Summer is here, and with it comes an array of outdoor festivals and concerts, in addition to many indoor concerts, coffeehouses and open mic nights. Besides plenty of homegrown talent, a number of notable performers will be visiting the Island this summer. The folk-rockin’ duo Aztec Two-Step and veteran acoustic blues guitarist John Hammond play Bay Shore’s Boulton Center, as do The Roches with their impressive song craft and delightful three-part harmonies. The rootsy Americana trio Red Molly makes a couple of LI appearances. Folk-rock singer-songwriter Steve Forbert headlines the 2nd Annual Huntington Folk Festival that also features the father & son acoustic blues & roots duo Beaucoup Blue and several song swaps. Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder headline the 5th annual Long Island Bluegrass Festival in Copiague, and talented Canadian fiddler April Verch plays the Long Island Fiddle Festival in Stony Brook. Living folk icons Richie Havens and Tom Rush play the new Great South Bay Music Festival in Patchogue, while Tom Paxton, a former Long Islander and one of America’s finest folksingers and topical songwriters, returns to Albertson’s Clark Botanic Garden. The Friends of the Arts Long Island Summer Festival in Oyster Bay features such entertaining performers as Randy Newman, The Indigo Girls, Rosanne Cash & The Flatlanders. Acclaimed German fingerstyle guitarist Peter Finger plays a free lunchtime concert in Bay Shore, and rootsy alt-country singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams brings her “West” tour east to the Brookhaven Amphitheater. Within close proximity for many Long Islanders, New York City’s River to River Festival, the Roots of American Music Festival outside Lincoln Center, the 2007 Pleasantville Music Festival in the Westchester County community of that name and a wonderful weekly series of free acoustic concerts at Ridgefield, Connecticut’s Ballard Park also beckon. [To see the calendar listings, click on the headline].

There will be plenty of good, free acoustic music in Islip this summer thanks to the Islip Arts Council and its artistic director, Amy Tuttle. This summer’s series of free Sunday afternoon concerts at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Great River will feature several LI-based acoustic artists and Red Molly, the rootsy female Americana trio that’s been drawing a lot of buzz here and elsewhere, while a series of Tuesday Brown Bag Concerts at the Bay Shore Bandshell on Main Street will include noted German guitarist Peter Finger, as well as several more local performers. Both series have taken on more of an acoustic bent since Tuttle (who also serves as an officer of both the Folk Music Society of Huntington and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame) joined the Islip Arts Council’s staff in September 2005. “Every single act has some acoustic element in it” this summer, she said, noting that both series are “geared primarily to acoustic musicians and to those who write original material and perform original stuff.” [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

There's no shortage of good acoustic gigs scheduled on Long Island this June. In addition to some fine local performers, a number of touring artists will be visiting our shores. Scott Ainslie plays and sings the blues in Garden City (June 1). Bluegrass veterans and six-time IBMA winners Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver play Brooklyn (June 1). Pat Humphries and Sandy O, better known as Emma's Revolution, bring their songs of social conscience to Huntington (June 8). Ian Tamblyn, a mainstay on the Canadian folk scene for three decades, makes a rare U.S. appearance in Stony Brook (June 10). Living bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys play Brooklyn (June 22). The Roches showcase their songcraft and delightful three-part harmonies in Bay Shore( June 23). Red Molly, the rootsy female Americana trio, makes two LI appearances this month in Great River and St. James (June 24 and 29, respectively). Aztec Two-Step, the harmonic duo of Rex Fowler and Neal Shulman, comes to Bay Shore, June 30. For information on these and other artists performing on Long Island in June, as well as a preview of summer festivals on and near LI, click the headline.