Like most Austinites, the community’s Fourth of July celebration has been a tradition for me as long as I can remember.

Although I take comfort in the consistency of the celebration, I have enjoyed the slight changes over the years.

The Austin Area Commission for the Arts is providing something new for this year’s Freedom Fest activities. We will be presenting Six Mile Grove for a free concert at the Bandshell on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. leading up to the fireworks. Besides offering a new twist to the Freedom Fest fun, it is also an experiment for us to see if presenting even more events at Austin’s Bandshell is something people would like us to do in the future.

We will have numerous volunteers stationed throughout the grounds during the concert, so please give us your feedback about the event. Six Mile Grove is a perfect fit for the local Fourth of July celebration and our first attempt at an outdoor community wide event. Their band features members from Lyle and Austin, and their music is considered to be in the genre of Americana.

According to their website http://sixmilegrove.com, their music is described as an organic, honest voice that has influences of Minnesota music’s founding fathers; from Bob Dylan to the Jayhawks.

The band recently released it’s sixth album titled “Secret Life in a Quiet Town.” In this album, Sampson muses on the responsibilities of providing for a family, keeping love alive, and fighting for what’s right in the world.

Listeners will hear the whines and growls in Nelson’s piano and lead guitar licks; the take-it-easy pace of Wallace’s bass, and the simple to furious tempos in Brian Sampson’s drums. For more information about the band and other future events, check out paramounttheatre.org.