— Many people are looking forward to attending the third annual AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival, but few are more thrilled than one of the event’s top performers.

Terrance Simien, a musical pioneer from Lafayette, La., first played in Johnstown during the original National Folk Festival in 1992, and local audiences have made him one of their own.

“I love coming to Johnstown,” said Simien, who, along with his Zydeco Experience, returned for festival visits in 2006, 2002 and 1998. “I’ve made a lot of friends and look forward to visiting them.”

He also has captivated audiences with his electrifying music by performing several concerts at the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center in Richland Township.

Simien said he doesn’t have a preference for performing indoors or out, “as long it’s not too hot.”

“Either way, it’s the response from the audience that can heat up a performance,” he said. “And Johnstown has always been generous with us.”

Simien will be part of a stellar musical lineup that features the likes of Gregg Allman, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and founding member of the Allman Brothers band.

The festival begins Friday and continues through Aug. 7 at Peoples Natural Gas Park in downtown Johnstown.

Gates open at 4:30 p.m. Friday, 12:30 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Aug. 7.

Shelley Johansson, director of communications and marketing for Johnstown Area Heritage Association, said music lovers will be thrilled at this year’s lineup.

Festival organizers are pleased to welcome Allman, who has been making the rounds on national television to promote his new album, “Low Country Blues,” and to raise awareness about hepatitis C.

Allman, who had long battled chronic hepatitis C, had a successful liver transplant in 2010. He will perform at 9:30 p.m. Saturday on the Bud Light Von’s United Beverage Stage.

“His appearance in Johnstown will be in support of his new album,” Johansson said. “We are pleased that he will be here, and people should know that the average price of a ticket for a Gregg Allman concert is $45, so people are getting a good value when they buy a festival admission.”

Admission to the music fest is $10 on Friday, $20 on Saturday and $10 on Aug. 7.

“Weekend passes are $35,” Johansson said.

She said tickets will be available at the Johns Street and Walnut Street entrances to the festival.

She said the performers who have been booked for the festival will appeal to festivalgoers of all ages.

“It’s a blend of festival favorites, like Terrance Simien, and many up-and-comers who in a few years may be headliners in their own rights,” Johansson said.

Simien has aged since first coming to Johnstown, but his music is still timeless.

“My hair is shorter, and I’ve got a bald spot,” he laughed. “I’m marking 30 years in the music business this year; I started when I was 16 years old.”

He is in remarkable physical condition and still has the arms of a bricklayer, a job he held while constructing his own musical career playing in local zydeco clubs each weekend.

“I had some blood pressure issues, so I lost some weight and work out when I can squeeze it in,” he said.

“I’ve also learned to eat smarter, but it’s hard to keep my weight down when I’m home in Louisiana, which is known for great food.”

But Simien gets a workout on stage that few performers can match. He’s in constant motion as he brings members of the audience to their feet with his fusion of zydeco and New Orleans funk, reggae and Afro-Caribbean flavored music.

“People just can’t help but get up and dance,” he said.

Simien’s philosophy of music is simple.

“If you want to hear it, I want play it,” Simien said.

Johansson said something similar when it came to the group The Bridge, a Baltimore-based jam band that became known for striking a rare balance between high-quality songs and sharp instrumental interplay.

“Shortly after booking the band, we learned they may be disbanding around Thanksgiving,” Johansson said. “This most likely will be the last chance for a Johnstown audience to see this six-man band.”

While there will be no shuttles, rides on the Inclined Plane will be free, and there will be parking available downtown.

Food vendors have been placed in one location for easy access.

The rest of the 2011 entertainment schedule is:

-- JJ Grey & Mofro (rhythm and blues, rock, and country) is the only group performing twice during the festival. The band has written and recorded five albums of original songs steeped in rhythm and blues, rock and country soul.   

-- Bettye LaVette is acclaimed to be one of the best soul singers in American music history. She possess an expressive voice that one moment will exude a formidable level of strength and intensity and the next will appear vulnerable, reflective and reeking of heartbreak.

-- Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears delivers blues, soul and punk. Their debut album, “Tell ’Em What Your Name Is!” came out in 2009, much of it recorded live.

-- Project/Object, featuring Ike Willis and Ray White, is on a mission to bring the music of the late Frank Zappa to the masses.

Formed in the early 1990s, Project/Object has performed with at least 15 of Zappa’s well-known alumni, including Willis and White, who together and separately toured and recorded with Zappa from 1976-1988.

-- Tab Benoit is a Cajun who has the blues. He took his show on the road in the early ’90s and hasn’t stopped since he last performed in Johnstown in 1997.

-- The Pimps of Joytime has a diverse sound influenced by the Brooklyn DJ culture and live music scene from which it has emerged. During the past four years, The Pimps have evolved into a road-tested and audience-approved groove machine, blending elements of Afro-beat, salsa, rock ’n’ roll and electronica.

-- Bill Kirchen & Too Much Fun was a festival favorite in 2004, 2007 and 2009. The group draws upon its origins in blues and bluegrass, rollicking rockabilly and the Western swing of Texas

and California honky-tonks to deliver crowd-pleasing shows.

n Brothers Past hails from Philadelphia and is an indie-electronic band that was founded in 2000 and has released three records and one EP.

