The emphasis is definitely on returns at this year’s Playing With Fire (PWF). This is the 22nd year of the annual free concert series organized by retired Omaha businessman and music lover Jeff Davis. What started as a series of free concerts on the then-new Omaha riverfront featuring heavy-hitting blues artists has grown and changed with time and new opportunities. This year, Davis has booked return performances by some of his favorite artists who’ve been featured in past PWF concerts.

The 2026 performances mark the second year that the free summer series is being presented indoors, at Omaha’s Slowdown venue at 729 N. 14th St. in North Downtown. The music starts a day early with a preparty Wednesday, Aug. 12, at Old Market host hotel Moxy Omaha, 409 S. 12th St. Find all the details at playingwithfireomaha.net.

Slowdown has a capacity of about 600 for these shows. Once capacity is reached, admission will be handled on the old-fashioned one-out-one-in system. Admission is free and open to everyone until the venue reaches capacity. Note, Slowdown requires everyone show a photo ID. The venue also requires anyone under the age of 17 must have a Music Venue Parental Consent Form already on file. Find out more at theslowdown.com/all-ages.

Read on to see who’s playing when. I’ve broken it up by date to make it easier for you to connect with all the info on dates and bands.

Preparty Time
 Wednesday, Aug. 12, at the preparty, experience the hip vibe in the bar/lounge area of host hotel Moxy Omaha, with local artists performing. Catch an intimate set with Jeff Davis’ Music House resident artist Jeni Grouws playing with Andrew Bailie at 9 p.m. The evening starts with performances from Little Joe McCarthy at 7 p.m. and Jared William Gottberg at 8 p.m. Admission is free but space is limited and seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

PWF Notes to Know
The Playing With Fire main event at Slowdown kicks off Thursday, Aug. 13, with doors opening at 5 p.m. each night. Music starts at 6 p.m. each evening with the night’s featured artist, or the second act of the night, taking the stage at approximately 7:20 p.m. and the headliner going on at about 9 p.m. Remember the venue requires you to show a photo ID.

PWF Thursday
The Thursday show begins with a newer young local band, The Pocket Architects. The members of The Pocket Architects are all BluesEd youth performance alums and their band won the Nebraska Blues Challenge to represent Nebraska in the 2026 International Blues Challenge in Memphis.

The featured act is British blues singer, songwriter and harmonica player Will Wilde. Wilde recently was recognized with the 2026 UK Blues Award for Instrumentalist of the Year for his hard-charging and innovative work as a blues harmonica player. Catch Wilde performing with guitarist Walter Trout at this link on YouTube. Wilde’s YouTube channel performances have racked up millions of views.

This is the third year Scottish band King King plugs in on a PWF stage. King King’s return as the headliner is part of this year’s celebration of return performances by favorite artists whose music has rocked PWF stages. Armed with a guitar and wearing his signature kilt, Alan Nimmo and his bandmates have earned major recognition from the U.K. blues community with multiple British Blues Awards for Best Band and Best Album. King King is a favorite of PWF organizer Davis. He brought them to the U.S. for the very first time as part of Playing With Fire in 2024, which was their only U.S. show that year.

PWF Friday
The lineup heats up on Friday, Aug. 14, with three international acts. Once again, doors open at 5 p.m. and music starts at 6 p.m. Opening the show is Steve Marriner, a Toronto-based artist who has played PWF previously as the frontman for MonkeyJunk. He’s also recorded with Harry Manx on their 2019 acclaimed recording “Hellbound for Heaven.” This winter he took home his first Juno Award for his latest record “Hear My Heart.”  The Junos are the Canadian equivalent to the American Grammy Awards. Marriner also was recognized with the 2026 Canadian Blues Music Awards for producer and harmonica player. Promotional materials indicate Marriner is bringing in K.C. musicians Nick Schnebelen and Michael “Shinetop, Jr.” Sedovic to team up with him for this performance.

