Doors open at 6:00 pm. Concertgoers should arrive early to eat, drink, shop, and see current exhibitions. While relaxing in the Skirball's hillside courtyard before the concert, enjoy a set by DJ Sonrisita.

• 7:00–7:45 pm: The Campbell Brothers
• 7:45–8:15 pm: Intermission with set by DJ Sonrisita
• 8:15–9:30 pm: Annie and the Caldwells

Annie and the Caldwells are a family that plays a powerful disco soul from West Point, Mississippi. When Annie was 16 years old, in Aberdeen, Mississippi, she played in a band with her brothers (they were called the Staples Jr. Singers, a group of teenagers with a single album recorded in the 1970s). One day, the Staples Jrs. were singing on a church program in West Point, when a guitarist who played with one of Annie’s brothers in another band heard her and said, “Who — is that?” That moment Annie met Willie Joe Caldwell, Sr., her husband of the last fifty years, and the co-founder and guitarist for the Caldwells who supports his family’s high-flying vocals with fuzzy, psychedelic riffs.   

Annie and Joe started their own group, which pulled from the music their kids loved — The Gap Band, Chaka Kahn, Bootsy Collins. Annie is backed by their daughters Deborah Caldwell Moore and Anjessica Caldwell and goddaughter Toni Rivers; their eldest son Willie Jr. is on the bass and youngest son Abel Aquirius is on the drums. Their real troubles and experiences—as an intergenerational family run by women—are at the center of their music: Memories of a daughter’s birth or a brother’s recovery from an illness spill into transcendent moments onstage.  

Born and raised in Rush, New York, The Campbell Brothers have spent decades bridging the sacred and the secular through their extraordinary mastery of the sacred steel tradition—an African American gospel music style centered around the pedal and lap steel guitar. Rooted in the worship services of the House of God Church (Keith Dominion), where the steel guitar became a voice of praise and testimony, the Campbell family transformed this unique musical form into a vibrant art heard around the world. Led by brothers Chuck and Phil Campbell, and featuring their late brother Darick Campbell (lap steel, 1962–2020) and Phil’s son Carlton Campbell on drums, the group carries a spiritual lineage that fuses faith, blues, funk, and rock into one transcendent sound. Over the past three decades, The Campbell Brothers have performed at major festivals and venues including Lincoln Center, the Rochester International Jazz Festival, The Kennedy Center, and global stages across Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. Their critically acclaimed album Can You Feel It? (Ropeadope Records, 2005) reached the Billboard Top Gospel Albums Chart, and their recording Sacred Steel on Tour was released by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, further cementing their role as ambassadors of the sacred steel tradition. In recognition of their cultural impact, The Campbell Brothers are featured in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, where their instruments and legacy represent the enduring power of African American creativity and spiritual expression. In 2004, Chuck Campbell received the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honor in the United States for traditional and folk artists. Through every note, The Campbell Brothers celebrate a tradition born in praise and carried by passion—proving that sacred music can heal, move, and electrify. Their performances are both ministry and celebration, bringing the joy of the church to audiences everywhere.

Sonrisita is a Los Angeles–based DJ, dublab resident, and record collector known for her emotionally resonant, genre-spanning sets rooted in a lifelong passion for record digging and musical histories. Drawing from soul, funk, house, disco, and beyond, her approach to DJing weaves together deep cuts and forgotten gems into immersive sonic narratives shaped by culture, memory, and movement. 

Our popular summertime music series is back for season 29 with a celebration of America250, honoring the uniquely American musical invention of jazz. Get together with friends and family to sing and dance to an eclectic lineup of musicians in the Skirball’s picturesque hillside courtyard in the heart of our relaxing, community oasis.