It’s hard to believe that it’s already August. Before you know it, the kids will be heading back to school and the leaves will be changing color.
If you haven’t had a chance to take in an outdoor concert, or enjoy one of the area’s many summer music series, you still have time — this month is packed with all types of shows. All you have to do is read on for a few suggestions.
There is only one show left in the Sunday in the Park series. These shows are presented by the Greenfield Recreation Department, which holds three shows at the Greenfield Energy Park each summer.
The final show will be held on Sunday, Aug. 14, at 6 p.m., and will feature Don White and Christine Lavin.
This is a show that you won’t want to miss, because the White-Lavin combo means that you will not only be treated to an evening of wonderful music, but one that is full of laughter.
Don White has a strong following here in Franklin County, thanks to his years of performing at the St. James Coffeehouse. He was a perennial favorite at the coffeehouse, performing yearly during the 12 years that the it was in operation.
He was so popular that this past April, they actually opened the coffeehouse for a one-time-only show, just so they could have him back.
White’s folk music runs the gamut, from the serious to the silly, but it’s his humorous stories about family and marriage between songs that really connects with the audience.
White has been a working musician since the late 1980s, and in 1993 he opened a show for Christine Lavin, a singer-songwriter who came out of the New York City folk scene of the 1980s and made a name for herself singing humor-laced love songs, like, “I’ve been living on milk and cookies since you were gone.”
Lavin and White stayed in touch over the years, but they didn’t perform together until 2008, when they shared a stage in Arlington.
“The buzz from that show was so tremendous that we decided to see what we could do around the country,” White told me in an interview a few years ago.
So they went off and played a series of shows in New England and the Midwest and received such a positive response, they knew they were onto something.
Not only did their musical styles mesh, but so did their humor. Lavin and White were having a great time together on stage, and it carried into the crowd.
Flash forward to 2016, and White and Lavin are touring all over the country, playing about 60 shows together.
When I spoke with White in April, he said he and Lavin were extremely busy and that their shows continue to grow in popularity.
“There is a lot of demand for these shows with Christine, because it’s not like other shows. It’s funny and we’ve been doing it long enough that people know about it,” said White. “But, why couldn’t this happen when I was in my twenties?” he added with a laugh. “I’m a Grandfather; I like to sleep in my own bed, so I’m content staying local.”
The structure of their shows is White and Lavin each playing separately, before coming onstage together.
“I have laughed as hard at Don and Christine as I have at any comedians I have seen on stage, but I have never heard either of them tell a mean, scornful or bitter joke,” wrote music writer Scott Alarik in the Boston Globe. “Always, their humor is fueled by the same empathy, kindness and universality that fuels their songwriting.”
White and Lavin have recently announced that they will be scaling back on their shows together in 2017, so do catch them while you can.
This show is a family-friendly show. The Energy Park is located at 50 Miles St., and a donation of $15 is suggested.
For more information, visit: www.donwhite.net and www.christinelavin.com
If you missed the Green River Festival, don’t worry, because Signature Sounds will present another festival at the end of the month, when Lake Street Dive’s Amourasaurus II returns to the Pines Theater at Look Park in Florence Aug. 27 and Aug. 28. Last year the festival sold out.
Amourasaurus was such a success, they decided to expand it to two days. The festival is curated by the popular band, Lake Street Dive, who will perform both nights of the festival. The band has had a busy summer, touring heavily in support of its latest recording, “Side Pony.”
The lineup for Saturday will feature the legendary Mavis Staples, Look Park, the new project from Chris Collingwood of Fountains of Wayne, rhythm and blues musician Son Little and singer-songwriter Christina Courtin.
Sunday features Josh Ritter and The Royal City Band, the alt folk rock sounds of Thao and the Get Down Stay Down and local musicians The Suitcase Junket (Matt Lorenz) and Erin McKeown.
Lake Street Dive will close out both nights.
Music will begin at 3 p.m. each day and end around 10 p.m. Single- day tickets are $49.99, a weekend pass is $89.99; kids 3 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased at: www.amourasaurus.com
The Pines Theater at Look Park is located at 300 N. Main St. in Florence. For more information: 413- 923-2800.
Lake Street Dive is also hosting and participating in a 5k road race at Look Park, which will take place on Sunday, Aug. 28 at 10 a.m. You can find out more information about this and registrar at the band’s website.
We can’t talk about music festivals without mentioning the longstanding Charlemont Reggae Festival, which will take place at the Charlemont fairgrounds Saturday Aug, 6 at 11 a.m.
Performing will be a lineup of both locally and nationally known reggae acts, including Berklee Bob Marley Ensemble, Rebelle, Loose Caboose, Equalites, 1 Band International, Riddim Vigil, Addis Revolution, The Pangeans, Shokazoba, Ardie “Cuban” Wallace, Ras Spective and Tuff Riddim International.
Tickets are $20 in advance, available at World Eye Bookshop, 156 Main St. in Greenfield and Boswell’s Books, 10 Bridge St. in Shelburne Falls. Children under 12 are admitted for free. Tickets at the gate are $25. Gates open at 11 a.m. For more information, visit:
www.charlemontreggaefest.com
Last month, the Meadows Cafe and Golf Center at 398 Deerfield St. in Greenfield launched a Sunday afternoon concert series called, “Under the Big Tent.”
The series continues, and on Sunday, Aug. 7, at 2 p.m., the music of well-established local musicians Orlen and Gabriel and Lexi Weege will be featured. Admission is free and open to the public.
Orlen and Gabriel is Michael Orlen and his partner Christine Gabriel. The duo play music that has been described as folk-pop, but you will hear influences of other styles in their sound as well. They are members of the Franklin County Musicians Cooperative, so you may have caught one of their shows at the weekly Coop concerts. They also perform regularly throughout the area and New England.
Lexi Weege is a jazz-influenced singer-songwriter with a powerhouse of a voice. She has released a full-length album called “Virgin,” and more recently, “Sweet Moon,” a both recorded live to tape.
She is also a member of the Woman Songwriter Collective and has a new project called The Franklin County Sweethearts, which features Madeline LaPorte and Tom LeBeau. The Sweethearts perform originals by Weege and LaPorte, as well as some classic country cover tunes. You can catch them at the Deja Brew Pub and Cafe at 57A Locks Village Road in Wendell on Sunday, Aug 7 at 8 p.m.
Last week I mentioned a show by Rodd Cummings and the Vibrators, a band that was playing at Greenfield’s new music venue The Root Cellar.
I wanted to clear up a couple of errors in the piece. The band is not led by Courtney Parker, though she is an important part of the band, but by Rodd Cummings, who is the driving force behind the group, choosing the players and vocalists and songs, arranging the material and more.
The band, which features a revolving group of players — there is a core group that has played at almost all the shows — are not out of Wendell, as I stated, but are actually members of bands from the Northampton-Amherst area.
Rodd Cummings and the Vibrators play danceable sexy songs that encompass rock, reggae, R&B, hip-hop, jazz and more. If you missed their show at the Root Cellar last weekend, their next show is “Dirty XXX Thirty,” at the Harp in North Amherst on Friday, Aug. 12.
Music will begin around 9:30 p.m. The show is free, but tips are always appreciated. The Harp is located at 163 Sunderland Road.
Sheryl Hunter is a music writer who lives in Easthampton. Her work has appeared in various regional and national magazines. You can contact her at soundslocal@yahoo.com