Free Summer Concerts: Nicole Atkins Tonight; Deer Tick Thurs.; Roots of American Music Fest. this Weekend

Nicole Atkins plays a free show outside City Winery at 5:30 Tuesday.

Another week of free concerts is underway, and here are some of my picks.

[UPDATE: The Nicole Atkins show is postponed because of the heavy rain, City Winery announced at 4:30 p.m. on its Twitter and Facebook pages. They say they will try to reschedule a make-up date.]

Tues., Aug. 9th: Nicole Atkins at Hudson Square: the South Jersey native plays the second-to-last show in the after-work Hudson Square series, which takes place in the parking lot behind City Winery. Atkins recently came out with her second album, "Mondo Amore." Showtime is 5:30 p.m. City Winery is at 155 Varick St. between Vandam and Spring Street; you can enter the festival area from Spring Street (between Varick and Hudson) or from Vandam between Varick and Hudson.

Wed., Aug. 10th: performance artist Laurie Anderson takes the stage at Lincoln Center Out of Doors; also on the bill is fiddler and composer Todd Reynolds in a debut collaboration with Sxip Shirey and Adam Matta (of the Carolina Chocolate Drops) and a section of violinists. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. at Damrosch Park Bandshell (map/directions) in Lincoln Center.

Thurs., Aug. 11th: Deer Tick and Dom at RiverRocks (Pier 54): Led by John McCauley, Deer Tick brings its blend of punk, blues, country and more to the RiverRocks series at Hudson River Park. (Hear an early performance by Deer Tick in what may have been their first radio broadcast set, from WNYC in January 2006.) Also on the Thursday's bill are Dom and Translations. Doors: 6 p.m. Hudson River Park, Pier 54 (map and directions to Pier 54.)

And the Roots of American Music Festival closes out Lincoln Center Out of Doors this weekend, with a series of great roots/Americana musicians Saturday and Sunday. The whole thing ends with a bang late Sunday afternoon with a show featuring legendary soul guitarist Steve Cropper, Bettye Lavette, The Bar-Kays, and the North Mississippi All-Stars Duo. On the schedule:

Sat., Aug. 13th, 2 p.m.: banjo player and singer Abigail Washburn; folk-rock singer Sid Selvidge with Sons of Mud Boy; and Sun Records oral histories. Location: Hearst Plaza Stage (venue info), Lincoln Center.

Sat., Aug. 13th, 5 p.m.: Ebony Hillbillies, a black string band with "a rootsy, homegrown style that was a key element in the genesis of all-American music: jazz, blues, bluegrass, rockabilly, rock and roll, and country." Location: Josie Robertson Plaza (map/directions), Lincoln Center.

Sat., Aug 13th, 6 p.m.:  country and bluegrass show with Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives; Sonny Burgess; Cowboy Jack Clement; Rudy “Tutti” Grayzell and Hayden Thompson; Dailey and Vincent. Location: Damrosch Park Bandshell (map/directions)

Sun., Aug. 14th, 5 p.m.: Steve Cropper and Friends: Tribute to the 5 Royales (New York debut) with Bettye Lavette, Ellis Hooks, and Dylan LeBlanc; The Bar-Kays; North Mississippi All-Stars Duo; Big Sam's Funky Nation. Location: Damrosch Park Bandshell (map/directions)

Free at Summerstage Tonight: "Shelebration!" - Shel Silverstein Celebrated in Words & Music

"Shelebration!" at SummerStage will celebrate the many books, songs, and poems by the late Shel Silverstein.

The late Shel Silverstein had such a diverse creative output—children's books, pop songs, plays, and much more—that it's taking a whole cavalcade of artists to celebrate his legacy tonight in a free SummerStage show in Central Park.

"Shelebration! A Tribute to the Works of Shel Silverstein" is a tribute to the author's work by an amazingly varied list of performers, from Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson to Suzanne Vega, Melvin Van Peebles, Martha Wainwright, and more. There are actors such as Annabella Sciorra and Chloe Webb; comedians including Richard Belzer and Darrell Hammond (formerly of "Saturday Night Live"); and rock singers such as Sally Timms (of The Mekons) and Emily Haines (of Metric). (See the SummerStage website for the full "Shelebration!" lineup.)

And the SummerStage description says the show will feature "the debut of works from Silverstein’s forthcoming poetry collection, 'Every Thing On It.'"

Shel Silverstein wrote "The Cover of the Rolling Stone" and other hits.

Although Silverstein (who died in 1999) is best known to many millions as the author of the children's books "The Giving Tree" and "A Light in the Attic," he also wrote plays, poetry, and songs, as well as being an illustrator and recording artist.

It wasn't until many years after the fact that I realized Silverstein was the writer of some of the most well-known, chart-topping hit songs of their day, including “The Unicorn” (the Irish Rovers), “A Boy Named Sue” (Johnny Cash), and two hit singles for Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: "The Cover of the Rolling Stone" and "Sylvia's Mother."

If you're a fan of any form of Shel Silverstein's work, or just want to see some very talented individuals from different fields celebrating his work, you might want to head over to the SummerStage Mainstage in Central Park tonight. (For updates on gate opening time and possible weather-related changes, follow the SummerStage Twitter account.)

"Shelebration! A Tribute to the Works of Shel Silverstein" 
Saturday, Aug. 6th, 7 p.m.
SummerStage Mainstage, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park (map and directions)
Info: www.summerstage.org or (212) 360-2777

Free Summer Concerts: Aretha Franklin (Tonight); Ra Ra Riot, Mission of Burma, Friendly Fires, & More this Weekend

 Above: Ra Ra Riot's video for "Boy," from their 2010 album "The Orchard."

The blitz of free summer concerts continues, and after last night's rainouts the skies look clear for the much-anticipated Aretha Franklin make-up show at Coney Island tonight. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. at West 21st St. and Surf Ave., next to the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball stadium. See directions at the Seaside Summer Concerts home page.

The action continues on Friday night when Ra Ra Riot, Delicate Steve, and Buke & Gass (pronounced "byuke" and "gace") play Celebrate Brooklyn in Prospect Park.

Hailing from Syracuse, Ra Ra Riot made a big splash a few years ago with their album "The Rhumb Line," combining catchy pop accented with a violin and viola. Their latest album, "The Orchard," came out last summer.

The most interesting band on Friday's Celebrate Brooklyn bill is Buke and Gass, a duo that plays an mix of modified steampunk-style instruments, including the "buke" (baritone ukelele) and "gass" (a combination of a guitar and bass).


Above: Cults play "Abducted" live at the WFUV studios. 

On Sunday you've got to choose between two free rock shows in Manhattan happening at the same time. Summerstage's Central Park Mainstage (directions) presents Friendly Fires, The Naked and Famous, and Cults at 3 p.m. I'm not too familiar with the first two bands, but have been enjoying the music of the male-female duo Cults the last month or so. You can read an interview they did with WFUV's The Alternate Side here (which includes the video above).

Also at 3 p.m. Sunday, the influential late '70s/early '80s band Mission of Burma plays the Beekman Beer Garden (at South and Beekman Sts., on the north side of Pier 17). Bands ranging from R.E.M., Nirvana, and Throwing Muses has cited Mission of Burma as an inspiration to their own work. As of now the Beekman gig is the only date on their tour schedule, so if you want to see them you'll want to get to this show. Mission of Burma's latest album is "The Sound, The Speed, The Light." (directions to Beekman Beer Garden.)

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from Fountains of Wayne, The Horrors, Keb' Mo', Antigone Rising, & More

The new Fountains of Wayne album "Sky Full of Holes" is one of the new albums streaming for free this week.

"Sky Full of Holes," the new album by Fountains of Wayne, is the highlight of this week's free album previews, but there's some other good stuff for streaming. (As for FoW, I went to one of the band's sold-out shows at the intimate confines of Maxwell's, where the crowd was treated to previews of "The Summer Place" and other songs from the new album, and of course some old favorite tunes.)

Other albums for free preview this week new releases from The Horrors, contemporary blues singer and guitarist Keb' Mo', and New York all-female band Antigone Rising. The new effort from the latter, "23 Red," has them sounding a lot more mellow than I remember them from years ago, and some of the tunes even have a country feel to them.

And there seem to be a number of members of well-known bands members out on their own with new projects, including Moonface (Wolf Parade frontman Spencer Krug), Ra Ra Riot bass player Mathieu Santos, and Collections of Colonies of Bees (featuring members of Volcano Choir, who collaborated with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon).

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Sky Full of Holes" by Fountains of Wayne
"On the Ocean EP" by Guster
"Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped" by Moonface
"Massachusetts 2010" by Mathieu Santos
"Giving" by Collections of Colonies of Bees

KCRW Album Preview: 
"Skying" by The Horrors (streaming until Aug. 14)

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"23 Red" by Antigone Rising
"The Reflection" by Keb' Mo'
"King" by O.A.R.

