St. John’s Summer Concert Series

With generous support from their fabulous slate of sponsors,  St. John’s welcomes thousands of folks for free evenings of song and dance on five Thursday nights throughout the summer!

The Summer Concert Series has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1997 with a  modest attendance of fewer than 100 fans. With 20 seasons under our belt, it is not unusual to have 2,000 fans gathered to enjoy one of our concerts during the season, with season attendance around 10,000.

July 19: Midlife Chryslers with opener: Ellen & The Old School

In 1997, a small group of physicians began gathering regularly to play music and relax. Bob Snider, Mac McClave, and Doug Ezell would play and sing old folk tunes and rock standards. After a while, they added two more doctors: Hal Forseth and Jim Epler. They had a great time and began to sound almost good. Paula McClave joined. Then for Christmas, 1999, their shifty wives booked them a gig! They panicked! They practiced! A lot!! They came up with a name. The MidLife Chryslers were born!

Epler retired from the band and late in 2000, Mark Moak joined as drummer. Just as they were getting going, the death of Bob Snider in March 2001 dealt them a major setback. After a few months off, however, the music and the spirit of Bob called them back and the Chryslers re-formed. With the additions of Russ Harvey and Cathy Hansen Brown, the MidLife Chryslers took another form.

In 2006, Mac and Paula left the band; Hal moved over to bass and Scott Millikan came on to share lead guitar with Russ. Then Cathy departed, and in April 2007, Holly Malloy Hanson joined the Chryslers as lead female vocalist. In 2008, four horn players joined the band, Laurel Linde on saxophone, Steve Patton on trombone, along with Laury Sealy and Kevin McBride on trumpets. Pianist/singer/songwriter Chris Smith is a newer addition to the Chryslers and is their lead male vocalist.