Bands & Musicians in Delaware

Delaware's jazz legacy rests on Clifford Brown, the Wilmington trumpeter whose recordings shaped hard bop before his early death. Bob Marley lived and worked in Wilmington in the 1960s, and the city later produced blues rocker George Thorogood. Dover hosted the Firefly festival for a decade, and the state's calendar still runs on a summer cover circuit at the beaches and university crowds in Newark.

Wilmington's Grand Opera House and The Queen book national tours, while the Bottle and Cork in Dewey Beach leads the beach circuit. Deer Park Tavern in Newark serves the university crowd, and summer bandstand concerts in Bethany Beach and the Arden Gild Hall folk series round out a small but steady slate.

Clifford Brown remains the state's towering jazz figure. George Thorogood and the Destroyers came out of Wilmington, indie outfit the Spinto Band formed there too, and country singer Jimmie Allen grew up in Milton. Nearly all of the scene's working talent clusters around Wilmington.

Wilmington has the main rooms and rehearsal spaces, Newark's University of Delaware crowd supports open mics and house shows, and Dewey Beach hires cover bands all summer. Philadelphia and Baltimore sit close enough for weeknight gigs, and BandMate can connect players in a state small enough to cross in an hour.