Jill Andrews of the everybodyfields. Courtesy: everybodyfields.com

Note: The February Cat Power show has been rescheduled for June 7. I find it hard to believe that she actually will perform, being famously plagued with stage fright. But her Dusty Springfeld-esque album "The Greatest" is still, well, the greatest, so it's worth gambling on a ticket.

1. Christians and Lions at the Granite State Hotel in Jamaica Plain, Mass., on June 6, 2006. All ages. It's not only the name-brand bands that tour. This experimental, pared-down acoustic duo kicks off a national trip behind the rousing, ambiguous slogan "We're all a Christian or a Lion at some point. Unless we're Romans. But we ain't Romans." (While their somber songs include some religious references, they don't appear to be Christians either, exactly. Roar?)

2. Irish Connections Festival at the Irish Cultural Centre in Canton, Mass., from June 9-11, 2006. This festival has long held somewhat sleepy sway in the suburbs. Now with WGBH Celtic-music maestro Brian O'Donovan at the helm, the event has exploded into a showcase of top names--Maura O'Connell, Paul Brady, Solas, Liz Carroll & John Doyle--with a week's worth of lead-up events all around the region. If that weren't enough, the festival emphasizes the "Connections" as well as the "Irish" by including newgrass artists Darol Anger and Alison Brown. And if that's not enough, drop down south to get a second dose at the Cape Cod Celtic Festival from June 22-25.

3. Sterling Park Bluegrass Festival in Sterling, Conn., from June 9-11, 2006, and Jenny Brook Bluegrass Festival in Weston, Vt., from June 22-25, 2006. Smaller bluegrass festivals are a pickers' paradise, boasting regional bands and a community spirit. Jenny Brook supports headliners the Gibson Brothers with Junior Barber & Beartracks from Plattsburgh, N.Y., and traditional Big Spike from northern Vermont; Sterling Park breaks up the performances with the fifth annual "Dance Like Chuck Contest" and a frog-jumping contest (pending frogs). Both give worn players a Sunday-morning gospel sing.

4. Jabe's CD release at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, Mass., on June 10, 2006. It's been a long wait for fans of this local roots-rock songwriter, who originally released the pounding "Drama City" in 2002. Happily, "Where Are We Going and When Do We Get There" finds the scratchy-voiced low-lucker in vintage form, with the lonely "You Can't See the Stars from the Inside of a Bar" and the bittersweet "Paradise." If you're on the fence about going, you can stream the entire album online.

5. Espers at PA's Lounge in Somerville, Mass., on June 16, 2006. Fresh off the prestigious UK "All Tomorrow's Parties" festival, where they performed on the same bill as their influence Bert Jansch, this neotrad folk trio comes down to earth--that is, an unassuming Union Square venue with out-there programming. Lovely harmonies, bells, and a chilly air make their music as coolly seductive as the Snow Queen. Tourmates Brightblack Morning Light seem to be an activist earth-spirituality song collective of two. (Great band name!)

6. Bottle Rockets at Harper's Ferry in Allston, Mass., on June 17, 2006. The standard-setting roots magazine "No Depression" said in its very first issue, "Between the two of them, the Bottle Rockets and Uncle Tupelo were the much-ballyhooed St. Louis country-rock scene of the late '80s and early '90s," The Rockets have never achieved their brother band's fame, but they're still trucking with their eighth album, "Zoysia." Expect straight-ahead, twanged-up grooves and a good time.

7. The Hunger Mountain Boys and the everybodyfields at the Stone Church in Newmarket, N.H., on June 25, 2006 and at Club Passim in Cambridge, Mass., on June 29, 2006. If this column were my own personal concert list, I would list many of the same performers over and over again. Because only one of WBUR's readers is me, I try to avoid this. But this time, I succumb. I love the everybodyfields. I've probably listed every Boston show they've played. This young band's plaintive singing and descriptive lyrics conjure up a sepia-toned Appalachia that somehow feels new, not archived. As for the Hunger Mountain Boys, their duo's Americana fame has spread from western Mass. to Europe and--even farther--Manhattan. (If you take a daytrip to the seacoast, note that the Stone Church has a high-octane lineup this month, including Tim O'Brien, James McMurtry, Tom Rush, and even Odetta.)

8. The Highway Girls at the Paradise Lounge in Boston, Mass., on June 29, 2006. Singer-songwriter collectives are a pretty sure shot, offering pretty harmonies, deeper arrangements, and more varied songcraft than you get from a solo act. Following the example of Ladybird Sideshow and Four Way Street, Martha Berner, Samantha Murphy, and Arrica Rose have taken their individual shows on the highway (ha!). Berner's rootsy, Murphy and Rose are introspective.

9. New Bedford Summerfest in New Bedford, Mass., on July 1-2, 2006. This city festival provides an appealing alternative for people who dread bugs, DEET, and sunburn. It's got a long line of favorite fest headliners (John Gorka, Cliff Eberhart, Sloan Wainwright, Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams) in a setting where the benches come preinstalled.

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