Scott Tady: Zelienople's got cool bands; Monaca's record store gets makeover

You couldn't really swap a chestnut mare for an Appaloosa gelding at Zelienople Horse Trading Days.

But you can watch cool bands, drink frosty beverages, eat fresh local food and browse local vendors' tables at the July 20-22 street festival in downtown Zelienople.

Preserving its name from Zelienople's more equestrian-minded era, the 59th Horse Trading Days offer small-town charms and substantially known bands.

It's free to watch Thursday's performances by Pittsburgh's favorite national anthem singer Jeff Jimerson, and his pop-rock band Airborne, and popular Cranberry rockers The S'Wearin' Hats.

Also free on July 21 is Celtic rockers Low Kings and R&B-soul-rock crowd-pleasers No Bad Juju.

"If I didn't book No Bad Juju, people would run me out of town," joked Horse Trading Days director Matthew Edwards.

Last year, Edwards brought in as headliners internationally known Celtic band Gaelic Storm. Riding that momentum, this year he lassoed Eve 6, known for Billboard Top-30 hits "Here's to The Night" and "Inside Out," for which anyone who listened to alternative-rock radio in the late-1990s can and will sing along loudly to the "wanna put my tender/heart in a blender" chorus.

To see Eve 6's performance July 22, general admission tickets are $30 at horsetradingdays.com. The local support, act Jonathan Fisher & the Slow Blink, plays alt-rock.

Eve 6 frontman Max Collins is exceptional on Twitter − absolutely unfiltered yet still funny − so he ought to have amusing things to tell his fan base about Horse Trading Days.

The event includes a cornhole tournament and a Saturday morning dog show (which I would have paired with a pony show).

There's also a Coney Island style hot dog eating contest where 10 competitors get 10 minutes to gobble as many hot dogs as they can.

"It's the coolest and simultaneously most disgusting thing you'll ever see," Edwards said.

Local merchants will sell items on the sidewalk.

"We have a wide array of vendor spaces," Edwards said. "This isn't a homeshow with like construction businesses − though we have a place for that as well − our vendors have physical products on site."

And since this is Zelienople, and not Beaver, you can stroll into ShuBrew craft brewery and buy a cold brewski to-go that can be enjoyed while strolling through the festival.

As for horses at Horse Trading Days? You might see a Lil Sebastian sized one at the petting zoo, and the 5K race runs right past a stable.

"If you haven't been to Zelienople in awhile, we encourage you to check it out," Edwards said. "There's no better time."

Allman Bros. fans unite

Squirrel Hill native and New York Times best-selling author Alan Paul heads back to Pittsburgh on July 27 to speak and sign his new book "Brothers and Sisters: The Allman Brothers Band and the Album That Defined the 70s."

Featured recently on NPR's “All Things Considered” and in The Wall Street Journal, Paul will appear at Cinderlands Warehouse craft brewery in the Strip District, discussing the impact the Allman Brothers had on 1970s politics and culture, and the surprising ways that seminal Southern rock band continues to influence today. Timed to the 50th anniversary of the band's best-selling release, "Brothers & Sisters," Paul's book contends the Allman Brothers played a key role in Jimmy Carter's presidential election and paved the way for today's celebrity media culture.

Cinderlands Warehouse is at 2601 Smallman St. The brewery will pour a special peach-infused IPA, tying into the Allman Brothers' "Eat a Peach" album.

A few other Allman Brothers-related events are happening locally, including a July 25 show at Stage AE starring jam band Gov't Mule led by Allman Brothers guitarist Warren Haynes. And there's a July 29 show at Hartwood Acres with Allman Brothers pianist Chuck Leavell celebrating the 50th anniversary of the legendary Watkins Summer Jam concert that featured The Band, The Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead. This event raises money for Backline Care, a nonprofit providing mental health resources for musicians and music industry workers.

Monaca record store gets fresh look

InnerGroove Record Store in Monaca completed a spiffy renovation last week.

Beaver Valley's haven for vinyl records, InnerGroove now has a roomier display area with wooden shelves that make it easier for record browsers to flip through stacks of exciting-sounding wax. From A-Ha to Zappa, blues to industrial, classic masterpieces to obscure gems, InnerGroove has got vinyl lovers covered, with the cool ambience of an '80s record store.

When I visited last week, there was a customer from Atlanta in town for business buying up records. A recent Air BnB guest in Monaca wrote in their lodgings' guest book that one of the best things about their stay was shopping at InnerGroove.

Tell your Pittsburgh friends to check out InnerGroove at 1307 Pennsylvania Ave.

Ghost Hounds rock on

Pittsburgh blues-rockers Ghost Hounds released a new single, “Last Train to Nowhere,” this weekend.

The fiery “Last Train to Nowhere" appears prominently in the July 23 debut episode of the Paramount+ series "Special Ops: Lioness" starring Zoe Saldana and Nicole Kidman. Inspired by a real U.S. military program, the Taylor Sheridan drama follows Joe (Saldaña) trying to balance her personal life with her CIA job combating terrorists.

Catch Ghost Hounds keyboardist Joe Munroe, from Center Township, leading the Aug. 12 "Greatest Hits from The '80s" concert at Linn Park in Beaver, with a special appearance by Ghost Hounds singer Tre Nation.

Ghost Hounds' fourth studio album, "First Last Time," arrives July 28, via Gibson Records.

Remembering Don Kennedy of Beaver

Beaver native Don Kennedy, who had a prominent career in TV and radio from the 1940s through the 2010s, died this month at age 93.

Kennedy began as an announcer for Sharon, Pa. radio station WPIC-AM (790) in the late-1940s, moving on nationally to NBC Radio Network’s "Monitor."

He ended up in Atlanta portraying the beloved Office Don character who hosted children's show "The Popeye Club" on a local TV station from 1956-69. In the 1980s, he began hosting "Big Band Jump," a nationally syndicated radio program featured on Pittsburgh's WJAS-AM (1320), and later took TV voice roles, including regular appearances on Cartoon Network's "Space Ghost Coast to Coast."

Times' entertainment editor Scott Tady is at stady@timesonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Zelienople's got cool bands; Monaca's record store gets makeover