Rather than complain about all the crazy summer heat that’s hit Maine as I write, let’s sing about it. Here are some of my favorite “hot” songs:
Ella Fitzgerald singing Cole Porter’s “Too Darn Hot,” “Hot Summer Night” by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, The Jam’s version of “Heat Wave” and Billy Idol’s “Hot in the City.” Now, I can’t promise the three shows I’m sending you to this week will be air-conditioned, but I can promise they’ll be worth every drop of sweat.
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It’s been a while since I’ve written about The Milkman’s Union, and it’s true, absence really does make the heart grow fonder. Upon listening to “Sailor Boy” at themilkmansunion.bandcamp.com, I said to myself, “Oh yeah, I forgot that I love this band.” Then, when “Lover’s Tree” started playing, the reminding I needed was complete.
And so it is with sincere enthusiasm that I send you to Biddeford tonight to see The Milkman’s Union. Henry Jamison’s got one of those quiet, dreamy voices, the kind that won me over with artists like The Shins and Elliot Smith.
Meanwhile, I’m pretty sure that “Of Cowboys & Other Beautiful Men” is my new favorite song. It happens to be by a seven-piece folk-rock band from Brooklyn, N.Y., called Boy Without God, the opener for tonight’s show. The third band on the bill is Brenda, who are no slouches either, with the song “Blackout” that completely rocks.
The Milkman’s Union with Brenda and Boy Without God. 8 tonight. The Oak & The Ax, 140 Main St., Biddeford. $7. All ages. theoakandtheax.blogspot.com
Meredith DiMenna is my new favorite singer, and for good reason. Her band, Saint Bernadette, is the creator of “The Nevers,” an album which is nothing less than sensational rock ‘n’ roll with heart, soul and edge to spare.
The band’s from Bridgeport, Conn., and “The Nevers” is its fifth album. Guess I’ve got some catching up to do.
If I weren’t seeing Elvis Costello tonight at the State Theatre (look for my story in the Press Herald on Friday), I would be zooming to Rockland so fast, the head of every driver on Route 1 would spin. Go to thenevers.bandcamp.com and listen to DiMenna and the band channel AC/DC, Heart and Led Zeppelin with the opening track “In the Time of Moses.” Then listen to the ballad “In the Next Go Round.” This band kills me. Watch and listen to more at saintbernadettemusic.com.
Saint Bernadette with Rave On. 9 tonight. Keel Lounge, 2 Park Drive, Rockland. $8. keellounge.com
Singer-songwriter Adam Nordell will end his bicycle-powered CD-release tour at Local Sprouts. The album’s called “Spring Fed Creek,” and it draws from a childhood spent in the northern Rockies with elements of folk, early country and Appalachian Mountain music.
Give him a listen and a glass of water because the guy who now calls Maine home has pedaled his way to shows in Lubec, Machias, Belfast and Damariscotta before winding up here in Portland. Get a preview at reverbnation.com/adamnordell.
Adam Nordell. 7 p.m. Saturday. Local Sprouts, 649 Congress St., Portland. Free. All ages. 899-3529
Staff Writer Aimsel Ponti can be contacted at 791-6455 or at:
aponti@pressherald.com
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