The Will McLean Music Festival, held in honor of Florida's premier folk singer who died in 1990, is a family favorite that features plenty of folk music, storytelling, Florida artists and workshops to teach folks how to play music, including lessons in dulcimer, autoharp, banjo and guitar.
Set amid beautiful oak trees, orange groves and a whopper of a lake, the festival this year boasts a roster of talent that includes Jon Semmes and the Florida Friends band; Amy Carol Webb, a prize-winning songwriter from Miami; the Ashley Gang; and Coconut Grove's Grant Livingston.
The Will McLean Music Festival is 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Sertoma Youth Ranch, CR 41, 11/2 miles east of Interstate 75, Exit 60 (between Brooksville and Dade City). Tickets: $20 weekend advance, $25 for weekend at gate; $15 Sat. only; $12 Sun. only; free for ages 11 and younger. (352) 465-7208.
Saves the Day rides in
Saves the Day makes the kids happy with its brand of punky, upbeat pop. The New Jersey quartet makes bright tunes with harmonies and catchy choruses - and come to think of it, not much on last year's In Reverie sounded punk. Is Saves the Day punk anymore?
The band performs with Grandaddy. That California band's 2003 Sumday was a mindblower. Spacy and trippy, Sumday incorporates lots of synthesizers and fuzzy guitar to comment on life in Silicon Valley. Tunes such as The Group Who Couldn't Say, about corporate nincompoops, OK With My Decay and I'm on Standby may sound chilly, but the music - all piano, warm harmonies and texture - fleshes them out in human tones.
Grandaddy performs with Saves the Day at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Jannus Landing, 16 Second St. N, St. Petersburg. $20. (727) 896-2276.
