There’s plenty of music making the scene for summer

It seems like we skipped spring and went right to summer. That’s fine by me. Everyone keeps saying that we’ve already had more summer this year than we had during all of last summer. It sure seems that way, and it has people smiling. With summer comes the music festival fervor. Everywhere, music is happening, everywhere Alaskans are expressing themselves.

Of course, there’s the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, which is one of the biggest musical opportunities Alaska has to offer. Musicians come from all over Alaska to perform on one of the many stages, not to mention the national touring acts that pack the Borealis every summer. This year the annual event will start on Aug. 27 and run through Sept. 7. I was looking at the State Fair Web site, and some of the touring acts that caught my eye included Beach Boys, Seether, CCR and more. This year’s theme for the fair is “Come On — Get Happy,” and the folks at the fair are doing their part to make that easy to do. Check it out online for a complete listing: www.alaskastatefair.org.

The Acoustic Alaska Guitar Camp will be happening from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5. For seven years this camp has brought together the novice, intermediate, advanced and master musicians for a week of musical immersion. Sure, there are canoes, swimming and wilderness to explore just like any camp, but the patrons of this annual event, many who return year after year, are immersed in the music most of the time. For more information on this experience, visit the Web at www.acousticalaska.com.

The city of Wasilla has its fifth annual music series, “Music In The Park,” which is a weekly event for eight to nine weeks every Thursday night. These events are always family friendly, being held at the Iditapark near the skate park in the outdoor amphitheater. Always free to the public, this event showcases a wide variety of musical styles from local musicians.

On June 5 from 2 to 8 p.m., Palmer Arts Council will host an artwalk, and is asking local musicians to come out and be part of the art by performing their art for the passersby. If you want to know more, contact Rose at the Palmer Arts Council office is in downtown Palmer next to Fireside Books.

Friday Flings are another tradition in the Valley. Every year the city of Palmer hosts these weekly events that bring together local vendors with local artists and musicians for the benefit of their community. As always, the Friday Flings are free. The series starts in mid-May. For more information, call 761-3500.

Let’s not forget the fourth annual Make-a-Scene! Music Fest, which is tentatively set for Aug. 1. This year the event will take place at our new business location just off of Lucus in Wasilla. The place is much bigger than our previous venue, including an outdoor area that will be ready for performances by then.

Trust me, this is just a sampling of some of the many music-related events that happen in our area in the next few months. I couldn’t possibly include them all. Maybe I’ll do that next week.

Make-a-Scene!

Josh Fryfogle is a local professional musician who owns 212 Music Group and operates Make-A-Scene in Wasilla. He writes about music every Friday.