The spring has been a wet, chilly and, frankly, miserable one so far in Vermont. Summer is coming this year, right? We hope so, because the summer-concert season sure is.
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This list shows some of the outdoor concerts that will take place between the first Shelburne Museum Concerts on the Green concertsMemorial Day weekend and the summer-is-over party that is Grace Potter’s Grand Point North festival in mid-September. Shake off that spring rain and get out there!
7 p.m. Thursday, May 23, YouTube sensation Tash Sultana and openers the Pierce Brothers kick off the Concerts on the Green series presented by Higher Ground, Shelburne Museum. $42 in advance, $46 day of show. 652-0777, www.highergroundmusic.com.
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7 p.m. Friday, May 24 and Saturday, May 25, recent Grammy-winner Brandi Carlile parlays her recent ascent in popularity with two shows – May 24 with opener Savannah Conley and May 25 with Brandy Clark – at the Shelburne Museum. Sold out. 652-0777, www.highergroundmusic.com.
5 p.m. Thursday, June 6, the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival that runs May 31 through June 9 has plenty of outdoor music, but only two big shows at the big tent, the first of which features St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Tank & the Bangas and smalltalker, Waterfront Park, Burlington. $53.25. 863-7992, www.discoverjazz.com.
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June 7-9, speaking of big tents, the Roots on the River festival has one of those, with acts including Hayes Carll, James McMurtry, Birds of Chicago and Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band playing beneath the tent at The Rodeway Inn, Bellows Falls. $35-$150. www.vermontfestivalsllc.com.
5 p.m. Saturday, June 8, the second big-tent show of the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival features reggae vets Toots & the Maytals with The Big Takeover and local act Sabouyouma, Waterfront Park, Burlington. $43.75. 863-7992, www.discoverjazz.com.
12:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, the Burlington City Arts summer-concert series returns with the John Daly Band and continues with 21 more afternoon performances through Aug. 28 by the likes of Lowell Thompson (June 26), Red Hot Juba (July 19) and Jenny Johnson and the Jazz Junketeers (Aug. 21), Church Street Marketplace near Burlington City Hall. Free. 865-7166, www.burlingtoncityarts.org.
7 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, rock veterans Death Cab for Cutie and pop-rock singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis play as part of the Concerts on the Green series presented by Higher Ground, Shelburne Museum. Sold out. 652-0777, www.highergroundmusic.com.
7 p.m. Tuesday, June 18, Higher Ground also presents a show by The Avett Brothers with Jill Andrews, midway lawn at the Champlain Valley Exposition, Essex Junction. $55 in advance, $59 day of show. 652-0777, www.highergroundmusic.com.
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June 20-23, the Wanderlust festival is a multipurpose event in southern Vermont that includes yoga, farm-to-table dining, lectures and music from acts including India Arie, Ziggy Alberts and John Craigie, Stratton Mountain Resort. Free to $3,665. www.wanderlust.com/festivals/stratton/.
7 p.m. Sunday, July 7, the 41st-annual Middlebury Festival on the Green begins with the accordion-led group Sam Reider & the Human Hands and includes the Heather Pierson Acoustic Trio (July 9), the LowDown Brass Band (July 11) and Burlington instrumental duo Soule Monde (July 12) among many other acts. Free. www.festivalonthegreen.org.
8 p.m. Thursday, July 11, the annual food-and-music event Summervale begins with songs by Chaque Fois and includes performances by Moira Smiley and the Young Tradition Vermont Showcase (July 25), Joe Adler & the Rangers of Danger (Aug. 8) and, at this year’s finale, Mister Chris and Friends (Aug. 29), just past Gardener’s Supply, Intervale, Burlington. Free; donations accepted. www.intervale.org.
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6:30 p.m. Friday, July 12, guitarist Warren Haynes brings his rock band Gov’t Mule to the Stateside Amphitheater, Jay Peak. $25-$50; free for children 6 and under. 988-2611, www.jaypeakresort.com.
4 p.m. Sunday, July 14, the Levitt AMP Music Series returns to the Northeast Kingdom with roots musicians Peter Karp and in later weeks includes Ward Hayden & the Outliers (Aug. 4), Maori group Mama Mihirangi & the Mareikura (Aug. 18) and a world-music double bill with Barika and Daby Toure (Sept. 8), Dog Mountain, St. Johnsbury. Free. 748-2600, www.catamountarts.org.
1 p.m. Saturday, July 20, the sixth-annual Jeezum Crow festival includes Lettuce, The Motet, The Elovaters, Aqueous, The Suitcase Junket (aka Vermont native Matt Lorenz) and the Balkum Brothers, Stateside Amphitheater, Jay Peak. $25-$50; free for children 6 and under. 988-2611, www.jaypeakresort.com.
