Blackwater Railroad Co. will kick off the 2023 Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series at Soldotna Creek Park on Wednesday, June 7. The performance will run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., starting with openers Ben Jammin and the Jammin Band.

Blackwater Railroad Co. members Tyson Davis, Kyle Comeau and Ben Sayers said they would be bringing high energy folk music — “dancin’ music” — to the park next week. Davis is the lead vocalist, Sayers plays bass and Comeau is on piano. They’ll be joined by Leo Storm Ash on slide guitar and Matt Faubion on mandolin.

Each performance by the band this year is special. Davis said that this is their 10th year.

“It’s a culmination of 10 years of sharing our music, collecting stories and putting them into songs,” he said. “Having the energy of the midnight sun.”

This 10th year is a busy one; they played in Cooper Landing last week and will be in Girdwood and Homer this weekend. They’ve got a busy schedule posted on their Instagram account that describes sometimes multiple shows each week through the start of September.

That’s why they said it’s nice that the Soldotna Music Series is on Wednesdays.

“There’s only so many opportunities in a summer,” they said.

The group said that when they hit the stage on Wednesday, they’re hoping for sunshine, and they’re hoping to see the grassy space up toward the stage filled with “bare dancing feet.”

“It’s a thrill for us to be involved and playing this particular series again,” Davis said. He called the Soldotna Music Series an opportunity to engage with the entire central Kenai Peninsula.

The group also credited the series with being a part of growing a local music scene and enriching the community. Such an effort is important to the members of Blackwater Railroad. A local act out of Seward themselves, they said they enjoy participating and especially serving as this year’s kickoff.

Though the band traces their roots to the eastern Kenai Peninsula, playing in Soldotna has a special significance to Sayers, because it means returning home. He said it’s fun to play the hometown stage and “give back.”

Ahead of the first week of the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series, a color run will be held, starting at 4:30 p.m. at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and ending at the Soldotna Creek Park stage ahead of the start of the performance.

Admission to the concert is free, but food trucks, vendors and a beer and wine garden will be available.

For more information about the Soldotna Music Series, including a full lineup of the 13 weeks of performances, visit facebook.com/LevittAMPSoldotnaMusicSeries.

For more information about Blackwater Railroad Co., visit blackwaterrailroad.com, facebook.com/BlackwaterRailroadCompany, or find them @blackwaterrailroad on Instagram or TikTok.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.