NEWPORT, RI, April 9, 2009 -- The Newport Yachting Center announces that American alternative rock band, Guster, will appear on Friday, August 7th as part of this summer's 12th Annual Nantucket Nectars Sunset Music Series.  All tickets for the Guster concert, priced at $35 for preferred seating and $25 for standard seating, will be available for purchase on-line starting tomorrow, Friday, April 10th at www.newportwaterfrontevents.com by using the ClicknPrint system which offers the benefit of selecting your own seat and “at home” ticket printing.  In addition, those interested in tickets can call the Newport Yachting Center Box Office at (401) 846-1600.  The opening act for the concert has yet to be determined.

Forming after a chance meeting between three Tufts University undergrads in the early 1990s, Guster is known for its soaring harmonies, inventive guitar riffs and a hardcore following due in part to their energetic live shows.  The band has topped the British and German billboards, sold out New York’s fabled Radio City Music Hall, performed with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall and founded the eco-friendly Campus Consciousness Tour, with buses powered by bio-diesel and performances powered by wind power.

Guster’s fifth and most recent studio release, Ganging Up on the Sun, won “Album of the Year” at the Boston Music Awards in 2006 and peaked at 25 on the Billboard 200.  The album’s sunny, driving-with-the-top-down melodies, vintage harmonies, and warm guitar jangle recall artists associated with the ’60s and ’70s—such as CSNY, Mamas and the Papas, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones, and Tom Petty.  “The word ‘classic’ was used a lot throughout recording as a goal for the sound of this album,” singer-guitarist Adam Gardner says, “and it definitely has a more classic rock feel to it.”  Adds percussionist, Brian Rosenworcel, “I think when we switched from the ‘just guitars and percussion’ shtick to using whatever was in front of us, we ended up sounding more like bands we were listening to.”

The band stayed “underground” for its first two albums, Parachute (1994) and Goldfly (1997), but broke into the musical mainstream in 1999 with its third studio album, Lost and Gone Forever, with the single song “Fa Fa,” which made it onto the Adult Top 40.  The band then enjoyed success on the charts with Keep It Together, its fourth album, with two singles in the Adult Top 40 (“Careful” and “Amsterdam”).  Guster's music has also been featured on numerous movies and television shows, including Disturbia, Wedding Crashers and The OC.

In  2009, in addition to touring, Guster is taking part in an event with musician John Mayer called Mayercraft Carrier 2 aboard the Carnival Splendor.  Guster will also be releasing its 6th studio album this year.

“We had success with Guster at our Sunset Music Series back in 2005 as they brought in a younger demographic similar to the Plain White T’s concert last year,” said Michele Maker Palmieri, General Manager of the Newport Yachting Center.  “Now, those fans are a little older so we expect to see a lot of college-age as well as those just out of college -- not an age group we’ve necessarily targeted with our other headliners for this summer so we’re excited.”

The rest of the Nantucket Nectars Sunset Music Series line-up is as follows:

DATE   MUSICIAN   TICKET PRICING

Fri., June 26            Los Lobos            $30 preferred/$20 standard

Opening Act: Santa Mamba.  Festival Stage: TBD.

Sat., June 27            Susan Tedeschi            $40 preferred/$30 standard

Special Guest: Shemekia Copeland.  Festival Stage: TBD.

Fri., July 24            Michael McDonald            $65 preferred/$55 standard

Special Guest: Dylan McDonald.  Festival Stage: TBD.

Sat., July 25            The Robert Cray Band            $40 preferred/$30 standard

Opening Act: Kristin Diable.  Festival Stage: TBD.

The Newport Yachting Center is located on the waterfront in the heart of historic downtown Newport right off America's Cup Avenue.  For each night of the Nantucket Nectars Sunset Music Series, the gates will open at 5:30 p.m., music starts on the Festival Stage at 6:00 p.m., the opening act/special guest begins at 7:00 p.m. on the Main Stage, and the headliner starts at approximately 8:00 p.m.

In addition to Nantucket Nectars, the Series’ other major sponsors include: Miller Lite, Dunkin’ Donuts and Sovereign Bank.

For more information on the Nantucket Nectars Sunset Music Series, please go on-line at www.newportwaterfrontevents.com or contact Michele Maker Palmieri, General Manager at the Newport Yachting Center, 4 Commercial Wharf in Newport, at (401) 846-1600, Ext. 222.

“It’s all here!” at the Newport Yachting Center with a 2009 Newport Waterfront Events line-up which includes the 35th Annual Newport Spring Boat Show (May 15-17), the 28th Annual Schweppes Great Chowder Cook-Off (June 6), the 12th Annual Nantucket Nectars Sunset Music Series and the 9th Annual Newport Comedy Series (both held throughout the summer)), the Newport Arts Festival (August 29-30); the 12th Annual Newport Waterfront Irish Festival (September 5 -7), the 39th Annual Newport International Boat Show (September 17-20), the 21st Annual Stop & Shop Taste of Rhode Island (October 3-4) and the 17th Annual International Oktoberfest (October 10-12).  All the events are held at the Newport Yachting Center in the “city by the sea” where beach-going, shopping, dining and enjoying the nightlife are often a part of the pre- or post-Newport Waterfront Events activity.