Summertime concerts

July is right around the corner, and that means we'll soon have copious opportunities to catch free concerts. In today's print edition, we ran a roundup of the summer concert series scheduled in Canajoharie, Fort Plain and St. Johnsville. (I've included the whole shebang below.) Also keep in mind there will be free weekly concerts at RiverLink Park in Amsterdam, and the Sacandaga Valley Arts Network will put on several shows in Northville. You can find a link to SVAN's Web site at right. I've also offered the RiverLink Park Web site, although I'm disappointed to see the Waterfront organization still doesn't keep its site up to date (its calendar is blank).

I often wonder why we don't have free summer concerts in Johnstown and Gloversville. Both cities host citizens band concerts, which are great if you like orchestral music, but we don't bring in touring rock/pop/country/folk acts, as they do in the aforementioned communities along the Mohawk. If a tiny town like Fort Plain can pull it off, why not the Glove Cities? Somebody should form a committee ... One thing we do have here is live music and other entertainment on Saturday mornings at the Gloversville Farmers Market. If you happen to be there at the right time, you can watch Jared Conbeer simultaneously sell produce from his family's farm in Fonda and play the bejeezus out of the fiddle.

Anyhow, here's the lowdown on the three villages' concerts:

Canajoharie
Free Music on Main Street concerts will take place Tuesdays from 7 to 9 p.m. on the lawn of NBT bank, at the corner of Mohawk and Church streets. People are asked to bring their own lawn chairs or blankets.
In case of rain, the concerts will take place in the Arkell Auditorium at Canajoharie High School.
For more information, see www.musiconmainstreet.com or call 673-8827.
The schedule is as follows:
• July 7 — Gandolf Murphy’s Slambovian Circus of Dreams, a Hudson Valley-based band that performs a mix of punk, classical, country and psychadelic styles.
• July 14 — Jesse Lege and the Bayou Brew, a Cajun group featuring accordion, fiddle, guitar, drums and vocals.
• July 21 — Notorious: A Boston-based group featuring fiddle and vocal music from American, Celtic, Gypsy, Scandinavian and other folk traditions. 
• July 28 — Big Medicine: A Saratoga Springs-based group that performs a variety of rock, folk, country, reggae, blues and original songs.
• Aug. 4 — Fulton Chain Gang: An upstate New York country-rock band.
• Aug. 11 — Dyer Switch: A Capital Region bluegrass band.

Fort Plain
The village’s free 2009 summer concerts will begin at 5 p.m. July 3 at Wiles Park. The Lexington Center-sponsored soft rock group Flame will perform.
The following concerts in the series will take place on Thursdays at 7 p.m. in Haslett Park.
The schedule is as follows:
• July 9 — County Line Rebels, a local country band. 
• July 16 — Jan & Jim, a contemporary music duo.
• July 23 — The Ramblin Jug Stompers, and Albany-based jug band.
• July 30 — The Sun Mountain Band, featuring local fiddler Dick Solberg and his group playing an eclectic mix of music.
• Aug. 6 — Next Generation, a rock band.
• Aug. 13 — Dave Hazzard, a country singer and his string band.
  
St. Johnsville
The village’s Parks and Recreation Commission has announced the summer concert series will take place at the village marina on the Mohawk River.
The free concerts will take place Mondays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
The schedule is as follows:
• July 6 — Linda Lee and the Fox Creek Band.
• July 13 — Cleen Street.
• July 20 — Spike and the Boys.
• July 27 — Dick Solberg and his Sun Mountain Band.
• Aug. 3 — The Karg Brothers.
• Aug. 10 — Rusty Doves.

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