FitzGerald’s hosts its 31st annual American Music Festival this year from Fri 7/1 through Sun 7/3, with a lineup of more than 30 acts playing blues, folk, rock, jazz, country, R&B, funk, zydeco, bluegrass, Americana, and more. As usual, there will be music on the club’s main stage and SideBar stage as well as in an outdoor tent. Doors open at 4:30 PM on Friday and at noon on Saturday and Sunday; the party runs till 3 AM the first two nights and 2 AM the last. On Friday New Orleans’s legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band plays two sets on the main stage, before Cathy Richardson & the Macrodots and Michelle Malone, while the tent lineup includes the Marcia Ball Band and Tracy Nelson; Go Long Mule and the Harrison Street Ukulele Players are in the SideBar. Saturday’s main-stage acts include Reckless Kelly, the Bottle Rockets, Uncle Lucius, and Whitey Morgan & the 78’s; playing the tent are Special Consensus, the Preservation Hall band again, Roddy Romero & the Hub City All Stars, and Tributosaurus, who will become the Neville Brothers and the Meters. In the SideBar on Saturday, the Tillers and Bunkertown trade sets. On Sunday the Iguanas, Jon Dee Graham, Joe Pug, and others play the main stage; Dave Alvin & the Guilty Ones, Ronnie Baker Brooks, and Junior Brown are among the acts scheduled for the tent. Sarah & the Tall Boys and Susan Cowsill & Russ Broussard alternate in the SideBar. After a hiatus of several years, Tom Cimms (aka Festival Tom) is back as the fest’s barbecue master, cooking up his famous suckling pig, jambalaya, and smoked duck gumbo, as well as more standard cookout fare. Three-day passes are available through Ticketweb for $75, and tickets for each day are $30, $25 if you show up within the first hour. No single-day passes are available in advance. Admission for children 12 and under is $5, though kids can only stay till 9 PM. For more info call 708-788-2118 or visit fitzgeraldsnightclub.com.
FitzGerald’s American Music Festival
