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Patrick’s Day might be a half-year away, but you can get into the spirit at Rock the Shamrock, an outdoor music festival at Fred’s Grove in East Pennsboro Township. This year’s charity is Elizabethtown-based Brittany’s Hope Foundation, which helps facilitate international adoptions of children with special needs. While Brittany’s Hope is not an adoption agency, its mission is to provide grants and support for families trying to adopt an international special needs child. To learn more, visit brittanyshope.org. As for Rock the Shamrock, it will feature five bands: The Swaines, Don Johnson Project, Forever Strange, Mark DeRose Band and Herbie. The music will be pretty much constant, because Steve Meehan will play acoustic guitar between sets. , from Harrisburg, will bring what they call a “twangy, pop, alt-country, punkabilly, rock-and-roll kind of sound.” These guys specialize in nontraditional covers with an alt-country twang … sounds intriguing. is a past winner of the Blues Society of Central PA’s Blues Challenge, which qualified it to enter the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tenn. These guys are go-oood, and are perfect for an outdoor music festival on a hot August day. calls its sound “feel good music.” And you know what, it totally is. These guys have opened for Blues Traveler (John Popper called their set awesome), The Earthtones and, yes, The Sugar Hill Gang.
Area faves will close the party down with their funky, funky jams. You can always count on these guys for a fun set.