Folk duo concludes summer concert series

The final performance of this summer's Downtown Sounds concert series hosted by the Greater Maryville Chamber of Commerce will take place from 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, August 16, on the west side of the courthouse square.

Kansas City-based folk-rock duo Walkenhorst & Porter will bring their eclectic guitar and piano stylings to the Main Street stage. The popular singer-songwriter team last performed in Maryville in 2010.

Bob Walkenhorst studied art at Northwest Missouri State University before finding international success as a member of The Rainmakers, a rock band that produced a string of hits in the late 1980s and early '90s in both the United States and Europe.

Some Maryville residents may remember The Rainmakers in its early incarnation as Steve, Bob and Rich, a three-piece bar band that enjoyed wide popularity across the four-state area.

An accomplished artist as well as a musician, Walkenhorst was commissioned in 2009 by the Maryville Citizens for Community Action to paint a public mural on the south exterior wall of the Maryville Florists store.

The work memorializes a now-demolished local landmark known as the Forsyth House, an ornate, late-19th century residence that stood for decades on the east side of Main Street at the current location of the Citizens Bank & Trust building.

Walkenhorst's musical partner Jeff Porter is a regionally noted singer and songwriter recognized for both his piano and guitar skills. The two men have performed together for the past several years and in 2009 release a CD titled "No Abandon."

Samples of the duo's music are available at www.myspace.com/walkenhorstandporter.

Joining the Maryville Chamber this year as sponsors of the Downtown Sounds concert series are St. Francis Hospital & Health Services, 97.1 the ‘Vill, Hy-Vee, Nodaway Valley Bank, Suddenlink Communications, Kawasaki Motors and KFC.