House Blend Band is back with featured singers

The House Blend Band will perform in Niwot again from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10, on Second Avenue in front of The Old Oak Coffeehouse. In this particular performance, the band will be featuring several singers during the concert, including Zack Collins, one of the Old Oak's baristas, bands from The Niwot Gig, and Evelyn, band leader Micheal Tomich's granddaughter. In addition to the featured singers, the band will also be adding new music to the set list.

"This year, we have several different new songs," Tomich said. "There'll be two or three new songs during this concert that we've never played before."

Tomich also expressed concerns about the air quality for the concert, due to the wildfires in Colorado, but the band is planning on persevering in the hopes that the conditions will be better by then.

"We were rehearsing last night, and me and my daughter were having a hard time singing because of the air quality," Tomich said, talking about one of the practice sessions the band did last week during the worst of the fires. "So much so that we are thinking of changing a few notes that are hard to reach for me... I worry about the air quality for everybody, so yeah, it's a bummer, but we're going to go ahead and go forward with it because, depending on rain or wind, it can be really clear."

Since Tomich's granddaughter Evelyn did not get to sing in the last performance, she will be featured in the first half of the August concert.

The second featured guest will be a band of students from The Niwot Gig music school, who will be playing during the House Blend Band's intermission. The band is called Night Owls, and has been playing in this summer concert series for two years.

The Night Owls consists of Cooper Edwards, the band's lead singer and guitarist, Emerson Smith on drums, Maxwell Acton on bass, and the music director, Martin Marks, who will be on the keyboards. The Night Owls will also be performing at the September performance as well, weather permitting.

"[The Night Owls] were beginners two years ago and this is where they are now," Marks said. "This is what the school does, it teaches through playing songs and performing live. These particular guys... really [do] their work on their own and you can really tell this band is sharp. It's impressive for a band this young, I think."

The final featured singer in the band will be Collins, who has been a barista at the Old Oak Coffeehouse over the summer. Collins is a student at Emerson College, studying theater and performing arts, and he will be starting off the second half of the concert with Tomich and Patty Machen.