Chris Daniels and the Kings headline this week's Rock & Rails

Thursday's Rock & Rails headliner is familiar to many attendees, with proven performers who can get the audience up off of their lawn chairs, abandon their picnic baskets and onto the dance floor. It will be the popular Chris Daniels and the Kings, the beloved Colorado Music Hall of Fame inducted band, which has played its rock and blues-based music in venues throughout the world.

They will be preceded by the opening act, Gunbarrel acoustic guitarist Dean Himes, a 2022 Colorado Country Music Hall of Fame inductee. Himes is well known and popular in the area, having played numerous venues in Niwot for First Friday Art Walks and other events.

The pair of HOF entertainers should be a highlight of the summer music season.

Daniels said that while this booking was earlier in the Rock & Rails schedule than they usually play, they are very excited. "It's one of our favorite gigs," he said. "It's the audience - we love them. They applaud after solos, they get what we're doing. It's like playing a concert in Carnegie Hall, but outside."

The group is planning to make some changes to the lineup that should keep their audience entertained. "We have new tunes, some are old from the Freddi Henchi band era that we have put back on the list. These include "Under Pressure," an old tune that we completely reworked." he said.

Fans should also expect both a family event and a concert that's heavy in dancing and interaction."The Kings are a band about entertainment and putting on a show," said Daniels. "That's what we've always done, but I think we just do it better than ever now."

He shared that the band members like to keep things loose when they're on stage. They typically know the first and last songs they are going to play, but everything else stays in the moment. The band likes to make things up as they go, and every solo and every ad lib is just a bit different than the time before.

"It's like a jazz band. We're there to communicate with the audience," said Daniels. "To communicate with each other. And if something magical starts happening, the band is following that along. And the audience is interacting with that person, and then it goes to a higher ground."

He added, "You never get the same show twice. It's like the Grateful Dead, but with a horn section."

Improvs, Grateful Dead comparisons and all, Niwot's audience is ready for Chris Daniels and the Kings June 8.