Clark performs at Festival tonight

SANDPOINT — Gary Clark Jr., a 21st-century rock 'n' roll messiah, will take to the Festival stage Friday as the annual summer concert series continues its first week of music.

Clark will perform tonight. The performance is a standard show, meaning the area in front of the stage is standing-room only.

Steeped in the grand tradition of the American songbook, Gary Clark Jr. has emerged as a blues virtuoso blending reggae, punk, R&B, hip-hop and soul — and re-shaping the genre in the process.

While Clark has been doing his thing since he was a kid in Texas, he first made global waves in 2014 following his first Grammy Award: Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Please Come Home” from his 2012 debut "Blak And Blu." Clark ascended to greater heights in 2019 with his third full-length album, "This Land," praised by everyone from The New York Times, Washington Post and Rolling Stone. The sensual and socially conscious work would hit No. 6 on the Billboard Top 200, Clark's third consecutive Top 10 debut.

Clark topped bills at festivals and venues like the Hollywood Bowl, made appearances sharing the stage with The Rolling Stones and performed at the White House for the Obamas. In 2020, Clark cleaned up at the Grammys, taking home Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song (“This Land”), and Best Contemporary Blues Album. He performed “This Land,” backed by The Roots, during the ceremony, releasing the live version as a single.

To date, Clark has six Grammy nominations and four wins. He has performed on national TV, making stops at Saturday Night Live, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and more. Clark is working on a follow-up to "This Land," continuing to experiment and push the possibilities of American roots music.

The annual summer concert series, scheduled this year from July 27 to Aug. 6 at War Memorial, features a variety of music, from rock to jazz and from country to indie, and more.

Tickets to the general admission concert are $54.95 (before taxes and fees). Gates open at 6 p.m. and music begins at 7:30 p.m.

Information and tickets: festivalatsandpoint.com