WYEP Summer Music Festival is an open-air concert held on the last Saturday in June. Our annual festival is currently held in Schenley Park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh near the University of Pittsburgh campus. It is a day-long celebration of national and local music on the Emerald Lawn at Schenley Plaza. The WYEP Summer Music Festival is free and open to the community; no tickets are needed.
The WYEP Summer Music Festival is financially supported by your membership and sponsors who support independent radio programming and community initiatives in Pittsburgh. The 2022 WYEP Summer Music Festival is presented by UPMC Health Plan and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.
The music styles are as diverse as the community we serve, covering a variety of genres and song styles. The last festival held in 2019 was headlined by Devotchka (indie folk) and featured performances by Cautious Clay (R&B-Hip Hop), Nevada Color, and Clara Kent. Clara is a local Afro-Indigenous singer-songwriter whose genres include soul, jazz, blues, and hip-hop who was voted the Pittsburgh Musician of the Year in 2020. The Festival performers also include participants from the WYEP Reimagination Project which provides a unique approach to music education for high school teens from the Pittsburgh region looking to hone their skills, learn about the music industry and prepare to launch musical careers.
The first Summer Music Festival was staged in 1998 in partnership with The Andy Warhol Museum and continued running annually at various venues around Pittsburgh. The festival shifted to Schenley Plaza in 2008 and has been held there ever since. 2022 marks 25 years since the debut of the festival, which has featured artists such as Soul Asylum, Sinead O’Connor, Jason Isbell, and Valerie June.
2022 Featured Musicians
“If you like your music wrapped in big pop hooks and ‘perfect for chanting’ choruses, then Jukebox the Ghost will make you a very happy listener. The trio’s songs bop and rock on foot-stomping rhythms, driving piano melodies, and harmonies that invite you to join in. The music is so relentlessly joyous that you may not notice when the band takes on moodier subject matters; try not to sing “we were wild, we were wasted” with abandon. “Cheers” is as anthemic as any Queen song and sounds like an homage to Freddie Mercury and his bandmates.” – Rosemary
“The collective power of the Shreveport, Louisiana outfit can be felt both musically and lyrically from the first few moments of the band’s third release, ‘Love & Algorhythms.’ It’s a show of a collision of genres, sounds, and styles that all converge to create a soul-gospel-dance celebration. Lead singer, AJ Haynes, has been able to find the key and unlock the joy in signing about the struggles many, including herself, are facing. The album’s themes cover areas of Black feminism, astrology, and Haynes’ work as a counselor in Louisiana. Take the band’s advice, and try to find joy in the moment, while experiencing music that moves you.” –Kyle
“Bill Deasy is an extraordinary craftsman, and a dedicated, detail-oriented storyteller. His songs, with their literary sensibility and flowing melodies, create stories about characters struggling to understand themselves and the world they’ve created. “If The Creek Don’t Rise” is a deep dive into this singular and yet universal struggle. It is beautifully produced and expertly played; Deasy’s voice is the perfect vehicle to express both the strength and vulnerability presented in his songs. He’s chosen wisely in collaborators, working with trusted talented musician friends. Several of the songs are co-written with the grossly underappreciated songwriters Kim Richey and Maia Sharp, both of whom offer backing vocals.” –Rosemary
"The Living Street are a Pittsburgh alt-folk duo featuring Nick Guckert and Edward Angelo. Formed in the summer of 2017 in their hometown of Lower Burrell, The Living Street quickly caught the attention of music fans in western Pennsylvania and beyond with their well-crafted songs about navigating the unpredictable world we live in. Nick and Edward have built a passionate fanbase around the country through endless touring and catchy, emotional songs that tug on listeners’ heartstrings.
From the burger joints of Lower Burrell (where they say they officially met) to burger joints, backyards, and clubs all over the United States and Canada, The Living Street have enchanted, intrigued, and soothed the souls of all those who have found their music. The pair – who were named WYEP’s Pittsburgh Artist of the Year in 2021 – have released two albums and a handful of singles over the last 5 years and plan to release their next full-length album in 2023." –Joey
"Sierra Sellers is a Pittsburgh treasure. Her cool, confident delivery just feels right, no matter where you find her. Whether she’s gracefully calling the shots on a stage in the sun or pouring her heart out in a dark and dusty club, Sellers has a knack for keeping every ear and every eye in the room locked on her.
Sierra Sellers has a musical dexterity that few can match, moving her souled-out croon between playful rhythm and blues and funked-up barn burners propped up by her incredibly adroit band. Sellers has released several singles over the last 5 years along with the luminous EP Ophelia, inspired by her time spent living in Oakland. Her latest single, “Sentimental,” is a song about not wanting to talk about feelings while feeling everything, featuring a guest verse from Cleveland rapper WesWill." –Joey
Ashley Marina is an artist in this year’s WYEP Reimagination Project Cohort. This singer-songwriter’s appearance on America’s Got Talent Season 15 has garnered 100+ million views across digital platforms and on YouTube trended at #5 worldwide and is in the top 1% of the most viewed AGT videos of all time. Ashley has 15 original songs to date including three #1 singles in “You’ll Always Be My Hero”, “Move a Mountain” and “Trust Somebody”. Her accolades include being named as a 2021 She Wolf Radio Ones 2 Watch Future Star, 2020 MÓB Radio Artist of the Year worldwide, TalentWatch Dream Night Champion, National Talent America Tri-Star Award Winner, and two-time Williams SING-OFF Finalist.
She has been featured on television shows such as CBS Pittsburgh New Year’s Eve Highmark First Night, KDKA’s Pittsburgh Today Live and WPXI’s See & Be Seen and in many media outlets like the Huffington Post, Billboard, ET Canada, iHeart Radio, FRUDY, Super Power Kids, EXTRA ORDINARY KIDS and Stars 2 come. She has performed on stages such as “Christmas with Chris Jamison, NBC’s The Voice Finalist”, Opry Mills Nashville, D2D Destiny Foundation “We Are The World” Mini Concert, Harlem Globetrotters World Tour halftime show, opening ceremony for the world’s 1st BRICK makerspace by LEGO, CMA Fest Nashville Spotlight Showcase, WPXI Holiday Parade and is a regular National Anthem singer for professional sporting events including Major League Baseball, USL Professional Soccer, West Virginia Derby, and Championship Boxing.
You listen to WYEP to discover new music, hear old favorites, and learn about upcoming concerts and events in Pittsburgh. And all of it—every note, every performance, every program—is made possible by and dependent on the contributions of generous independent music fans in our community – our members! Support from our members is crucial in bringing you events like Summer Music Festival and keeping them free for all to enjoy.
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Thank you to our Members and WYEP Summer Music Festival Sponsors:
Platinum Sponsor
Gold Sponsor
Silver Sponsors
Site Sponsors