10 a.m. Sunday, July 21, the renewable-energy/music festival SolarFest is back in southern Vermont with performances by The Gaslight Tinkers, Chicago Afro Beat Project and Rio Mira, Earth Sky Time Farm, Manchester. $15; free for children under 12. www.solarfest.org.
7 p.m. Sunday, July 21, the Concerts on the Green series presented by Higher Ground continues with the indie-folk group Lord Huron plus openers Bully, Shelburne Museum. $45 in advance, $49 day of show. 652-0777, www.highergroundmusic.com.
7 p.m. Thursday, July 25, Higher Ground also presents the concerts at the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival, including this double bill with Lake Street Dive and The Wood Brothers, Waterfront Park, Burlington. $44 in advance, $48 day of show. 652-0777, www.highergroundmusic.com.
3:30 p.m. Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27, Vermont-born jam rockers Twiddle return with their Tumble Down festival within the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival, joined by acts including Stephen Marley, Turkuaz, Ghost Light, Kitchen Dwellers, The Jauntee and Nina’s Brew, Waterfront Park, Burlington. $42-$70. 652-0777, www.highergroundmusic.com.
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7 p.m. Sunday, July 28, the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival ends with the Grateful Dead-inspired set by Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Waterfront Park, Burlington. $49 in advance, $53 day of show. 652-0777, www.highergroundmusic.com.
Aug. 2-3, the brand-new Bear North Festival highlights art, beer, food and music by acts such as Pink Talking Fish, The Funky Dawgz Brass Band, the Seth Yacovone Band, the Mad Mountain Scramblers and JUPTR, Sugarbush Resort North, Fayston. $45-$90. www.bearnorthvt.com.
6:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3, the Michigan group Greensky Bluegrass plays the Stateside Amphitheater, Jay Peak. $15-$28; free for children 6 and under. 988-2611, www.jaypeakresort.com.
7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 4, the Texas troubadour Lyle Lovett and His Large Band return to Vermont for the Concerts on the Green series, Shelburne Museum. $54 in advance, $58 day of show. 652-0777, www.highergroundmusic.com.
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6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 9 and Saturday, Aug. 10, the Vermont-born improvisational band Strangefolk is back with its Garden of Eden festival with opening sets by Assembly of Dust and Harsh Armadillo, Stateside Amphitheater, Jay Peak. $20-$200. 988-2611, www.jaypeakresort.com.
3:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10 and Sunday, Aug. 11, the Spruce Peak Folk Festival on Aug. 10 presents The Milk Carton Kids, Mipso and Francesca Blanchard and on Aug. 11 features Shawn Colvin, Parsonfield and Lowell Thompson, Stowe Mountain Resort. $75-$150; free for children under 12. 760-4634, www.sprucepeakarts.org.
Aug. 15-18, the Green Mountain Bluegrass & Roots festival in southern Vermont features Sam Bush, Mandolin Orange, Darrell Scott, Town Mountain and Donna the Buffalo, among many other acts, Hunter Park, Manchester Center. $25-$145. 824-3575, www.greenmountainbluegrass.com.
7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23, ‘90s alternative rockers Bush and Live kick off the Champlain Valley Fair schedule, Essex Junction. $34.75-$248. 878-5545, www.champlainvalleyfair.org.
7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 30, country-music stars Big & Rich hit the Champlain Valley Fair, Essex Junction. $32.50-$64. 878-5545, www.champlainvalleyfair.org.
7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31, rockers who hit it big in the ‘80s, Pat Benatar with Neil Geraldo and Melissa Etheridge, share a bill at the Champlain Valley Fair, Essex Junction. $36.75-$299. 878-5545, www.champlainvalleyfair.org.
7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 1, top-selling singer Jason Derulo brings the Champlain Valley Fair to a close, Essex Junction. $35.75-$67.25. 878-5545, www.champlainvalleyfair.org.
8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, the son of a guitar legend who has become a guitar legend in his own right, Dweezil Zappa, performs “Hot Rats and Other Hot Stuff,” Stateside Amphitheater, Jay Peak. $15-$35; free for children 6 and under. 988-2611, www.jaypeakresort.com.
3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14 and 2:15 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15, Waitsfield-raised rocker Grace Potter returns with her band and her Grand Point North festival, presented by Higher Ground, with a lineup to be announced (soon, based on recent history), Waterfront Park, Burlington. $74-$164. 652-0777, www.highergroundmusic.com.
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Contact Brent Hallenbeck at 660-1844 or bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.
