Boston Bands This Week (6/23/10)

Jeff Conley at the Hard Rock Cafe tonight; Mary Bichner at Club Passim Sunday.

Three nice shows to help everyone officially kick off their summer. First up, there’s the Narragansett Summer Concert Series TONIGHT at the Hard Rock Cafe, with an evening of rootsy Americana featuring Jimmy Ryan and Hayride, Sam Reid & the Riot Act and others. Then tomorrow, an actual “Summer Kick-off Party” at T.T. the Bear’s Place, featuring Plushgun, The Appreciation Post, Vivian Darkbloom, and Mr. Fyner & the Tech Ed Room. And straight off their East Coast tour and epic evening at the House of Blues Evelyn Evelyn afterparty (review forthcoming), Jaggery will be performing on Sunday with Mary Bichner/Box Five and Ginger Ibex at the venerable folk establishment, Club Passim.

Narragansett Summer Concert Series featuring Jimmy Ryan and Hayride, Sam Reid & The Riot Act, Eric Robertson & the Boston Boys, Jeff Conley & hosted by Eric Royer – Thursday, June 24.

Sam Reid & The Riot Act (photo by Amy Whitten), Jimmy Ryan

For an evening of acoustic music – bluegrass, folk, Americana – head to the Hard Rock Cafe on Thursday night. There’s Jimmy Ryan, with his mandolin and bluegrass/rock, and more mandolin and Americana with Sam Reid & The Riot Act. Rootsy rock with a bit of a string-band vibe courtesy of Eric Robertson & The Boston Boys. And folk music performed on homemade, antique instruments from singer-songwriter Jeff Conley.

Summer Kick-off Party with Plushgun, Appreciation Post, Vivian Darkbloom, and Mr. Fyner & the Tech Ed Room @ T.T. the Bear’s Place – Friday, June 25.

(upper left): Plushgun (photo by Siobhan O'Brien); (bottom right): Mr. Fyner & the Tech Ed Room

Enjoy the bouncy synth-pop of Boston’s Appreciation Post (and grab their album work/sleep – for free, no less – on bandcamp.com. Joining them for T.T’s Summer Kick-off celebration will be the power-pop of Mr. Fyner & the Tech Ed Room (you can download their Make Friends With A Bear EP this week, also free, and also on bandcamp), and the very cool Vivian Darkbloom (see a brief bit of video I shot of them below). Rounding out the evening are the New Wave synth-based sounds of Plushgun, who are actually from Brooklyn NY, but since they’re on a bill with Boston bands, we’ll let them sneak in.

Jaggery, Mary Bichner/Box Five and Ginger Ibex @ Club Passim – Sunday, June 27.

Jaggery (photo by Noah Blumenson-Cook), Mary Bichner

After winning over some new fans at Evelyn Evelyn’s afterparty at the House of Blues restaurant last weekend, the ultra-elegant Jaggery will be performing in the very nice, small room of Passim on Sunday night, along with multi-instrumentalist (piano, flute, guitar) pop songstress Mary Bichner, and Ginger Ibex. Ginger Ibex is an interesting trio – Sharon Crumrine, piano; Betty Widerski, 6-string mezzo viola; and Michael Steigman, drums. They have a dramatic sound, with classical and Middle Eastern influences, and Widerski’s background includes punk, rock and improv. They especially should be a very nice complement to Jaggery’s orchestral/gothic leanings. What’s more, Passim’s a lovely intimate venue – if you’ve never been there, definitely treat yourself. This should be a very nice musical evening.