Good news! The Sweetwater Pavilion’s first announcement for their summer concert series is Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, featuring Victor Wooten, Roy “Futureman” Wooten, and Howard Levy, on Saturday, June 29.

The Grammy-winning quartet may be one of the most innovative bands around with a virtuoso banjo player, a cutting-edge bass player, a harmonica master, and a drummer who plays some sort of guitar-like instrument. An array of genres come into play with this act, from classical and jazz to bluegrass and African music to electric blues and Eastern European folk dances. It’s impossible to classify them to one particular genre.

Many of you are familiar with bassist Victor Wooten as he’s made numerous trips to town in the past either doing bass clinics or with the Victor Wooten Trio.

Tickets for Bela Fleck & The Flecktones go on sale Friday, Feb. 1, at 10 a.m. and can be purchased at the Sweetwater campus and online via Eventbrite.com and sweetwaterpavilion.com. This concert announcement is without a doubt a home run, and I can’t wait to see what else the Sweetwater Pavilion has up its sleeve. Whatzup will keep you posted.

Conley Strums the summer at Triangle Park

Another sign of warmer times to come is the recent announcement from solo acoustic stud Mike Conley. This summer, Conley has confirmed he’ll be performing every Friday on the deck of Triangle Park.

It’s a great way to put an end to the work week and have a couple cold ones or enjoy a nice meal while outside listening to Conley. Typically, Conley performs from 7-10 p.m.

Cat Power out of the bag at Piere’s

Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power, recently announced a lengthy tour throughout the country that includes a stop right here in the Fort. The majority of the singer-songwriter’s dates are in support of Mumford & Sons with a few off dates, including her Piere’s performance on Tuesday, March 26.

Since her start more than 20 years ago, Marshall has toured sporadically and fought the never-ending war of a career as an independent musician. Along the way, she’s experimented with new styles that have put her in comparisons with other iconic songwriters like P.J. Harvey, Tori Amos, and Fiona Apple.

Marshall released her tenth studio album, Wanderer, last fall, which includes the single “Woman” and covers of Rihanna’s “Stay” and Burt Bacharach’s “What the World Needs Now.”

This is a good snag by Piere’s, and I can’t wait to check her out. General admission and VIP tickets are avaible through Ticketweb.com.

Out and About covers Northeast Indiana’s most interesting music and arts events. Send your announcements to info@whatzup.com.