Emily Rose and the Rounders look forward to connecting with live audiences for tonight's Oasis Music festival show at the Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHELLE AND CHRIS SLATER
Emily Rose has never performed at the historic Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs, but it already feels like home to her.
Her band Emily Rose and the Rounders, a country music group in the style of George Jones, Patsy Cline and Waylon Jennings, will open for Grammy nominee The Milk Carton Kids Thursday night (May 12) at 7. The band has several connections to the desert, including family.
Rose is just one example of the eclectic lineup you can choose from at the inaugural Oasis Music Festival, which opened May 11 and runs through May 15. Expect jazz, swing, soul, hip hop, country, rock, a variety of Latin styles, indie folk and more at 15 venues, including the theatre. Among other festival venues are Cascade Lounge at Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs, Blue Coyote Bar and Grill, Chill Bar 21+, Oscars Palm Springs, Row House, and Palm Canyon Roadhouse.
Rose is excited to be part of this first-ever festival, and engaging a live audience. “It’s nice to be able to have a good time again,” says Rose. “Now, more than ever, we’re so disconnected (due to Covid) on so many levels of our lives, so collaboration and sharing good times with people is even more meaningful than before.”
What can they expect?
“We’re always a little raw, the music is emotional but also fun to dance to, so hopefully people who are coming out to Oasis Music Festival will get into the spirit and let a little loose with us,” Rose says. Their songs cover grief, lost love, and women’s empowerment but they aim to show that even in tough times, people can “dance, sing and make ourselves whole again.”
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY COURTNEY CHAMBERS
Courtney Chambers, who performs May 14 at the Oasis Music Festival, played at Coachella this spring.
There are several bands performing at the Oasis Music Festival that are familiar to the desert music scene. Courtney Chambers and her band perform at a variety of desert venues, including at Coachella for the first time this year. See her in Oasis Music Festival on May 14, as part of a block of local musicians, including Blasting Echo.
On Sunday (May 15), jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater, pianist Bill Charlap and bassist/composer Christian McBride, host of National Public Radio’s Jazz Night in America, are among Grammy and Tony award winners in the line-up. All three will perform May 15 at the Plaza Theatre as part of the Palm Springs International Jazz Festival lineup.
Presented by Agua Caliente Casinos, Oasis Music Festival will both raise awareness for and donate a portion of their proceeds to benefit the restoration of the Plaza Theatre, which has been empty since 2015 but previously over nearly 90 years has been home to radio shows, follies, and film premieres since it opened in 1936 on South Palm Canyon Drive. The City of Palm Springs hopes to raise $12 million to restore the 800-seat building.
For tickets and more information, go to oasismusicfestival.com.
• READ NEXT: Learn How the Plaza Theatre Established its Roots in Palm Springs.