-- The Hackensaw Boys have their feet firmly planted in the old-time song tradition, their hands soiled by the dirt of rock ’n’ roll and their eyes fixed steadily on the future of real country music.

-- Chicago’s seven-member band Lubriphonic specializes in a matchless offering of funky rock ’n’ roll. The band fuses the roots of soul with an explosive, in-your-face delivery and sensuous R&B dance music.

-- That 1 Guy is a one-man juggernaut when he plugs an electric chord into the heel of a cowboy boot and transforms it into an instrument.

-- Boogie Hustlers is rooted in the heavy pocket grooves of funky soul and jazz artists of past and present by creating original music in the vein of their funk forefathers.

-- Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds is a nine-piece powerhouse delivering a blend of gut-busting soul, earthy rock and New Orleans-inspired beats. Sister Sparrow is backed by a heavyweight horn section.

-- American Babies, a Philadelphia-based roots rock band, is touring in support of its new album, “Flawed Logic,” which was released on April 19.

-- Sweet Earth, a five-piece band from Pittsburgh, combines a blend of New Age dance beats, funky rhythmic grooves, mathematic progressive rock and live improvisation.

-- Shelf Life String Band is a Pittsburgh-based, untraditional bluegrass four-piece with a repertoire of musical delight. These boys will keep the energy high with their full-bodied, feel-good sounds that captivate crowds of old and young alike.

-- Pittsburgh’s City Dwelling Nature Seekers performs original material, which ranges from up-tempo bluegrass numbers to ballads, with an emphasis on memorable melodies.

-- 600 Lbs. of Sin, a Morgantown, W.Va., band that blends honky-tonk, reggae, southern rock, bluegrass, folk and blues with intense improvised jams and matchless vocal harmonies.

-- Clinton Clegg & the Backstabbing Good People, a Pittsburgh-based band, has put together a collection of songs that includes soul, hip-hop, rock, reggae and blues.

-- Black Coffee is a soul, blues and funk band based out of central Pennsylvania. Fronted by singer Caitlin Cuneo, the band creates an energized show, spanning slow blues/jazz numbers to all-out funk grooves.

-- Southside Strays grew out of another Johnstown band, ERA, to capture the listening ears of a diverse audience. Mixing the right ingredients of the Grateful Dead, The Beatles and the Byrds with the blues, country and a touch of gray gives this band a surefire recipe for a good time.

-- Jeff Perigo & Friends has been playing music since 1994 in the Johnstown, Indiana and Somerset areas. The jam band plays classic rock, folk, blues and country.

The lineup

The following is the performance schedule for the AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival:

Friday

-- Bud Light Stage

7 to 8:30 p.m.: Bettye LaVette, soul-blues.

9:30 to 11 p.m.: JJ Grey & Mofro, swamp rock, soul.



-- Subaru Stage

6 to 7 p.m.: Clinton Clegg & the Backstabbing Good People, rock, reggae.

8:30 to 9:30 p.m.: Boogie Hustlers, hip-hop, soul, jazz.

11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.: The Pimps of Joytime, funk, salsa.



-- Peoples Natural Gas Stage

5:30 to 7 p.m.: Shelf Life String Band, untraditional bluegrass.

8 to 9:30 p.m.: The Hackensaw Boys, Americana.

Saturday

-- Bud Light Stage

4:30 to 6 p.m.: Tab Benoit, blues.

7 to 8:30 p.m.: JJ Grey & Mofro, swamp rock, soul.

9:30 to 11 p.m.: Gregg Allman, blues.



-- Subaru Stage:

3:30 to 4:30 p.m.: Southside Strays, jam band.

6 to 7 p.m.: American Babies, roots rock.

8:30 to 9:30 p.m.: Sweet Earth, instrumental New Age.

11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.: Brothers Past, electro rock.



-- Peoples Natural Gas Stage:

3 to 4:30 p.m.: 600 Lbs. of Sin, jam band.

5:30 to 7 p.m.: Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds, soul, rock, funk.

8 to 9:30 p.m.: Project/Object, the music of Frank Zappa.

Aug. 7

-- Bud Light Stage:

4 to 5:30 p.m.: Lubriphonic, funky rock ’n’ roll.

6:30 to 8 p.m.: The Bridge, jam band.

9 to 10:30 p.m.: Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, blues, soul.



-- Subaru Stage:

3 to 4 p.m.: Black Coffee, soul, blues, funk.

5:30 to 6:30 p.m.: City Dwelling Nature Seekers, bluegrass, ballads.

8 to 9 p.m.: That 1 Guy, one-man band.



-- Peoples Natural Gas Stage:

2:30 to 4 p.m.: Jeff Perigo & Friends, singer-songwriter.

5 to 6:30 p.m.: Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Experience, zydeco.

7:30 to 9 p.m.: Bill Kirchen & Too Much Fun, bluegrass, rockabilly.

If you go ...



What: Third annual AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival.



When: Gates open at 4:30 p.m. Friday, 12:30 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Aug. 7.



Where: Peoples Natural Gas Park, near Point Stadium in downtown Johnstown.



Admission: $10 for Friday and $20 for Saturday and $10 Aug. 7.



Information: 539-1889 or www.jaha.org.

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