtown Mariposa’s outdoor Art Park. These free concerts begin at 7pm and feature folk, bluegrass, rock, jazz, reggae, country, and world music bands hailing from the Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, and San Francisco Bay Area, bringing together both local and visiting concertgoers of all ages. This program is produced by Andy Roberts.
Music on the Green
modified for 2020
After careful deliberation, we’ve decided to modify this year’s Music on the Green Summer Concert Series. To minimize any possible risk to Mariposa County residents, local and traveling bands, and visitors, we won’t be holding live public concerts at the Mariposa Art Park, but in the spirit of live performance, four bands will stream Facebook Live concerts through the Mariposa County Arts Council’s Facebook page throughout the summer:
- Scott Patrick on Friday, May 29
- Nicholas Lefler on Saturday, June 13
- Nathan Ignacio on Friday, July 17
- The Jespersons on Saturday, August 15
Live streams will begin at 7 p.m. and people viewing will be able to tip the musicians from a link on the stream. We will direct every penny donated during the concerts to the respective musicians and we encourage people to tip generously. Artists and arts organizations, especially performing artists, have been hit particularly hard by COVID-19 so we hope you can tune in, enjoy some live music in the comfort of your own home, and support our local musicians.
Friday May 29
Watch Scott Patrick’s Concert
Indie-folk/country artist making waves from his hometown in Mariposa to Nashville. With his former duo, “Cottonwood Creek”, Scott set the all-time Music on the Green attendance record, and we’d like to show him some love back!
Saturday June 13
Watch Nicholas Lefler’s Concert
A self taught Master of Spanish and Classical Guitar, Nicholas is one of our most loyal Music on the Green performers. Without his busy gig schedule, he’s been live streaming his gorgeous instrumentals to quell anxiety and promote peace for his nationwide-listeners.
Friday July 17
Nathan Igancio
Nathan is a one man traveling roadshow band and a talented multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter whose stomping ground stretches across the central California music scene. He hasn’t let this closure stop him – he’s transformed almost every gig he was scheduled for into free live streams from his porch at home!
Saturday August 15
The Jespersons
When not blessing Sierra Nevada crowds far and wide with their intimate, vocal/string style duets, Kaye and her husband Jared hussle hard serving at local steakhouse 1850. Both their industries have been hit hard during this closure; tune in to show these lovelies some support!
Special thanks to producer Andy Roberts and to the following sponsors: Mariposa History Museum, Carol Johnson and Sue Overstreet.
Special Thanks to
Our 2019 Sponsors
Performances are made possible by support from Mariposa County, the California Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts and the following loyal sponsors:
| Carol Johnson | Restful Nest Bed & Breakfast | Xav Dubois & Sean Aiken | Dewey Family Trust | Saralynn Nusbaum & Don Melcher |
Music on the Green and Cousin Jack
Known as a “One Man Happiness Festival”, Cousin Jack Franklin was a minstrel, street musician, promoter, “tuistinairist” and beloved by the community! Born in Iowa in 1929, Cousin Jack came to San Jose in the late 30’s. He played big band trumpet in the late 40’s and 50’s, owned the famous “Jack’s Record Cellar” in San Francisco, he was a long-time member of the “Marsh Flat Ramblers”, a folk singing group in the Bay Area, and a regular performer with the Harvest Festival for 15 years. In 1989 he opened Cousin Jacks Music/Dolls by Alinda in Mariposa.
Cousin Jack loved Mariposa, and loved making Mariposa visitors remember their trip-sharing samples of gold, coins from all over the world, balloon sculptors and spontaneous performances, Cousin Jack was instantly loved. In gratitude to Cousin Jack and Alinda, for being a positive representative of Mariposa, sharing their smiles, spirit, good cheer, support, energy and expertise so generously, Cousin Jack was named “Honorary Mayor” and Good Will Ambassador for Mariposa.
Cousin Jack’s birthday celebrations were a time of year to gather the community, play some music, have fun, and raise funds in support of organizations such as the SPCA. This free-spirited musician, who picked a 1920’s Montgomery Ward Parlor acoustic guitar, dulcimer, harmonica and that throwback banjo, played for anyone who would listen! Cousin Jack could play “Mary had a Little Lamb” on virtually any instrument for local youth. He spent many hours volunteering in the schools giving free music lessons to children, and supported many local organizations.
Photo by Jeannine Andre
Cousin Jack and a group of business owners influenced the County to purchase vacant land on Hwy 140 and 4th Street to become an Art Park. Cousin Jack’s dream became a reality in 2004 with the new Mariposa County Art Park. It is a beautifully landscaped natural amphitheater with a small stage. For the 2005 celebration for Cousin Jack, the Mariposa County Arts Council was pleased to dedicate our Summer Music series in his honor. Music on the Green is well known as: “Cousin Jack’s Music on the Green”
