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Some familiar faces will be playing this year’s Austin ArtWorks Festival.

The Gear Daddies will perform the seventh annual Schindler Celebration at the 2022 Austin ArtWorks Festival. The act was announced on Saturday night during the Austin Bruins hockey game. 

The Gear Daddies will play a free outdoor show at Bandshell Park at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27. The show is offered free to the community because of Mayo Clinic Health System’s sponsorship. Donations to support the concert and the Austin ArtWorks Festival are welcome at www.austinareaarts.org/2022-festival-support.

The Schindler Celebration is a live music event sponsored by Mayo Clinic Health System Albert Lea Austin in memory of Dick Schindler, a family physician who practiced medicine in the community for over 40 years and passed away in 2014. The Schindler Celebration is the Saturday night centerpiece of the Austin ArtWorks Festival with such memorable shows as Sonny Knight and the Lakers (2016) and Puddles Pity Party (2018). 

The Gear Daddies formed in Austin, Minnesota in 1984, and went on to be an important part of the Twin Cities music scene. Band members are Randy Broughten (electric and steel guitar), Nick Ciola (bass), Billy Dankert (drums and vocals), and Martin Zellar (guitar, harmonica and vocals). They released singles and albums between 1986 and 1992. 

The Gear Daddies recorded “(I Wanna Drive the) Zamboni” which has become a favorite at ice arenas around the country. Because of that association, Austin Area Arts chose to announce the Gear Daddies concert at the Austin Bruins game.