Blues musicians Rick Franklin & the Delta Blues Boys and the a capella group Reverb will kick off this year’s Eastern Market Music Series May 4. The free concerts will add to the lively street fair atmosphere at the historic Eastern Market as the musicians perform on the plaza outside Port City Java at Seventh Street and North Carolina Avenue SE.

The Eastern Market Music series presents a sampling of the Washington area’s best blues, bluegrass, jazz, contemporary and international musicians. The free concert series, which began last summer, is set to run through June 29; returning again from Sept. 7 through Oct. 12, after a summer break.

“We want to continue reminding everyone that Eastern Market is alive and open for business,” said Nicky Cymrot, president of the Capitol Hill Community Foundation, the organization that is sponsoring the music series. “And all the merchants and exhibitors are looking forward to the additional excitement of having these live musicians at the market again this year.”

“Not only does this year’s music lineup represent great variety,” said Donna Fletcher, who booked the musicians, “but they’re also music award winners.” This year’s lineup includes nearly 40 musicians who won or were nominated for 2007 Wammies, which are awarded by the Washington Area Music Association.

“The musicians are enthusiastic about helping Eastern Market through these concerts,” Fletcher said. “The plaza is a perfect setting for the musicians. There are plenty of chairs. And there’s even room for an impromptu dance, if the spirit moves.”

Many of the musicians live on Capitol Hill. Local residents perform in Reverb, Honky Tonk Confidential, Dead men’s Hollow, Archie’s Barbershop Jambassadors, the Capitol Hillbillies and Rio Garage.

“We were thrilled at the reception we received last year and are looking forward to this year’s performances,” said Parker Jayne, another Capitol Hill organizer of the free concerts. “Eastern Market Music is a great way for people to enjoy the market – some people stopped to listen to the free performances on their way to buy something at the market, and some people just came and stayed all day listening to the music.”

Eastern Market merchants who operated in the South Hall were displaced when fire destroyed the historic market in April 2007. These merchants have been operating since August 2007 in the temporary “East Hall,” which the city built across from Eastern Market on Seventh Street SE.

A full schedule of this year’s Eastern Market Music series, including performers, dates and times, is available at www.capitolhillcommunityfoundation.org.

The Eastern Market Music series is sponsored by the Capitol Hill Community Foundation (www.capitolhillcommunityfoundation.org). The foundation established the Eastern Market Fund with two goals: assisting the displaced merchants and seeing that the Eastern Market building is fully restored and functioning again as the center of Capitol Hill community life.

CHCF was founded in 1989 as an all volunteer organization. It is funded entirely from contributions from the community and others. The foundation has awarded over $4 million in carefully targeted grants to local schools, charities, arts groups and other neighborhood organizations, funding schoolbook purchases, tree plantings, musical performances, sports programs and many other efforts. The foundation has also launched several major initiatives, including a thriving neighborhood history project, an awards dinner recognizing individuals for distinguished service to the community, an awards program recognizing enduring contributions to Capitol Hill's urban landscape, and the School Libraries Project, the renovation of eight public school libraries in our neighborhood.