The Side Project to play in Moses Lake – for real, this time
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 4 months AGO
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | June 17, 2025 1:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — When The Side Project takes the stage June 20, the city of Moses Lake’s Summer Concert Series will pick up where it left off, sort of.
“They were supposed to be our last concert last summer,” said Jenni Shelton, creative programs coordinator for the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center. “It was the night of a really bad storm, and we had to cancel for the weather. It was one of the nights they even evacuated to the Gorge (Amphitheatre).”
The Side Project consists of wife-and-husband Suzie and Ben Bradford, according to its website. The duo, originally from Spokane, have recorded six albums and have performed up and down the west coast for 20 years, according to the announcement. Their music has been broadcast in Starbucks and featured on television shows “Dancing with the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance,” as well as scoring a positive review in Music Connection Magazine.
The Bradfords perform as a duo act or with as many as six backup players, according to the website. Shelton wasn’t certain how many other musicians, if any, would be at next week’s performance.
The Summer Concert Series was revived in 2023 after many years’ hiatus, and Shelton said so far, it’s worked out well.
“We're loving bringing this to the community,” she said.
Consistency of scheduling is something the city is trying to improve this year, she said.
“We kind of peppered them throughout the summer (last year), and our attendance wasn't super great,” she said. “This year what we're doing is a six-week run. So, we're hoping that people can get in the mindset that for six weeks, every Friday night, there'll be a concert in the park.”
The exception to that will be Thursday, July 3, she said, when Moses Lake holds its Independence Day Red, White and Boom celebration. There will be two concerts by local bands at that event, Dimestore Prophets and Lake City Blues.
People attending The Side Project’s show are encouraged to bring their own blankets and chairs, Shelton said. All the concerts are family-friendly, she said. Each show, the city has a little giveaway for the children, she added, and at this concert it will be bubbles.
“It's just beautiful seeing people at the park enjoying the music,” Shelton said. “My favorite part is when we get down to the park and we're setting up, and when I see that first kid rolling down the hill, it just makes me so happy.”
The Side Project
Moses Lake
McCosh Park Centennial Amphitheater
June 20
8 p.m.
Free
The heart of The Side Project is the wife-and-husband team of Suzie Bradford, left, and Ben Bradford.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
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