festivals, concerts and other music coming this summer season

Ready to catch some great live music this summer, but unsure of where to find it? Or perhaps you’re just wading through fliers and listings, struggling to choose among the many festivals and concerts available for your listening pleasure? We sympathize. Read on to learn about a few of the hottest highlights this summer has to offer.

Summerset 2007

This is the debut of the Summerset Music Festival, organized by Aaron Katz, of AZK Productions, in conjunction with the Dover Yoga Studio. A music producer and veteran of famed Seacoast jam band Percy Hill (among numerous other acts), Katz is equipped with the experience and connections necessary to put on a successful show. He hopes seasonal music productions of this nature will become regularly anticipated events in the Dover community. “For a while now, I’ve had this vision of wanting to produce shows every season,” said Katz, who also expressed a desire to hold some type of winter festival. “It’s definitely something we want to do every year, if not every season.”The music, performed at the Henry Law Park Pavillion in Dover, will consist mostly of acoustic performances, including local folk man Dan Blakeslee, singer-songwriter Laurel Brauns and Dover’s own Liz Parmalee. Katz will also perform as a member of the Seacoast-based group The Dejas, playing poppy, ambient tunes driven by acoustic instrumentation. Greg Townsend, of the alternative rock group Running Red Lights, will make the trip from New Jersey to play an acoustic set.  Summerset will also include an African drum and dance circle for the rhythmically inclined; face-painting and henna tattoos for some of the younger crowd members; and performance painting by numerous artists, including the multi-talented Blakeslee. The night closes with a benefit auction with products from local vendors and paintings produced during the festival. All proceeds from the auction go to Dover Yoga’s youth program. Katz also invites visitors to attend the Summerset after-party at the Barley Pub, with acoustic performances by Justin Peterson of JP3 and Tony Macsata.
The festival runs from 2 to 9:30 p.m on Saturday, June 23, and the following after-party will stretch late into the night. For more information, visit myspace.com/azkproductions. 


The Big O Arts and Music Festival

Looking at the program list for the Big O Festival in South Berwick, you wouldn’t think for a minute that it’s a first-time event. Boasting an ambitious lineup of more than 20 bands performing on two separate stages, as well as an extensive roster of artists and local vendors, the daylong production has something for everyone. Despite its beefy appearance on paper, however, The Big O started with small-scale expectations.  Intended as a birthday celebration for co-organizer Sharon Beckwith and as a fundraiser for the Safe Passage Group to benefit children in Guatemala, the event evolved into something much larger than what organizers originally envisioned. “My wife and her friend decided to do a festival to raise a little bit of money for the group—maybe just four bands,” said Steven Beckwith, co-producer and self-proclaimed “chief cook and bottle washer” of the event. “Then the director of the Safe Passage program was killed in an automobile accident, and I got such an outcry from musicians that I booked 21 bands in 48 hours and decided to put up a second stage.” Needless to say, his wife was astonished, but pleased.  The “band stage” will host 30-minute sets that cover a wide range of genres from 10 bands, including the locally based Adria, Good Morning Chester, Toast, Dominic and the Lucid, the Ron Jones Band and the Gray Davies, among others. The “acoustic stage” will feature lower-volume musical offerings from solo acts, duos and trios, primarily from the Seacoast area. Performers include Hampton’s Brian Scanlon, Marty England and Mark Edgarly of rock group Pondering Judd, and the jazz guitar sounds of Dover’s Steve Carter Trio. The acoustic stage closes with a 30-minute open mic session. 

An “acoustic jam tent” will be reserved throughout the day for improvisational music from anyone who brings an acoustic instrument to the event. As long as it doesn’t have to be plugged in, it’s fair game. Beckwith says jam tents are usually popular at music festivals. “I’ve been to a few festivals myself, and the jam stuff always seems to be a huge hit.” The event’s Web site, www.thebigomusicfestival.com, includes some encouraging words for potential jam participants. “Let’s keep this area rocking, musicians! This is your day: Play until Dusk! BRING IT ON!” the site states.Audience members will also have the option to browse booths with work from local painters, photographers, and potters. Safe Passage will also set up an information table. The event will be catered by the Spring Hill Lodge, and hungry guests can sample entries into the Chili and Chowder Cook-Off. Swimmers can cool down in nearby Knights Pond.  The festival kicks off at 10 a.m. on June 23 at Spring Hill, on Pond Road in South Berwick, and goes until 10 p.m. Tickets are available online at a price of $25 for adults, $15 for college students and $10 for all K-12 students. Children five and under are admitted for free; tickets are $5 extra if purchased at the door.

One thing you won’t find on the Web site is the story behind the event’s title. “The name stems back to when my wife was turning 50 and her friend was turning 40,” said Beckwith. “We just decided to call it “the big O” (as in zero) for lack of anything else.”

Summer Concert Series at the Governor’s Inn

The Café at the Governor’s Inn in Rochester continues its annual Sunday concert series this summer, and adds a full schedule for Friday and Saturday nights, dubbed the “Down By the River” summer music festival.  Those looking for a more family-oriented event should take advantage of the Sunday shows, which run from 4 to 7 p.m. and feature widely known blues, jazz, soul and bluegrass bands. Shows are held in the inn’s private garden, and refreshments are provided by the café’s kitchen. The outdoor setting has attracted many people in the past, according to innkeeper Herman Ejarque. “The garden is the best thing about it,” Ejarque said. “It’s like a traditional English garden. It goes all the way back to the river, and there’s huge oak trees, one with a swing set. There’s a horseshoe pit, bocce and croquet. It’s a really festive environment.” Scheduled shows in the Sunday series include national acts and local bands, such as the Joyce Andersen Band, Melvern Taylor and the Fabulous Meltones, Roundhouse and the Dave Gerard Truffle Trio. The series is sponsored by Frisbie Memorial Hospital, Profile Bank and MetroCast and produced in affiliation with the Rochester Opera House, eliminating all ticket costs. Put simply, it’s free. 

The Friday and Saturday night shows are held in the garden from 7 to 10 p.m. and feature primarily local rock, folk and jam bands. “We tried it last year and it went pretty well,” Ejarque said of the night concerts. “This year we decided to book the whole summer out.” These shows are primarily aimed at a younger crowd, Ejarque says, and include performances by the likes of pop/folk singer and guitarist Jake Roche, classic rock band Busy Kid and Dan Walker’s fingerpicking folk/rock band. Night shows run all summer, through Aug. 25. For more info, visit www.thegovernorsinn.com and click on “café and concerts.”