RON SWARNER: MUSIC & ART IN WRIGHT PARK PRIMER >>>

The City of Tacoma is lucky when it comes to music. Both its history and its contemporary scene are vital and full of energy. Tacoma's music scene is young enough, however, that those involved with its germination remain essential today, making Tacoma unique.

This Aug. 15, Music & Art in Wright Park 2009, which began in 1993 as Music in the Park, returns to Tacoma â€" showcasing some of the best bands in the area, including Guns & Rossetti, Girl Trouble, Post Stardom Depression, Broken Oars, The Plastards, James Hilbourne and the Pain Killers, Zeke, C.F.A., Zook, Stone Axe, Starstruck, Tarek Wegner, Tallest Tree, The Coloffs, NeutralBoy, and Mico De Noche. The Saturday outdoor concert at Wright Park will be free.

The festival was founded by Kenny Johnson on Aug. 14, 1993 when Girl Trouble, Katie's Dimples, Portrait of Poverty, Spuj, Spontaneous Funk Whorehouse and Smelter rocked Wright Park. Johnson, as you may recall, owned Mother Records with Kelly Michelson, a label that later morphed into a record store across the street from Wright Park where Supernova Hair and Tattoo now sits. Johnson hosted the popular outdoor concert until 1997.

In the summer of 2001, Johnson fired Music in the Park back up with Bennett Thurmon, who owned Wrecking Ball Records â€" which represented the likes of Tramps of Panic, Those Who Dig, Katie’s Dimples, Zeke and Deflowers during the original Music in the Park shows. Chris Miller, a member of many local bands and current owner of The Red Hot, also jumped into the mix. Johnson, Thurmon and Miller held down the Music in the Park fort for three shows that year.  

Flash forward to the present. Johnson, Thurmon â€" who has produced countless shows in Tacoma including many First Nights â€" and Cody Foster â€" a member of many Tacoma bands including C.F.A. â€" are the forces behind Music & Art in Wright Park 2009. Besides the three producers, many of the bands performing Aug. 15 have Tacoma musical roots dating back to the early ‘90s, and beyond as in the case of Girl Trouble. It will be a reunion of sorts for the Tacoma music scene, including myself, who has been covering it since 1987.

As a sponsor of Music & Art in Wright Park, the Weekly Volcano will highlight a band or two every day until the Aug. 15 show. First up, and rightly so, we present Girl Trouble: