Plenty of Great Free Americana Shows in NYC This Week, Plus St. Vincent

If you're a fan of folk, country, or any of the other genres lumped into the Americana category, this is your time to overindulge in free concerts in New York. This week is the annual Lincoln Center Out of Doors Americanafest NYC, the last week of the LCOOD series that features a blowout of great shows.

See the schedule below for Lincoln Center's big Americanafest.

The 2014 Americanafest is no exception, with a week of shows packed with artists like Rosanne Cash, The Lone Bellow, Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell, Cassandra Wilson, and Charles Bradley. Most shows take place at the Damrosch Park Bandshell, but see the Americanafest page for links to specific show pages, where you'll find locations as well as information on the artists (including videos).

• Wed., 8/6 - Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell, Robert Ellis, 7:30 p.m.
• Thurs., 8/7 - Tift Merritt, 7:30 p.m.
• Fri., 8/8 - Cassandra Wilson, The Campbell Brothers: "A Sacred Steel Love Supreme" (a film honoring John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme"), 7:30 p.m.
• Sat., 8/9 - The Devil Makes Three, Old 97s, and John Fullbright, 1:30 p.m.
• Sat., 8/9 - "Heroes of American Roots: From the Historic Films Archives," 1 and 4 p.m. (a rare film montage of musical performances by artists such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Elvis Presley, and Woody Guthrie)
• Sat., 8/9 - Rosanne Cash, The Lone Bellow, Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale, 6 p.m.
• Sun., 8/10 - Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Bobby Patterson, and the Music Maker Blues Revue, 5 p.m.
• Sun., 8/10 - Roots Symposium, 1 p.m., including "Heroes of Americana: From the Historic Films Archives," introduced by Joe Lauro; "Talkin’ Blues:" Music Maker Relief Foundation’s Beverly “Guitar” Watkins, Ironing Board Sam, Dom Flemons, and Tim Duffy in conversation with Coleman “Spike” Barkin; and SiriusXM’s “Buddy & Jim Show” with Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale

If adventurous contemporary rock is more your style, you've got another free option for Saturday night: St. Vincent and San Fermin play a free show at Celebrate Brooklyn at 7:30 p.m.

Enjoy!

Music Notes: Allman Bros. Announce Beacon Dates; The Living Room is Moving (and You Can Help); More

We're getting a late start to the new year, but here's a smattering of music news to kick off 2013:

* The Allman Brothers Band has announced the dates for its 2013 run at the Beacon Theatre, and tickets go on sale to the general public Friday, Jan. 11th at 10 a.m. (Get tickets for the Allman Brothers at the Beacon here.)

 The Allman Brothers Band has announced its 2013 slate of shows at the Beacon Theatre.

* The Living Room, a staple of the downtown music scene for a decade and a half, is moving from its Ludlow Street location, and is having a fan-funded campaign (what else?) to finance the relocation.

As you'd expect, the Pledge Music campaign is offering some tasty goodies for funders, including albums featuring some of the many artists who've played the venue (including Jesse Malin, Norah Jones, and Joseph Arthur). The Living Room hopes to be in its new, unnamed location in the Spring.

* Another fundraising effort with some top-notch musical talent is "The Storm is Passing Over," a new Hurricane Sandy benefit album. The CD, from Brooklyn's Mason Jar Music, features a collection of songs with storm or aquatic themes, performed by Americana singer-songwriters including Rosanne Cash, Tift Merritt, Dawn Landes, Aoife O’Donovan, and Abigail Washburn and Béla Fleck.

* Speaking of singer-songwriters, Irish transplant Susan McKeown got a nice write-up in today's Wall Street Journal. I mentioned her a couple of months ago when her latest album, "Belong," was streaming online. She's playing the 92nd St. Y Tribeca Saturday night, Jan. 5th; you can learn more and get tickets here.

Free Shows in NYC Tonight: the Bottom Line's New York, Tift Merritt, Ozomatli

Willie Nile is one of the many NYC artists playing the "New York on My Mind" show at Rockefeller Park tonight.

In one of those abundance-of-riches situations you often see in the summer in NYC, there are three great free concerts in the City Wednesday night. The one I'll be at is the The Bottom Line Presents: New York on My Mind at Rockefeller Park [UPDATE: the World Financial Center's Winter Garden] in Lower Manhattan. This show features many of the local New York artists (often in the singer-songwriter vein) who often played at The Bottom Line, the much-loved Greenwich Village club that gave many acts their start or a welcome place to come back to (and that closed down several years ago).

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band had a multi-night stand their early in their career, and the artists I've seen there range from The Waitresses (in the early '80s) to Suzanne Vega and Patty Griffin and former Cream bassist Jack Bruce.

Appearing at Wednesday's "New York on My Mind" show are Rosanne Cash, Marshall Crenshaw, Garland Jeffreys, Willie Nile, Martin Rivas, Suzzy and Lucy Wainwright Roche, Catherine Russell, longtime NYC DJ Vin Scelsa, Loudon Wainwright III, Dar Williams, and more guests. Producer and guitarist John Leventhal (who is also Cash's husband) serves as music director for the show, which is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Rockefeller Park, north end of Battery Park City, at the corner of River Terrace and Warren Street.


Tift Merritt performs "Broken" at SXSW in 2008.

Over at at Madison Square Park, Americana singer-songwriter-guitarist Tift Merritt and band will play the 2011 Mad. Sq. Music series. Merritt's albums and performances have attracted praise from many quarters, and she'll no doubt be playing a number of tunes from her latest album, "See You On the Moon." (See an NPR story on Tift Merritt here.) The show is scheduled to run from 7 to 8:30 p.m. 23rd Street & 5th Avenue.

Out in Brooklyn, the Los Angeles-based Latino band Ozomatli, which mixes salsa, funk, hip-hop, and more, will play Red Hook Park as part of Summerstage. The band's diversity of influences and styles was no doubt part of the reason Ozomatli was chosen to serve as official U.S. State Department Cultural Ambassadors. Ozomatli is known for its energetic shows, and they'll be performing at 7 p.m. Red Hook Park, Otsego, Bay, Hicks, Lorraine, Court, Halleck Streets. (See Google Maps directions here.)

NOTE: Rain is predicted for Wednesday afternoon and evening, which may affect these shows. The Twitter accounts for each series should be a good source of up-to-date information: @R2RFestival, @MadSqParkNYC, and @Summerstage. [The River to River show has been moved indoors; the Madison Square and Summerstage shows are rain or shine.]

Tonight in NYC: Diane Birch, Rachael Yamagata, Tift Merritt, Marshall Crenshaw, Nicole Atkins, & More in Japan Benefit

Last week I wrote about a series of benefit concerts to aid the Japan relief effort, and recently found out that City Winery is hosting one at 8 p.m. tonight called Bridge to Japan with a lot of great talent on it. I know it's short notice, but if you'll be in the City tonight you'll see an impressive roster of talent (many of whom aren't as famous as they should be):

Rachael Yamagata, Tift Merritt, Diane Birch, Marshall Crenshaw, Dar Williams, Lucy Wainwright Roche, Nicole Atkins, Ben Sollee, classic pianist Taka Kigawa, the New York based big band Morning Musuko, Syd Straw, "12-year-old phenom Cecilia Gault," and more, including Jesse Smith (daughter of Patti, with Lenny Kaye and Tony Shanahan of the Patti Smith band).

As of 4 p.m. today, tickets for Bridge to Japan are still available at several price levels, starting at $25 for standing room (limited number available). Check the website or call 212-608-0555 ext 714 for information. All proceeds will go to Japan relief, the website says.

This is quite a lineup of talent, and I'd guess it's one of those chances to see different combinations of musicians playing together, probably playing tunes you wouldn't normally hear. It should be a great show.