Free Live Music: Girl-Group Singers Live in NYC; Newport Folk Online

Ronnie Spector, Lesley Gore, and other classic 1960s female singer take center stage at a free show Saturday.

Looking for some live music to listen to today? If you like the classic '60s girl singers and groups as much as I do (the Ronettes, Shirelles, Crystals, etc.), you're in luck because Lincoln Center Out of Doors (LCOOD) is presenting a free show tonight featuring Ronnie Spector, Lesley Gore, and many others.

Called "The Ponderosa Stomp: She's Got the Power," the show includes Spector, Gore, Lala Brooks (formerly of The Crystals), and singers from The Chantels, The Exciters ("Tell Him"), Peggy Santiglia Davison and Jiggs Sirico (of The Angels®), and more.

(See a Wall Street Journal article featuring comments from Lesley Gore and singer-songwriter Toni Wine.)

The show is free and runs from 5 to 10 p.m. tonight at the Damrosch Park Bandshell in Lincoln Center. Here's the schedule:

* GIRL GROUPS REVUE - 5:00 p.m.
* LALA BROOKS and LESLEY GORE - 7:00
* TRIBUTE TO ELLIE GREENWICH (composer of “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “Be My Baby,” and many more hits) - 8:40

If you don't feel like venturing out of the house, check out NPR Music's live webcasts from the Newport Folk Festival. Live sets will be available online from 12 Noon to 7:30 p.m. Eastern today and tomorrow, July 30th and 31st. Video will be shown for some sets; others are audio only. The schedule for the live Newport Folk Festival webcasts:

remainder of Saturday, July 30th:
4:30 p.m.: Delta Spirit
4:45: Gillian Welch
5:50: Pokey LaFarge
6:00: The Decemberists

Sunday, July 31st:
12:00 p.m.: David Wax Museum
12:30: Tegan And Sara
12:45: Carolina Chocolate Drops
1:45: Mavis Stapes
2:00: Wanda Jackson
3:00: The Secret Sisters
3:25: Amos Lee
4:30: Mountain Man
4:45: Elvis Costello
5:50: Chris Thile and Michael Daves
6:00: Emmylou Harris

Free Concerts: Aretha Franklin Next Week; Taj Mahal Tonight; Eugene Mirman/They Might Be Giants Tomorrow

Aretha Franklin is confirmed for a free show in Coney Island next Thursday.

The Seaside concert series today announced its "mystery guest" for its show next Thursday, August 4th: Aretha Franklin. Some people had speculated that the performer might be Peter Frampton, but the Queen of Soul has been confirmed and is featured on the Seaside website (above).

Franklin had been scheduled to play the Coney Island free concert series last summer, but had to cancel it and a number of other shows due to illness. For a while there were rumors that Aretha had some kind of fatal disease, but happily those were just speculation and the soul pioneer is back on the road.

Other news in free summer concerts in New York City in the next couple of days:

* the inaugural Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival starts tonight at the World Financial Center with the legendary Taj Mahal and his trio, singer-songwriter Amy LaVere, and the new band featuring Mike Farris, who was the frontman of Double Trouble and the Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies. 6 to 9:30 p.m., WFC Plaza, outside the Winter Garden, near West & Vesey Sts. (see maps of WFC area)

Friday night the festival continues with James Blood Ulmer and the Memphis Blood Blues (featuring Vernon Reid of Living Color); The Growers, and The Beauties. 6 to 9:30 p.m., WFC Plaza.

The Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival concludes Saturday with Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra and Henry Butler featuring Dean Bowman and Sandra St. Victor; Hazmat Modine, Ryan Shaw; Danny Kalb; and Citigrass

* Actor and comedian Eugene Mirman will be doing a free show Friday at the Williamsburg Waterfront with special guests, including They Might Be Giants, who will be playing a full-length concert. The show, called Eugene Mirman and Pretty Good Friends, featuring Todd Barry, Patton Oswalt, and Kristen Schaal. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.; no ticket needed, but admission is first come, first served. Williamsburg Waterfront, East River State Park, 110 Kent St. (map of Williamsburg Waterfront with link to get directions)

They Might Be Giants says that the show will span their entire career, including their new album, "Join Us." And the band notes that the show is a homecoming of sorts, since the Williamsburg waterfront is where they filmed their very first video 25 years ago.