Attention all music lovers! Get ready for an epic season of Live on the Square! This year is going to be out of this world with 5 incredible performers that will blow your mind. Don't forget to jot down the dates in your planner because you don't want to miss out on this extravaganza! We want to give a special shoutout to the City of Fairfield for making these shows possible for all of us to enjoy as they continuously show us their support. All shows will be held at the beautiful Central Park, except for Pieta Brown on 7/13, which will take place in collaboration with the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center's Outdoor Concert Series on the street in front of the center. Get pumped and let's get ready to jam out!

All Live on the Square concerts begin at 7:00 PM

Live on the square 2023

Flash in a Pan is an Iowa City string band that blends contemporary music with traditional folk and grass motifs. Their original compositions combine elements of reggae, country, folk and grass forms to produce tunes with a modern sensibility and respect for tradition. They have released two studio albums, Off The Rails (2017) and Folklore (2018) and continue to tour and write.

The band is comprised primarily of guitarist Blake Daly, bassist Lee Eckles, Alex Flesher playing banjo, and mandolin player Max Lipnick. This quartet has been playing all over the midwest since 2014 and occasionally grows to include harmonica, washboard, or fiddle.

From the depths of his Iowa roots, multi-award winning songwriter Jordan Jeffrey Messerole writes songs that vary as greatly as the wild flowers in the native tall grass. Messerole does frequently write about that flora, as well as the fauna of the region. Not to mention all of its wild life. Not one to shy away from subject matter, the songs can frequently meander across the lines between love and loss, success and failure, or life and death. Messerole masterfully blends the sounds of his guitar with thoughtful lyrics, an engaging stage presence, and often rack harmonica to tell gritty American tales that are bound to evoke emotion from all of his listeners.

The daughter of two preacher’s kids, Pieta Brown’s early upbringing in Iowa was in a rural outpost with no furnace, running water, or TV. There, she was exposed to traditional and rural folk music through her father, Greg Brown, the now beloved Midwestern folk singer. Later, while living with her mother in Birmingham, Alabama during her formative years, Pieta drew on and expanded these influences and began writing poems and composing instrumental songs on piano. By the time she left home at 18 she had lived in at least 19 different houses and apartments between Iowa and Alabama.

In her early 20's, after experiencing what she describes as "the songs calling,” Pieta started experimenting with the banjo and eventually picked up a 1930's Maybell arch-top guitar during a visit to her father's place and never looked back. Emerging from a disjointed and distinctly 'bohemian' upbringing, Pieta began performing live and making independent recordings soon after teaching herself how to play guitar. "I grew up around a lot of musicians and artists living on the fringe, and have always felt most at home among them," Pieta says.

Continually revealing new layers as both a songwriter and performer, Pieta is being recognized as one of modern Americana's true gems.

Cam is an exhilarating guitarist adapt at playing metal, country, rock and blues and his shows have earned him a reputation as one of the most exciting acts to play southeast Iowa. Cam’s complex and dynamic sound along with his vocal range and vast music knowledge, makes his shows must see events.

Currently living in Des Moines, but originally from Waterloo, JohnPaul Burtch has also lived in Texas, California, Montana, Seattle, New York City, Vermont, and Istanbul. As a singer/songwriter, his musical style is a bit all over the place, but he is most influenced by rock, alternative, and pop. Other notable influences are classic rock, indie, folk, blues, swing, jazz, musical theater, and even just a little bit of hip hop and country at times. Burtch also perform a great deal of cover songs across these influences mostly from the 40s to today.