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Santa Cruz band Wooster – a local favorite known for playing a lively fusion of reggae, soul, rock and blues – will perform a FREE concert at the 5th Annual Summit for the Planet festival on April 9 from 11:00am to 3:00pm. Event co-host Mount Madonna School is especially pleased to welcome back alumnus Zack Donoghue (‘00), the band’s lead guitarist.
Hailing from the back yards and house parties of Santa Cruz, Wooster climbed to the top of the party band pile in 2009 with their debut album, “The Heights of Things.” Vocal duo Brian Gallagher and Caroline Kuspa lead the band, joined by Donoghue on guitar, Bobby Hanson on bass, Nate Fredrick on drums, Dustin Hengl on trumpet, and Gianni Staiano on Hammond organ, Rhodes piano and clavinet.
“I’m so excited to return to my old stomping grounds,” comments Donoghue. “To play music at this incredible event for all these wonderful, inspiring people, and to be able to give back to Mount Madonna and the Earth at the same time is an amazing feeling!”
The band’s sound fuses Gallagher’s impassioned, raw vocal delivery with Kuspa’s gift for melody to create eloquent harmonies. With standout tracks like “Ooh Girl” dominating local radio airwaves, “Wooster’s music appeals equally to the reggae, blues and indie rock ‘n’ soul crowds and is a passionate display of love for the groove,” says band spokeswoman Jennifer Gallacher. In February, Wooster took center stage as one of seven finalists in Ford Motor Company’s “Gimme the Gig” competition and performed for Grammy Award winning record producer and musician Don Was.
The admission-free* Summit for the Planet festival has become the “green” must-do family event in the area, and features an walk-a-thon, eco-carnival for kids, environmentally-focused organizations, student displays and learning expo, eco-friendly shopping, renewable energy, organic foods, solar car races and more. Wooster will perform from noon to 2:30pm.
This popular event culminates a vision that’s been decades in the making: “For 32 years we’ve been teaching kids how to create, contribute to society, and care for the Earth, explains Mary Supriya McDonald, MMS Head of the Lower School. “Summit for the Planet is a way we can give back to the community and highlight the work of some respected environmental advocates.”
Come for the bats, bees, and to dance! Among the businesses and organizations participating in this year’s event are: the Bay Area Amphibian and Reptile Society (BAARS), Real Goods Solar, Live Earth Farm Discovery Program, the Bat Conservancy of Coastal California, Blue Dolphin Alliance, Uvas Gold Apiary, Sierra Club and Santa Clara County Parks & Recreation.
*Admission is free; $5 carbon offset fee for parking. Fee waived for walk-a-thon participants and alternative energy vehicles.