Hot Summer Nights bring cool music

Summer time around here really heated up about five years ago when the Presidential Museum passed Odessa's musical baton to the folks at Main Street Odessa and the Odessa Council for the Arts and Humanities.

That was 2005, the birth year for the city's "Hot Summer Nights" festival, which is the source of all that racket beginning in late May at the Noël Heritage Plaza downtown.

You may have heard it the past two Friday nights, but have no fear, because there are still seven performances to go in this year's festival.

And - now this is a secret, so don't tell anyone - a bonus concert in August has been added to this year's roster.

Nah. Just joshing you.
It's not really a secret.
Nancy Wells, executive director of Main Street Odessa, said a special extra performance has been scheduled for Aug. 13, when arguably one of the country's zaniest accordion players, Ponty Bone, is slated to come to town with his band and make you crack a grin with his music - which often consists of a lot of Cajun music.

"Oh, he is wonderful," she said. "He is so much fun. He puts on such a fabulous show. He just, he makes you feel happy."

But Bone will be the capstone of a summer full of a variety of musical performances scheduled for the remainder of this year's festival, which Wells said has been "extremely well received" since its rebirth. The schedule includes genres spanning from the now-dying polka to tonight's Latin/world fusion group Incendio from California.

"We have a core group of folks who come to just about every single one, and then every artist will draw their own crowd," she said. "It makes a great relaxing way to end the work week."

The annual summer festival, Wells said, is funded through local sponsorships, the hotel revenue tax and from the Texas Commission of the Arts.

She said this year's concert cost about $20,000.
For the public however, all shows are 100 percent free.

"It's been really great," she said. "And the fact that it's free makes it really fun for the young families, the older folks and the in-betweens."

What's next?
>> June 19: Sisters Joy (gospel)/3 Nails (contemporary Christian).
>> June 26: Sisters Morales (English/Spanish folk music).
>> July 10: Havlak Batla and the Polka Time Band (polka).
>> July 17: Ironweed (bluegrass).
>> July 24: Celtaire (1800s Texas folk/ Americana).
>> July 31: The Geezerz (oldies rock 'n' roll).
>> Aug. 13: Ponty Bone (accordion).

IF YOU GO
>> What: Incendio, Californian Latin guitar/ world fusion musical group.
>> When: 8 p.m. today.
>> Where: Noël Heritage Plaza, 20 W. Fifth St.; in the event of rain, the location will be Odessa College's Deaderick Hall,             201 W. Univer­sity Blvd.
>> Admis­sion: Free.
>> Bring a blanket and/or chairs. Vendors will be selling food.
>> Contact: Main Street Odessa at 335-4682.