FREDONIA – The 1891 Fredonia Opera House will present the Buffalo-based Canal Street String Band in two special community concerts – at the Dunkirk Lighthouse on Sunday at 11 a.m. and at the Fenton History Center, in Jamestown, on Friday, Aug. 22, at 6:30 p.m.

The Dunkirk performance is part of a celebration of the Battle of Lighthouse Point at the historic Dunkirk Lighthouse on Point Gratiot. For two days, Saturday and Sunday, the Lighthouse is transported to the 1860s as a small confederate garrison protects the Lighthouse and adjoining salt works from union control. Demonstrations and activities are held through the day and a candlelight tour is held Saturday evening. The Canal Street String Band performance kicks off the second day of demonstrations and events. Admission to the grounds is $2.

The Jamestown performance is held outside on the park-like grounds of the Fenton History Center. The museum will be open for tours, and refreshments will be available before the concert. In addition, the band will lead a jam session at the conclusion of the performance. Those interested in participating in the jam session should bring their own instruments to join the fun. Admission to the performance is free.

With three voices, 55 strings and a pair of cow bones, the Canal Street String Band puts a brand new shine on some seriously fun old American music – fiddle tunes, sea shanties, cowboy songs, canal ditties, mountain music, western swing and originals, too. With banjo, fiddle, twin mandolins, string bass, dobro, guitar, octave mandolin, assorted “pocket” instruments and three-part harmonies, the band combines musicianship with a sense of adventure and plenty of hokum to produce a good time.

Phil Banaszak plays fiddle, mandolin and guitar and provides vocals. He is a New York State Fiddle Champion and member of the North American Fiddlers Hall of Fame. Dave Ruch, a full-time musician, sings and plays mandolin, guitar, banjo, octave mandolin, bones, spoons and jaw harp among others. Jim Whitford, a Buffalo Music Hall of Fame member, rocks the string bass as well as plays dobro and guitar and provides vocals.

Both performance events are part of the New York State Presenters Network Presenter-Artist Partnership Project made possible through a regrant from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency with the support of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Support also is provided by the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation.