A Music Takeover in Sag and Southampton
The streets of Sag Harbor and Southampton will be alive with music this weekend, with both the Sag Harbor American Music Festival and Southampton’s SeptemberFest in store.
In Sag Harbor, it all starts tomorrow night with a fund-raising concert at the Old Whalers Church by BeauSoleil Avec Michael Doucet, a Grammy Award-winning Cajun and folk band. The concert starts at 8 p.m., but doors will open at 7. General admission tickets are $25 and can be purchased through the festival’s Web site, sagharbormusic.org.
On Saturday it’s free music all day long and into the night, starting at 11 a.m., with bands and performers playing jazz, blues, roots, folk, and pop music at all sorts of venues inside and out around the village. The music will be inside in case of rain.
Among those scheduled to play are the Grammy-winning artist Randy Brecker, who will be the special guest of the Jazz/Soul Train Express, Caroline Doctorow and the Steamrollers, Joe Lauro’s Hoodoo Loungers, and Inda Eaton. Other local favorites include Hopefully Forgiven, Alfredo Merat, Jettykoon, Ludmilla Queiroz Benevides and Marcello Pimenta, Moore Johansson, the Complete Unknowns, and Matty Liot.
Primarily, it’s the proprietors of retail shops, art galleries, and restaurants who will sponsor the music in Sag Harbor, but the John Jermain Memorial Library is involved as well, offering music for the little ones by Christine Giuliano. The American Legion will offer classic Americana music by the Sag Harbor Community Band, and Richie Siegler will bring his 30-piece Escola de Samba BOOM! percussion band to wake the village on Saturday at 11 a.m.
An after-party to be held at Bay Street Theatre on Saturday night will feature the Dan Bailey Tribe and Joe Delia and Thieves from 9 to 11. Tickets, at $10, can be purchased that day at the theater’s box office.
Kelly Connaughton, co-artistic director and president of the nonprofit festival, said that any additional donations will support music in the village throughout the year.
Some musicians will play during the festival in Sag Harbor and the one in Southampton, including Mick Hargreaves, Sara Hartman, and Gene Casey and the Lone Sharks, who will headline SeptemberFests’s kickoff party under a tent at Agawam Park tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. Tickets cost $25 in advance through the Southampton Cultural Center or the Southampton Chamber of Commerce, and $35 at the door.
The music will continue in Southampton on Saturday starting at 11 a.m., with live entertainment on Main Street, at the Southampton Center on Job’s Lane, at Agawam Park, and at Village Hall. Reggae by Project Vibe will open a 1:45 p.m. concert at the park, and New Life Crisis will take over at 3:30 p.m. with danceable versions of alternative and rock songs.
Maniac Pumpkin Carvers will be on hand throughout the weekend there, too, just one source of the entertainment for all ages that will complement additional village happenings with historical, agricultural, and seaside themes. Those looking for a taste of Southampton food will find it in the park, where there will also be a chowder contest. On Sunday, an art show Local Taste of Southampton, will find it in the park, and it will include a “Best of Hamptons” chowder contest. On Sunday, the park will be given over to an art show with a focus on East End talent, and a jazz performance by Charles Certain.
Full schedules of the events can be found online at sagharbormusic.org and southamptonseptemberfest.com.
A Correction
An article last week about the Southampton Cultural Center’s “Showstopper Showcase” gave an incorrect date. The correct day and time is Saturday at 7 p.m.