By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News | Photo courtesy Price City
As spring enters the air, so too does the sound of music as Price City prepares for the 2026 slate of its annual Culture Connection Concert Series.
Price City Councilmember Layne Miller joined the KOAL newsroom to unveil the summer’s lineup and also to preview the upcoming Rock and Coal music festival slated to begin on June 11.
“We’ve been planning all winter,” said Miller of the process behind the series. “We start honestly right in the first part of January, and we do a review of what the hits were? What were some of the not-so-great hits? What can we do to plan for the future? And it dawned on us that the tribute bands have become a real big deal. So we picked three that we’re going to hit for this next summer.”
Looking at the tribute bands scheduled for Culture Connection, the action starts on June 11 with It’s Good to be King: A Tom Petty Musical Experience.
“It’s the kickoff for Culture Connection, and it’s also the kickoff for our rock and coal music festival,” explained Miller of the event.
Then on July 16, Washington Park will be filled with a sultry 1970s sound as Seven Bridges Road: A Tribute to the Eagles takes the Culture Connection stage. “I think of all the bands that I have loved throughout my life, and I think The Eagles are by far the best,” spoke Miller excitedly of the group.
The last cover group serves to close out the concert slate on Aug. 8 as Hello Goodbye, a Beatles Tribute group, rocks the night away. Explaining the origin of the booking, Miller shared,” We had a Beatles tribute band, I think two summers ago, and they were really, really popular, and we were able to get these guys.”
One of Culture Connection’s biggest year-after-year hits is when the Deltaz come to town. The Americana and blues group is scheduled to take the stage on July 23 in Washington Park.
Switching gears, Miller turned his focus to the Rock and Coal music festival, set to begin on June 11 and continue through June 13.
“This is the first time we’ve tried something like this, and I’ll tell you what, it’s kind of taken on a life of its own. I looked at the schedule, and there were weeks when there was music at Culture Connection on Thursday and music in Helper on Saturday. And I thought, all we have to do is get one more band, and we can have a three-day music festival. Well, as of right now, we have six bands in three days.”
The festival will bring attendees across Carbon County, including stops in Nine Mile Canyon, Washington Park in Price and Helper’s historic Rio Theatre.
Closing our conversation, Miller stated,” I just look forward to it. We keep getting better year after year, after year. We have to thank the mayor and the city council for giving us the budget to do this kind of stuff. We couldn’t do it without them.”
Price City’s Culture Connection concert series kicks off on Thursday, June 11, starting at 7 p.m. in Washington Park.
View the full Culture Connection schedule below:
June 11 Thursday 7:00 p.m. Washington Park
It’s Good to be King: A Tom Petty Musical Experience
June 18 Thursday 7:00 p.m. Washington Park
Los Hermanos de los Andes
June 25 Thursday 7:00 p.m. Washington Park
Ray Smith Quintet Celebrating the Great American Songbook
July 4 Saturday PCC/County Fair 7:30pm-10:30pm
Exit Strategy
July 9 Thursday 7:00 p.m. Washington Park
For the Love of Broadway
July 16 Thursday 7:00 p.m. Washington Park
Seven Bridges Road: A Tribute to the Eagles
July 23 Thursday 7:00 p.m. Washington Park
The Deltaz
July 30 Thursday 7:00 p.m. Washington Park
Paige and the Overtones
Aug. 8 Thursday 7:00 p.m. Washington Park
Hello, Goodbye