Local live music lovers will have big choices to make this weekend
Festival celebrates free jazz
Olympia’s Free Jazz Festival, happening through Monday, July 14, features experimental jazz artists based along the West Coast from Vancouver, B.C., to San Francisco. It’s a drop-in style festival, so take in as much or as little as you like. The Myst, DJ G and the Coop will perform from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, July 11, at New Traditions, 300 Fifth Ave. SW, Olympia; tickets are $20. The Free World and The Steve Bentley Collective are on from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday, July 12, at Ilk Lodge, 515 Jefferson St. SE, Olympia; suggested donation is $20. Saxophonist Lewis Jordan with Music at Large in Olympia and The Harmolodics play from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Sunday, July 13, at Ilk Lodge; suggested donation is $20. The festival wraps up with the Joe Mailhot Jazz Unit, playing from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Monday, July 14, at The Eagles, 805 Fourth Ave E, Olympia; suggested donation is $20.
Country tunes in Tenino
Tenino’s own Adam Craig, a rising star in Nashville, is playing the new Stone City Event Center on Friday, July 11, and Saturday, July 12. Craig, who’s penned hits for major country artists, will play the first outdoor shows at the venue, 16404 Old Highway 99 SE, Tenino. The Oly Mountain Boys will open on Friday, and Olympia’s Whisky Strut will open on Sturday. Gates open at 4 p.m., with tunes starting at 5. Tickets are $40, and the shows are open only to those 21 and older.
Free outdoor shows
Tenino isn’t the only place offering live music outside. Three concert series are underway
▪ Queen Mother, a Queen tribute band, will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, July 11, at the Port of Olympia’s NorthPoint, 1210 Marine Drive NE. This is the final concert in the Summer Nights at the Port concert series. Parking can be found at adjacent Swantown Marina Boat Launch. There will be ive music, food trucks, and a beer garden.
▪ Danny Vernon, an Elvis tribute artist, will perform at noon Wednesday, July 16, in Lacey’s Huntamer Park, 618 Woodland Square Loop SE, part of the Lacey in Tune series.
▪ Anderson Raye and Nikko & The Night Shift are the week’s bands at the Olympia Downtown Alliances’s Music in the Park. The music begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 16, in Sylvester Park, 615 Washington St. SE, and will last until 8 p.m.
Freelance writer Molly Gilmore talks with DJ Kevin the Brit about what’s happening around town on KGY-FM’s “Oly in a Can,” airing at 2 p.m. Fridays.