• The saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers,” but last year, the Cincinnati Zoo’s great weekly Tunes & Blooms local music series was derailed by several cancellations because its May flowers were drenched by too many April showers. There’s no guarantee that this year’s Tunes & Blooms — timed to the annual blossoming of the flowers on zoo grounds and running every Thursday in April — won’t experience rain-related cancellations, but it doesn’t seem conceivable that it will be worse than last year’s especially soggy month.
The music kicks off APRIL 12 this Thursday with an excellent Americana double-bill featuring Buffalo Wabs & the Price Hill Hustle and Hickory Robot. On April 13, New Orleans-style Jazz/Funk outfit The Hot Magnolias and traditional-style Country group Mark Utley & Bulletville perform, while local Bluegrass juggernaut The Comet Bluegrass All-Stars performs on April 20. Tunes & Blooms closes out its 2017 season on April 27 with two of the event’s regulars — Folk groups Shiny and the Spoon and Jake Speed & the Freddies.
The Cincinnati Zoo (3400 Vine St., Avondale, cincinnatizoo.org) is free on Tunes & Blooms Thursdays after 5 p.m. (The zoo parking lot charges $10 if you choose to park there.) Music begins at 6 p.m. every Thursday.
UPDATE: The April 6 opener has been rescheduled due to bad weather. Hickory Robot will now open the series on Wednesday, April 12, performing the whole show; Buffalo Wabs and the Price Hill Hustle will not be performing that evening.
For more on the series and the performing artists, visit cincinnatizoo.org/events/tunes-blooms.
• The deck (and bar) near the gazebo at Washington Park (1230 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, washingtonpark.org) has officially opened for the spring, which also means the return of the free Tiny Deck Concerts (a play on NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concerts” series).
A diverse selection of primarily local acts performs every Friday through May 19 beginning at 7 p.m. This Friday, Folk act Wild Carrot performs on the deck, while pianist Todd Hepburn plays a special Saturday Tiny Desk Concert. Upcoming local performers in the series include Jazz/Bossa Nova singer April Aloisio (on May 12) and Jazz artists Chris Comer & Will Toedtman (May 19).
Find the full schedule at washingtonpark.org.
Honoring Wildly Influential Music Icons
• WoodyFest, a local celebration of the life and music of the iconic singer/songwriter Woody Guthrie, presents its 19th-annual event this Saturday. Local Folk champ Jake Speed and his band, The Freddies, will again provide the music, performing songs from throughout Guthrie’s career and telling some of the stories behind the songs. The show takes place at the Recital Hall at Mount Saint Joseph University (5701 Delhi Road, Delhi), with music beginning at 7 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door.
• Thursday at The Southgate House Revival (111 E. Sixth St., Newport, Ky., southgatehouse.com), numerous musicians will pay tribute to Country music legend Merle Haggard on the first anniversary of his death. A mix of Country, Bluegrass and other forms of Americana, Hagfest features performances by touring acts like Maryland Country singer Joshua Morningstar (who wrote and recorded the song “Merle Haggard Died Today” last year) and New Orleans acts Todd Day Wait’s Pigpen and Chris Acker and the Growing Boys. Local performers include Joe’s Truck Stop, Straw Boss, Billie Gant, The Harold Kennedy Trio, Maria Carrelli and Thorn County.
The show begins at 8 p.m. and tickets are $12 in advance (though ticketfly.com) or $15 at the door. A portion of the event proceeds will be donated to the Appalachian Prison Book Project, a nonprofit organization that sends free books to people imprisoned in West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Maryland (visit aprisonbookproject.wordpress.com for more on the group).
CONTACT MIKE BREEN: [email protected]