The featured artist is Colin Linden, a Toronto, Canada, native who has been calling Nashville home. Linden has garnered 25 Juno nominations and received nine Juno Awards for his work in Canada, including his work as a founder and longtime member of Blackie & the Rodeo Kings. In the U.S., he has done film and TV music including performing on the Coen Brothers’ “O Brother, Where Art Thou” soundtrack and making major contributions to the music for the “Nashville” TV series. He recently signed with Lucinda Williams’ Highway 20 label, which is distributing his latest solo album, “bLOW.” Linden has a special gift for slide guitar work and a deep knowledge of American blues. Premier Guitar describes Linden as a guitar hero with “a quieter brilliance,” calling him “a crucial ingredient in the glue of Nashville’s—and, therefore, the world’s—roots music scene.” Linden was just featured in a three-part interview with guitarists Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale on their “Buddy & Jim Radio Show,” listen up on SiriusXM.

Headlining the Friday night show are Austria’s Meena Cryle and Chris Fillmore. It’s their third time performing at Playing With Fire. The acclaimed, late producer Jim Gaines called Cryle one of the best singers he had worked with in his career, saying she’s “an old soul” and adding “she’s got the voice and she’s got the passion.” Together for decades, Cryle and Fillmore win high praise from audiences, with their press materials highlighting one concert-goer who raved the duo are “like Etta James meets Stevie Ray Vaughan.”

PWF Saturday
For the closing night of this special three-night PWF run, get ready for blues from Cornwall, England. U.K. blog Get Ready to Rock calls Wille & the Bandits “Cornish Surfer Blues Rock,” noting that “the Bandits have a well-deserved reputation as an outstanding live band.” American blog Rock and Blues Muse observed that “Wille’s guitar work is sweet, slashing and bold, and his vocals are truly arena-worthy.” The Rock and Blues Muse blog added “Wille & The Bandits are a highly charged, critically acclaimed outfit hailing from Cornwall that many feel are redefining the meaning of roots rock for a new generation of listeners. They’re considered one of Europe’s finest live bands.”

Saturday night’s featured act is Halo Rider. Before you say, who? Look them up on YouTube. Go ahead. Here is the full set from a 2024 performance. The band features the magical Anne Harris on blues fiddle, teamed up with Markus James on guitar, banjo, harmonica and lead vocals and  Larry Thompson on drums. If you saw Otis Taylor at an early Playing With Fire down on the riverfront, you were introduced to Anne Harris. I’ve been a fan ever since. Her playing is fantastic but her style, her irrepressible dancing and intuitive ability to physically embody the music while playing create a mesmerizing stage presence. When I watch someone like Harris at work, I wish I could be so at one with the music. Markus James comes to Halo Rider from a musical journey through the blues, particularly Mississippi Hill Country blues and West African music and rhythm traditions. His explorations in Mali became the subject of the PBS documentary film “Timbuktoubab.” Dig into their website, halorider.com, for more and don’t miss their PWF set.

The headliner Saturday is Rozedale, a rocking French band making their U.S. debut. Rozedale is centered around vocalist Amandyn Roses and guitarist Charlie Fabert. The Bluestown Music blog writes “The sound of the band is largely determined by the vocals of Amandyn Rose, who can be described as powerful [and] Beth Hart-like. She does not fall into the trap of sounding too forced but continues to sound soulful, powerful,” while praising Fabert’s “reverberating and cutting guitar work.” Rozedale has built a name on the European rock and blues scene with four studio albums, a live album, tours across ten countries, opening slots on Ben Harper’s tour and strong reviews from the specialized blues-roots press.

Thanks to Jeff Davis, his Associate Producer Vanessa Marie and their team for 22 years of great free music for community. I’ve witnessed first hand the love and dedication Davis has for the music, the artists and the community. He’s always been the first to roll up his sleeves and do whatever needed to be done on site, and then you’ll find him down front and center on the dance floor too, grooving to the music and celebrating the joy of it all. His years of dedication to bringing phenomenal international artists to Omaha and keeping the shows free for all were recognized in January of this year with a Keeping the Blues Alive award from the Blues Foundation. 

Last Chance for Two Great Shows
If you’re reading this on Thursday, Aug. 6, you still have a chance to see genre-defining  Americana-country artist Robbie Fulks for a Sunday Roadhouse at Waiting Room Thursday, Aug. 6, 7:30 p.m. There will be more seating available than usual at the venue for this show. Day of show tickets are available while they last at the door.

In Lincoln, the always magical Gillian Welch and David Rawlings play the Rococo Theatre Thursday, Aug. 6, 7:30 p.m. Orchestra, main floor and second floor loge seating is all sold out. At this writing, third floor balcony seated general admission benches were still available.

