Sunday, August 19: OAR has always seemed to occupy a parallel universe, a cultic otherness reminiscent of those Christian rock bands you’ve never heard of selling out 100,000-seat football stadiums. What I love about OAR is that they know it; they embrace it. Their press release states, “In effect hiding in plain sight from the world outside, the band fills arenas and amphitheaters as it crafts and releases relatable songs with big pop hooks, all of this activity going down completely apart from the mainstream. Within this universe, these songs are bona fide hits, and the band members are superstars.”

Friday-Sunday, August 24-26: Huichica (pronounced wah-CHEE-ka) East answers the West Coast’s storied festival with pastoral settings, adventurous and hip music and farm-grown food.

Saturday, August 18: You may not know the name (or maybe you do), but to insiders the guy is a giant.

Saturday, August 18: If you listen to the first four Kansas albums, you will hear compositions that are every bit the equal of early Genesis in terms of counterpoint and formal design, and the music routinely rocks harder as well.

Saturday, August 18: Guests are invited to sit in on the mystery of studio recording as the Vermont-based retro soul/pop singer lays down a live album that will be her next release. The Burlington singer and her band work in the swanky, uptown-retro tradition of Dap-Tone and Amy Winehouse.