Riverfront Fort Wayne’s Muddy River Concert Series will wrap up another successful season Wednesday, Aug. 21, at 6 p.m. 

Held at Promenade Park, folks were treated to an exciting lineup of music throughout the summer, each providing something a little different in terms of genre and variety. 

This year’s series kicked off with Los Electro on June 12, with Wallen Road, School of Rock, We Are Checkmark, and Rachel Brooke following. 

The final installment of the 2024 Muddy River Concert Series is going to be a real banger since it will include a performance by the local dirty blues duo Left Lane Cruiser. 

“We are super grateful to play Muddy River again,” vocalist and guitarist Freddy J. IV said. “We’re not a traditional band doing covers and such, but when we’ve played this event in the past, we always got a great response from folks there. Plus, playing Promenade Park is something special in itself. 

“We’re just blown away by what they’ve done with that area and super-proud of Fort Wayne and that we’ve become a destination city.” 

Far-reaching popularity

Left Lane Cruiser, which includes Brenn “Sausage Paw” Beck on drums, recently wrapped up a five-week European tour that had them hitting stages in France, Austria, Croatia, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, and more. 

Quite impressive for a couple Fort Wayners, wouldn’t you say? 

“We’ve probably been over there 20 times over the last 20 years, doing over 500 shows,” Freddy said. “We’re always treated good there and the shows are amazing. We run into people over there that used to bring their kids to our shows, and now these kids are showing up in their 20s. It blows our minds.” 

They’ve made such an impact across the pond that at one time there was a Left Lane Cruiser tribute band in Italy called Farty Wayne. No joke, look them up. 

Before their European tour, they were out supporting John Garcia of Kyuss fame through The States, and it sounds like that went extremely well. 

Whether they are zig-zagging through The States or in Europe, the guys are racking up the miles, even hitting two deer along the way. The last part has them currently in search of a new van. 

Paying tribute

With all the touring, Left Lane Cruiser never had an opportunity to throw a release party for their latest effort, Bayport BBQ Blues, which came out in early June. 

So, the Muddy River performance will be the perfect opportunity to hear the new numbers live and snag yourself a copy of the CD or vinyl. 

Bayport BBQ Blues is dedicated to the memory of the late Chris Johnson, godfather of deep blues and creator of the Deep Blues Festival in Minnesota. The festival recently moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi. 

The album title is also named after Johnson’s former restaurant in Bayport, Minnesota. 

“The album is a dedication to the great amount of support he gave us and to our friendship,” Freddy said. “When we formed in 2004, the first couple years we only played locally, and Chris was the first person to travel to Fort Wayne to see us back then. He would film the shows and then spread them over the internet. He reached out to Alive Records to see if they would be interested in signing us. The rest is history.” 

Some may recall that in 2008, Left Lane Cruiser recorded a tribute song to Johnson simply called “Mr. Johnson.” 

Rip-roaring album

The tribute could not have come on a better album, as Bayport BBQ Blues is a barn-burner. 

Consisting of 11 tracks, the album was recorded in town by Jason Davis at Off the Cuff Studios. 

In pure Cruiser fashion, it shows off Freddy’s commanding, gritty vocal rasp and positively nasty hoodoo slide guitar work with the rhythmic stomp of the band’s energetic backbone Beck. 

Do yourself a favor and give it a spin. 

Following another successful run of the Muddy River Concert Series, we’re all looking forward to what organizers have in store for 2025. 

Hats off to everyone involved and showing folks that Fort Wayne’s music, rivers, and beautiful downtown simply rock! 

As for Left Lane Cruiser, I’ll give you one guess as to what they’re up to. Yes, they are putting road dates together for October and November with some local shows peppered in. They also share that their next album is always out there. 

Let’s hope so!