Mike Zito Plugs In
A longtime favorite of local audiences, blues-rock guitarist Mike Zito is in the area for a couple of gigs. Catch him Wednesday, Aug. 12, 6-9 p.m. at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar. Advance tickets are available at the bar or at ticketweb.com.
Zito hits Omaha on Thursday, Aug. 13, 7 p.m. at Waiting Room. Advance tickets are on sale at etix.com.
Zito is a multiple Blues Music Award winner and he has had a busy year with his frontman work, his collaboration with Albert Castiglia called Blood Brothers and his “side project” as bandleader for Bill Murray’s foray into the blues. Side note, Bill Murray & his Blood Brothers (featuring Zito and Castiglia) are scheduled for Knucklehead’s in K.C. Friday, Oct. 3, 7 p.m. Find out more at mikezito.com.

NOMAFEST
Also happening Aug. 13-16 is the fifth anniversary NOMAFEST with music happening at North Omaha Music and Arts – NOMA’s location, 2510 North 24th St., and at Gene Leahy Mall on the Riverfront. Events include panel discussions and a bass summit from headliner MonoNeon. Some events and shows are ticketed – see eventbrite.com.
On Saturday, Aug. 15, 6 p.m., the concert at the Gene Leahy Mall is FREE to attend and features the current iteration of classic funk and soul band The Bar-Kays, “the founding fathers of funk,” led by founding member James Alexander. Also performing is Memphis-born experimental bassist MonoNeon, a Grammy winner who has worked with Prince and has his own Fender signature bass line. Grammy-nominated trumpeter, vocalist and composer Keyon Harrold is also on the Saturday schedule. Downbeat Magazine calls Harrold “he future of the trumpet.” See northomahamusic.org and see this link for Saturday details.

Bywater Call
Another notable booking hitting both cities is an alum of Playing With Fire performances, Bywater Call. They play Lincoln’s Zoo Bar Wednesday, Aug. 26, 6 p.m. and they take the stage at The B. Bar Thursday, Aug. 27, 6 p.m. The seven-piece Canadian band puts on a high-octane show with vocalist Meghan Parnell alongside guitarist Dave Barnes at the center of their self-described “roots, rock and soul” sound. The band has recently returned from playing 25 dates in Europe and is now on tour in the U.S. behind their brand new disc, “Broken Souvenirs.”  I’m among those who hear a similarity to Susan Tedeschi’s vocal tone and power in Parnell’s vocals. In July, Parnell told Blues Rock Review “While I don’t think what we’re putting out there is the same as the Tedeschi-Trucks Band, I definitely welcome and understand the comparisons with the slide guitar and the raspy female vocal. I mean, it’s an honor to have those names in the same sentence as ours.” Check out their sound and their stylish video for “No One Else” from the new record here.

More Music Ahead
Igor & The Red Elvises have two local dates. Catch them Tuesday, Aug. 11, 6-9 p.m. at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar. They also play Omaha Thursday, Aug. 13, 8 p.m. at The B. Bar.

I remember seeing The Pines at Waiting Room, maybe a decade ago and being impressed with their vocalist and his evocative Americana sound. So, it’s worth noting that David Huckfelt, formerly of The Pines, performs at The Sydney Friday, Aug. 7, with a showtime now listed as 9 p.m. This is a One Percent Productions show. See thesydneybenson.com. This beautiful and inspiring 2020 track (dedicated to the Water Protectors) really struck me today with its message of hope – check out “Book of Life” with Keith Secola.

The Sunday Roadhouse team puts Gabe Stillman on stage at Reverb Lounge Sunday, Aug. 16, 5 p.m. None other than Alligator Records’ founder Bruce Iglauer says of Stillman, “One of the most promising young blues talents on the scene today… plus he puts on an exciting, energized show… Don’t miss him!” While heavy-hitting Chicago blues guitarist Toronzo Cannon notes “Gabe Stillman has got the chops and the intensity the blues should have. Keep your eye on him.” And the one-and-only Anson Funderburgh says of Stillman, “Gabe is somebody who has it all.  His songs move me, he has a way with words.  He is an amazing singer, a great songwriter and a wonderful musician.” Stillman took home International Blues Challenge Gibson Guitar Award honors in 2019 and his new album “What Happens Next?” on Gulf Coast Records. See gabestillman.com to learn more and hear music from this up and coming artist. Get advance tickets at sundayroadhouse.com.

