This upcoming weekend is a big one for music fans with many choices to be had from the opening of the Mohawk Trail Concert series on Sunday afternoon to the a birthday party for Robin Lane at Flood Water Brewing in Shelburne Falls on Sunday at 7 p.m.

Saturday June 15 is Franklin County Pride and there will be a multitude of events going on to celebrate our local LGBTQIA+ community. And music fans take note, because where there is a celebration there is music — and there is some great music on tap this week!

The biggest of the many events is the afternoon festival at the Energy Park in Greenfield which will begin around 12:30 p.m. (The festival will begin after the Pride parade.) Miles Street will be closed off and turned into a block party with all kinds of fun stuff going on. (There will be a golf cart available at the top of Miles Street to provide transport for those with mobility issues.)

Down at the Energy Park stage there will be a number of speakers, including Senator Jo Comerford, but it will primarily be music — some really good music. And it’s free.

Cyn Fritz, Pride’s entertainment coordinator, has done a fantastic job of assembling a first-rate lineup of top-notch musicians who also represent the LGBTQIA+ community. Thus Love, Crys Matthews, Pamela Means, Carrie Ferguson, The B-52.0’s, Lily-Rakia, and more will be performing.

Lily-Rakia will do the honor of opening and closing the festival. Rakia’s life’s work has been navigating the many nuanced ways oppression impacts people and the Earth. Her music, for which she draws inspiration from her ancestors, incorporates drumming, hip-hop, Hebrew melodies and traditional Mohawk chants.

”Lily-Rakia is opening and closing because she is of Mohawk descent, and she is providing more of a ceremonial quality to the event,” said Fritz. “She will be calling in the marchers with her prayer song as they enter Energy Park.”

Fritz added that they had been searching for a queer Indigenous person to perform at Pride and was thrilled to meet Rakia.

“Having Native representation has been super important to me because of, well, the history obviously, but also wanting to honor the ancestors,” Fritz said. “Representing more fully the BIPOC queer community and not be a whitewashed event is one of Franklin County Prides core values.”

I am especially excited to see that Thus Love are part of the lineup. This post-punk band from Brattleboro has seen its career take off since it released its first album, “Memorial,” in 2022. The band has received coverage in publications like Rolling Stone and Alternative Press and toured the U.S. and U.K.

The three original band members, vocalist Echo Mars, drummer Lu Racine, and bassist Nathaniel Von Osdol, who are transgender, said that making “Memorial” was cathartic as they dealt with the pain of alienation and the stigma of viewing the world as an outsider.

“Music is a really wonderful tool to explore identity,” Lu Racine told Alternative Press. “It’s easy to be at a show, see an artist, and feel like they’re giving you permission to explore and be vulnerable.”

Thus Love doesn’t play in our area very often, so don’t miss it – and check out the band’s new lineup that includes a new bassist and an additional guitarist and synth player. Thus Love plans to tour England in August.

The B-52.0’s will return after making a big splash at last year’s Pride. This group from Greenfield performs the music of the B-52’s and you will recognize members from their work in Home Body, Old Pam, Pasty Clone, FDOME, and Bad Wife.

The festival is bringing in a couple well-respected singer-songwriters: Pamela Means and Crys Matthews. Means, who recently brought her show of protest songs to Franklin County, is known for her superb guitar work and often politically rooted lyrics. Matthews, from Nashville, is a rising star in the folk world who has been hailed as the next Woody Guthrie.

You can also enjoy the catchy pop-folk tunes of Carrie Ferguson and their band. They will perform the song “The Many I Am,” which Ferguson wrote about gender diversity. The song and accompanying video are a big part of the Pride kick-off party held at the Pushkin Gallery in Greenfield on Friday night.

Rounding out the lineup is Olivia Nied, a multi-instrumentalist who draws from various styles. Last month Nied released her debut, “Just Enough.” As a transgender/queer musician, Nied often incorporates LGBTQIA+ lyrical themes in her work. The Northampton Pride Chorus will also be on hand.

In addition to the music, there will be Show Circus jugglers and stilt walkers, Rainbow Morris Dancers, the Prone To Mischief Band, face painting, Z the Renaissance clown, food vendors, and more!

The complete schedule of performances and speaker times is available at Franklincountypride.org.

While you are at Energy Park, you can stop by 10 Forward (10 Fiske Ave.) for a cool drink. They will be open all afternoon for the festivities and will offer Pride Karaoke at 7 p.m.

Punk and Ska Pride Party and more at Hawks & Reed

Hawks & Reed will keep the party going all weekend with a full schedule of events. On Saturday night at 7 p.m., they will host a Punk and Ska Pride Party that will feature six bands from throughout New England including Burly Girlies from Vermont.

On Sunday at 3:30 p.m., Hawks & Reed will host All Genders Pride Tea Dance, a special Pride edition of the venue’s monthly tea dance. DJ Mars Capone will provide the music.

Tickets are available at Hawksandreed.com

Surreal Soiree at the Shea Theater

If you are unable to catch the B-52.0’s at the Energy Park in the afternoon, head to the Shea Theater on Saturday night where they will be headlining “The Surreal Soiree.” What exactly is a Surreal Soiree? It’s a benefit for the Shea Theater that is described as phantasmagoric fun, which, considering the B-52.0’s are playing, I guess that translates to a wild dance party. The band will be playing two 40-minute sets at this show, so look for them to play some songs you maybe haven’t heard them do before, and yes, they will play the hits.

If that is not enough, there will be a ”dada dance party” curated by DJ Just Joan, and drag performers Sir Real and Titania Lockhart will also be on hand. There will also be tarot readings, a 50/50 raffle, a photo booth, and so many more weird and wacky curiosities. This event is sponsored in part by RiverCulture.

Doors open at 7 p.m show begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at sheatheater.org

Permaculture Place kicks off summer series

The Gaslight Tinkers are the perfect band to launch the summer music series at the Permaculture Place at the Mill in downtown Shelburne Falls on Friday, June 14, at 7 p.m. Their lively, danceable grooves — mixed with traditional fiddle — always get everybody up and dancing. The band, which is based in Brattleboro, played Permaculture last year and was a huge success. The summer series will welcome singer-songwriter Peter Mulvey on Saturday, July 6 and Green Heron on Friday, Aug. 23.

Bring your blanket or lawn chair, a picnic dinner and your dancing shoes! In the event of rain, the show will be held in a location in the village.

Tickets are available at ThePermaculturePlace.org.