For the past decade, the Brewery Arts Center (BAC) has been bringing nationally-touring bands and musical acts to Carson City’s and this year marks the tenth anniversary of our community winning the nationwide competition to host free, family-friendly live music every summer.
Since receiving its first grant from the Levitt Family Foundation in 2016, the BAC has utilized the “power of free live music” to bring the community together community and revitalize the local arts scene.
The 2026 Levitt AMP Carson City Music Series will mark its double-digit birthday by bringing back crowd-favorite performers for ten weeks of community concerts from June 20 to Aug. 29.
“This is our 10th anniversary season of the Levitt concerts,” said BAC Executive Director Spike McGuire. “To celebrate a decade of family-friendly, free live music, we are bringing back a lot of the favorites, the acts we’ve had the most requests to bring back, and we’ll be highlighting all the fun we’ve had over the last 10 years.”
To celebrate the milestone, organizers have curated a “greatest hits” lineup. The series kicks off on June 20 with the Siberian surf rock of Igor & The Red Elvises and will feature a diverse array of returning genres, including Afro-Brazilian band SambaDá, blues rockers Indigenous, and Celtic rock veterans Young Dubliners.
While the series focuses heavily on returning favorites, one new performer will grace the stage: Jakota Wass, who will make his Levitt AMP debut on Aug. 8.
“I did want to make sure that we still had one new performer for the series,” McGuire said. “We wanted to highlight Jakota Wass because he’s an incredible country songwriter, young kid making big waves in the music scene across the West Coast.”
It takes a village… to put on a rock show series
Putting on an event of this scale is a massive community undertaking.
“Our average expense on a Levitt concert is around $10,000 each week,” McGuire said.
The series is made possible through a matching grant from the Levitt Foundation, which this year increased its required match to a record $40,000.
Meeting this financial match requires significant local investment, led by returning title sponsor Connections Central, an organization “dedicated to building community through storytelling” according to McGuire.
He said the group was founded by Carson City resident Don Kuhl, who was inspired to sponsor the series after witnessing how the concerts brought together people of all social and economic backgrounds, mirroring the original vision of the Levitt family.
Local businesses are also stepping up. The Federal Hotel is providing accommodations for all touring artists and hosting official after-parties at the Max Casino.
Meanwhile, the Nashville Social Club is serving as the green room sponsor, catering meals for the bands and offering pre-boxed, grab-and-go meals for concertgoers to help alleviate food truck lines.
Between Connections Central, Kilpatrick Bullenti Law, PBS Reno, the Downtown Business Association, and Visit Carson City — McGuire said it covers between 2/3 and 3/4 of the full match cost needed to put on the shows, and the buckets typically cover the rest.
In addition to helping fund the concerts, “the buckets” also serve as a fundraising platform for local nonprofits. Each concert, Levitt Amp volunteers pass donation buckets through the crowd, with portions of the proceeds going to local charitable organizations.
To honor the 10th anniversary, this year’s beneficiaries will primarily be nonprofits operating out of the BAC, including the Wild Horse Children’s Theater, Proscenium Players, and the Nevada Artist Association among the others.
Additionally, during the July 11 performance by Indigenous—a blues band hailing from the Lakota Nation—funds will be directed to the Stewart Indian School to support indigenous culture in the local community.
New Summer Events
Beyond the Levitt AMP series, the BAC is rolling out a slate of summer programming. Building on the success of a past outdoor screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” the McGuire said final details are still in the works, but they’ll be introducing a new themed movie night: a Jaws Beach Party.
“We’ll be setting up outside, screening Jaws, and encouraging everyone to come in their beachwear,” McGuire said. “Plus, we’ll have giant beach balls getting batted around.”
When asked if we might see a return to free outdoor movies, which have come about but faded away several times over the years, McGuire said it’ll depend on the success of these one-off events.
“If people are really into it, and the community lets us know they want more, and we can find a sponsor to help us out, it’s definitely a possibility,” he said.
Additionally, the BAC is revamping its midweek offerings by taking advantage of newly extended hours at the Exhibition Hall to launch a free Wednesday night songwriter series, along with food trucks available to purchase dinner on the go.
“Now that the exhibition hall has its new extended hours of staying open until 8:00, we are doing a Wednesday night we’re going to have songwriters inside of the X Hall playing free from 6 to 8,” McGuire said. “We’re going to have a different food truck in the parking lot each week for that.”
For Levitt Amp, the tunes kick off this Saturday, June 20th.
Check out the lineup below and mark your calendars for the return of Levitt Amp Carson City’s greatest hits!
June 20, 2026 | Igor & The Red Elvises
- Opener: The Sun Rays.
- Genre: Their sound is known as “Siberian Surf Rock,” featuring humorous lyrics and danceable grooves.
June 27, 2026 | SambaDá
- Opener: Batamba.
- Genre: The band plays Afro-Brazilian music, specifically a blend of samba-reggae-funk that draws on percussion styles from South and Central America mixed with a reggae and funk backbeat.
July 11, 2026 | Indigenous
- Opener: Jason King.
- Genre: A powerful blues-rock sound grounded in Native American heritage and influenced by legends like B.B. King and Jimi Hendrix.
July 18, 2026 | The Vindys
- Opener: Faint Shape.
- Genre: A captivating signature blend of rock, soul, and pop.
July 25, 2026 | The Sam Chase
- Opener: Carson Street Rag Time Band.
- Genre: This Americana band blends rock and roll with folk music, all while maintaining a punk rock attitude and sensibility.
August 1, 2026 | Van Goat
- Opener: Spencer Kilpatrick & The Sand Gators.
- Genre: Known for “Swing Punk,” they breathe a raw, energetic dose of punk rock into traditional 1930s and 40s high-energy swing dance music.
August 8, 2026 | Jakota Wass
- Opener: Pat Hansen.
- Genre: Influenced by country western music, he translates those roots into his own songs as a talented entertainer.
August 15, 2026 | Jelly Bread
- Opener: Bleu D’etat.
- Genre: A genre-bending funk band that blends alt-rock with funk, roots Americana, and soul.
August 22, 2026 | Young Dubliners
- Opener: Plastic Paddy.
- Genre: A leading Celtic Rock band whose sound bursts with Irish influences alongside a variety of other styles.
August 29, 2026 | Mumbo Gumbo
- Opener: The Kilowatt Hours.
- Genre: An Americana group that plays a “spicy blend” of Gulf Coast influences, ranging from rock, soul, and afropop to zydeco, country, and lush balladry.