One Percent Productions
Americana/country singer-songwriter Ward Davis, long a favorite of Buck’s Bar & Grill’s owner and fans, takes the stage at Reverb Lounge Thursday, Aug. 20, 8 p.m. Davis’ songs have been recorded by artists like Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Trace Adkins. An opening slot for Cody Jinks became a decade of collaboration and friendship.
G. Love & Special Sauce, anyone? The band is on their “Lemonade” 20th anniversary tour with a stop at Waiting Room Thursday, Aug. 27, 8 p.m.
Tickets are still available for renowned vocalist Judy Collins, who performs Tuesday, Sept. 8, 7 p.m. at The Astro Theater. Bruce Cockburn opens the show.

Hot Notes
The incredible Nikki Hill Band takes the spotlight at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar Tuesday, Aug. 18, 6 p.m. If you know, you know. Hill’s vocals and powerful stage presence combine with guitarist Matt Hill’s incendiary work for a flat-out fiery show. My favorite evocative quote about Nikki Hill remains this one from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, “If Tina Turner and Little Richard had a daughter and raised her with the help of uncles James Brown and Chuck Berry, she’d be like Nikki Hill.” The Zoo show is Hill’s only Nebraska appearance on this run. Watch the band tear it up in a video of a full set with sometime-special-guest-guitarist Laura Chavez at the 2025 Black Americana Festival.
Get advance tickets at the club or online here.
The historic Zoo Bar has plenty of other cool shows in August. Find the full schedule at zoobar.com and facebook.com/zoobarblues.

Remember Omaha’s Jazz on the Green free summer concert series happens every Thursday through Aug. 13 in Turner Park at Midtown Crossing, 3110 Farnam St. Each week there is a preshow at 6:30 p.m. and the headliner performs at 7:30 p.m. Seattle-based soul band Brittany Davis & Black Thunder are up Thursday, Aug. 6, and the jazz/R&B fusion of saxophonist and singer Braxton Cook takes center stage for the final show Thursday, Aug. 13, fresh from a summer European tour. Find more info at jazzonthegreen.org.

Steelhouse Omaha presents Sons of Legion Thursday, Sept. 10, 7:30 p.m. and Lenny Kravitz Friday, Sept. 11, 8 p.m. Omaha Performing Arts (OPA) has announced a revamp of the old seated space in the Holland Performing Arts center that’s been known as The 1200 Club and The Holland Music Club. Watch for announcements about the rebranded standing room club, Matchbox, at ticketomaha.com/matchbox.

Don’t forget blues-rock guitar star Joe Bonamassa plays Lincoln with co-headliner Warren Haynes’ Gov’t Mule at Pinewood Bowl Sunday, Aug. 16, 7 p.m.

Paul Cauthen is scheduled Saturday, Aug. 29, 8 p.m. at Lincoln’s Rococo Theater as part of his Book of Paul tour. Texas Monthly says “Cauthen sounds like the Highwaymen rolled into one — Willie’s phrasing, Johnny’s haggard quiver, Kristofferson’s storytelling knack, and Waylon’s baritone.” Rolling Stone sums Cauthen up noting “his onstage persona as an outsized dandy, fly like Huggy Bear, with a booming voice landing somewhere between Johnny Cash and Nick Cave.” Advance tickets are available at ticketweb.com.

Wrapping up the month, the Blues Society of Omaha (BSO) and Playing With Fire team up to host a member appreciation and membership drive show for the BSO. Georgia band Derrick Dove & the Peacekeepers bring their southern-fried blues-rock sound to the Waiting Room Sunday, Aug. 30 for an afternoon show at 3:30 p.m. They are the 2026 International Blues Challenge winners and Dove also took home the Best Guitarist honor. Omaha’s own IBC solo-duo winner Héctor Anchondo and his band open the show. Admission is free for current BSO members. Newcomers to the society can purchase a membership at the door to enjoy the show and support the ongoing mission of the BSO.
Find out more about the band at derrickdove.com