*You wouldn’t know it from this week’s oppressive heat, but next Friday spells the end of summer… for C.H. Booth Library’s annual concert series, anyway. RIVER CITY SLIM & THE ZYDECO HOGS, who hail from the Hartford area, have the honor of playing this year’s finalé. The free concert begins at 7 pm and will be on the back lawn of the library, at 25 Main Street in Newtown.

WWUH roots music DJ and drummer River City Slim provides the beat. Mark Thompson, a noted traditional accordion player, handles the squeeze box chores. Blues guitarist Mike Bloomer provides the melodic counterpoint to the accordion while jacking the energy level up a notch or two and also contrbutes his baritone vocals to several songs. Bassist and vocalist Jon Mack keeps the groove funky, and Rockin’ Robin Bean’s furious fiddling round out the rhythm section.

Zydeco music was born during the early 1950s, according to the band’s Web site, when traditional Cajun and Creole music collided with the rocking rhythm and blues sounds that were sweeping the country at the time. It was christened Zydeco, from a song popularized by Zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier. The Zydeco heard in Louisiana today is a popular and exciting dance music that owes much to Mr Chenier and his contemporaries.

River City Slim & The Zydeco Hogs bring these sounds into the hills of New England, regularly traveling across not only Connecticut but the entire region for their own performances and participation in festival. Copies of the group’s first CD, High On The Hog, will be available during the August 17 performance for $12 each.

Picnics are welcome, but remember to bring bags to carry out your own trash, too. Janet Woycik gets a nice paycheck to be the library director here in Newtown and she does a good job with all of her responsibilities, but none of her hats say anything about picking up garbage after other people!

The library is at 25 Main Street/Route 25 in Newtown, just below the flagpole. In the event of rain the concert will be moved indoors. Call the library, 426-4533, for additional information.

*Tickets for EARTH, WIND & FIRE with RUFUS and featuring CHAKA KHAN, a bill that will arrive at the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford on Tuesday, September 11, go on sale this weekend. Seats are priced at $38.50, $48,50 and $58.50 and will be available beginning 10 am Saturday. Oakdale tickets are available online at www.ctnow.com, by calling 203-265-1501 or by visiting the Oakdale’s box office in person. Showtime is 7:30.

*Also going on sale Saturday morning will be tickets for MEGADETH, which will be at The Webster Theater in Hartford on Wednesday, October 10. Endo will be opening the all-ages show.

Tickets are apparently already on sale for W.A.S.P., who will be headling a “Mini Metal Bash” at the theater on September 2. Also an all-ages event, the show will include “lots of bands,” promises the club, among them Mushroomhead and Flotsam & Jetsam.

*Local group OFF THE HOOK will have its last band show of the summer this weekend. Alvin “Abu” Carter, Joe Proc and Steve Clarke will be at Bear & Grille in Fairfield on Saturday night. Joe Proc then has two solo shows next weekend — Friday, August 17, at Carl Anthony’s in Monroe, and then Saturday night at Putnam House in Bethel.

*DUNCAN SHEIK will be the next performer for Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art’s “Stage A: Performances” series. The singer will be in Ridgefield on Friday, September 7, for a 7 pm show. Tickets are $42 each, limited to only 100 seats, include a pre-show wine tasting, and must be purchased in advance. Call the museum at 203-438-4519.

Phantom Moon, Sheik’s third album, was completed last fall and then released on February 27. It is, according to Atlantic Records, “a primarily acoustic project recorded for Nonesuch Records.” The project began in 1999 when Sheik began collaborating with New York playwright Steven Sater. The two reportedly met at Soka Gakkai International, a lay Buddhist organization, and Sater — the director fo SGI’s arts division — approached Sheik with the offer to write the music for some lyrics Sater had written based on a play of his called Umbrage. Writing music for someone else’s words was a new experience for Sheik, who obviously liked the challenge. (Likewise, writing words for someone else’s music — of collaborating on writing anything with anyone else — was new ground for Sater as well, although his version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest was scored by LAURIE ANDERSON.)

Within the space of six months, the two had collaborated on more than a dozen songs, which Duncan then recorded as master quality demos in his home studio. That collaboration led to an album’s worth of material, the results of which Nonesuch — an Atlantic “associated label” — has called an “environment of reflection, observation and solitude.” The album’s title pays homage to Sheik’s admiration of Nick Drake; Sheik regularly plays Drake’s “River Man” and “Pink Moon” during his performances.

