By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org
It was a chance meeting at lunch spot in Eastown that brought Serita Crowley and John Hayes together.
Discovering they both had a passion for music and after playing a few sessions together, the two local musicians not only became a couple but formed one of the area’s popular groups, Serita’s Black Rose.
The duo with its bandmates, bassist Robert Pace and drummer Mark Weymouth, will continue the music — or rather the funk — this Tuesday as they take the stage at Lamar Park, the second concert in the Wyoming’s Concerts in the Park series.
The popular local band will perform at 7 p.m. Admission is free.
A self-professed “Funkateer,” Crowley brings a raucous mix of funk, rock, blues, neo-soul, and Americana to the stage, according to the Serita’s Black Rose website. In fact, her voice his probably recognizable to many as she has done voices overs along with performed in the musicals “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Hair.”
As a duo, Hayes and Crowley perform many of the timeless classics of the 1960s and 1970s, although in a recent February 2022 article from Local Spins, Crowley said the band’s focus has been on a specific style: the blues.
“Blues music is a genre that we can focus on. It’s an accessible market for us to do really well in. I mean, blues is at the root of everything,” she told Local Spins.
The pandemic offered the duo a chance to work on new song ideas with a new release expected sometime down the road.
For now, Serita’s Black Rose has been busy performing. Last summer, the group opened for the classic rock band Kansas at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park and its 80-plus gigs a year have the members traveling much of Michigan from Wyoming and Kentwood areas to Mackinaw Island.
No sweat if you miss Serita’s Black Rose’s performance on Tuesday. The group has a number of local performances scheduled including being part of the City of Kentwood’s Fourth of July celebration line-up. (That performance is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.)
For more about the group, visit www.seritasblackrose.com.
Wyoming Concerts in Park 2022 are all at 7 p.m. at Lamar Park, 2561 Porter St. SW. More info: Wyoming Concerts in the Park Facebook page.
The rest of the Wyoming Concerts in the Park line up is:
June 21 – Nathan Walton Band – Soul, Rock
June 28 – Jordan Hamilton – Cellist
July 12 – Randy McAllister – Blues and Soul
July 19 – Monty Pride – Folk
July 26 – Bernadette Kathryn – Country
Aug. 2 – Grupo Latin – Latin Soul (13 piece band)