Of his new work, Duncan has been quoted as saying: “Right now, people aren’t necessarily seeking out music with a dark mood. For me, darkness is a very important aspect of music and needs to be represented. You can’t deny the yearning, the tragedy, the sadness that are so naturally a part of life. And there’s also within those things, I think, a beauty.” Here’s to beautiful, yet melancholic, music.

Until next week, I’ll be seeing you… on the road.

 

Questions and comments should be sent to Shannon Hicks, c/o Bee Publishing Co., 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown 06470, or shannon@thebee.com; or call The Bee office at 426-3141.

Shows listed on the calendar at club locations are for ages 21 and over unless specified.

 

UPCOMING CONCERTS

AUGUST 10 — Rod Stewart at Meadows Music Centre, Hartford; The Chicago Rhythm & Blues Kings at Black-Eyed Sally’s, Hartford; Gargantua Soul at Toad’s Place, New Haven, Nullset, Wolfpac and Dogfish opening (all ages); Joe Rockstar at Tuxedo Junction, Danbury;

August 11 — Janet Jackson at the Hartford Civic Center (date changed from August 14, tickets with original date will be honored); The Rollins Band at Toad’s Place (all ages, early show); The Zoo at Tuxedo Junction; Off The Hook at Bear & Grille, Fairfield;

August 12 — Bela Fleck & The Flecktones at ctnow.com Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford, Keb’ Mo’ opening; Grey Cell Green at The Webster Theater, Hartford, Accidental Groove, Strychnine and Gaiah opening (all ages); Melvin Seals & JGB (Jerry Garcia Band) at Toad’s Place, Electric Mayhem opening (all ages);

August 16 — Jethro Tull at ctnow.com Oakdale Theatre; Starship at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den Lounge, Uncasville (free show); The Robby Krieger Band at The Webster Theater (all ages show by band led by former Doors member);

August 17 — River City Slim and The Zydeco Hogs at C.H. Booth Library, Newtown (Summer Concert Series, free, 7 pm); Peter Spink at CityCenter Green (free concert, 7:30 start); The Beach Boys at Ives Concert Park, Danbury; Hubinger Street at Acoustic Café, Bridgeport; Darik & The Funbags at Toad’s Place, B.O.D., Kick and Bent opening; Poppa Squat at Tuxedo Junction; Moppin’ Sauce at Shenanigan’s, South Norwalk; Joe Proc at Carl Anthony’s, Monroe;

August 18 — matchbox twenty at Meadows Music Centre, Train and Seven Mary Three opening; Cosmic Box at Tuxedo Junction; Joe Proc at Putnam House, Bethel;

August 20 — Crosby, Stills & Nash at Meadows Music Centre (no ticket info yet);

August 21 — Southside Johnny at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den Lounge (free show); Reveille at Toad’s Place, New Haven, Intensify and Superkid opening (all ages);

August 22 — The Beach Boys at ctnow.com Oakdale Theatre, America opening; CSA Songwriters’ Showcase at Acoustic Café, Bridgeport; David Fosters & The Mohegan Sun All-Stars at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den Lounge (free show);

August 23 — Godsmack and The Deftones (co-headlining) at Meadows Music Centre, Puddle of Mudd and CKY opening; Aaron Carter at ctnow.com Oakdale Theatre, The A*Teens and Leslie Carter opening; Joan Jett at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den Lounge (free show); Lil’ Brian Terry & The Zydeco Travelers at Black-Eyed Sally’s; Psychedelic Breakfast at Toad’s Place, Miracle Orchestra opening (all ages);

August 24 —Vince Neil, Ratt, Slaughter and Vixen at ctnow.com Oakdale Theatre; Nils Lofgren at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den Lounge (free show); DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid with Matthew Shipp at Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield; Hipnotic at Tuxedo Junction; Deep Banana Blackout at Toad’s Place (all ages);

August 25 — Yes at Mohegan Sun Pavilion, Uncasville; The Zoo at Tuxedo Junction; Moppin’ Sauce at Lily Lake Inn, Wolcott;

August 26 — The Allman Brothers Band at Meadows Music Centre, Susan Tedeschi opening;

August 29 — The B.B. King Blues Festival at ctnow.com Oakdale Theatre, with King, Buddy Guy, John Hiatt and Tommy Castro; Kansas at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den Lounge (free show);

August 30 —Lloyd’s Blues Music Festival at Mohegan Sun’s Uncas Pavilion featuring B.B. King, Buddy Guy, John Hiatt & The Goners, and Tommy Castro (show starts 5 pm); Maxi Priest at Toad’s Place;

August 31 — Johnny Rawls at Black-Eyed Sally’s; Styx at Foxwoods Casino’s Fox Theater; The Wallbangers at Tuxedo Junction.