A new event for the Vineyard this summer is the On The Vine Festival, which will bring musical artists Smokey Robinson and Natalie Cole, among other notable performers, to the Island. What brings all this talent to one event? The On The Vine Festival benefits kidney disease research and the American Friends of Rambam, the health care campus located in Haifa, Israel where breakthrough kidney research is taking place.

Hooked in Oak Bluffs is baiting the hook with some serious musical talent on Saturday night. Former members of Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers, Boston, James Brown Band, the Wailers and Fosterchild will join Mike Martin and Los Rootsicks for a supergroup jam starting at 9 p.m.

The stage was filled nearly to capacity with musicians, fans and their instruments. The crowd was raucous. The lights were bright.
As a special birthday treat to Derek Davies, one of the organizers of the Stars & Stripes Festival, the band St. Lucia was going to play their hit single September with the help of Haerts and a full entourage of Derek’s friends. St. Lucia’s frontman Jean-Philip Grobler pressed keys and twisted knobs on his synthesizer, cueing up September’s opening chords.

Chadwick Stokes, lead singer and guitarist for alternative rock bands State Radio and Dispatch, will perform at Flatbread on Friday, July 12. The concert is a benefit for his organization Calling All Crows, which provides assistance in coordinating service projects for musicians and their fans.

The Harlem Quartet returns to the Vineyard with two concerts, July 15 at 8 p.m. at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown and on July 16 at 8 p.m. at the Chilmark Community Center. The Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society is producing the event.

Aaron Carter has a deep, gravelly voice. This may not be what you remember coming from the gangly, thirteen-year-old blonde kid who rapped about his block “party of the year” and his dream game of one-on-one against Shaquille O’Neal in the early 2000s. “Everyone will start to see that I’m not going to be the same as I was back then, and I’m not afraid to express myself,” Mr. Carter said in an interview with the Gazette. “I’m going to do new, big things.”

The Unitarian Universalist Society hosts guest preacher Rev. Arlene Bodge this Sunday, July 7, at 11 a.m. Ms. Bodge is a longtime Islander and a retired Methodist minister who formerly served in Chilmark and Edgartown.

Pianist David Crohan will share the stage with summer resident Caroline Sky as they perform a concert to benefit the Island Elderly Housing’s Quality of Life programs on Sunday, July 14 at 7:30 p.m. The concert is at the Old Whaling Church on Main street in Edgartown. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and a meet-the-artist reception will follow the performance.

Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door, and $15 for students ages 18 and under. They can be purchased at ticketsmv.com, daRosa’s, Alley’s General Store, Bunch of Grapes Bookstore and Edgartown Books.

Dreaming about becoming the next American idol? The summer Adrenaline Music Project (AMP) comes to the YMCA of Martha’s Vineyard this summer from August 5 to 9. The five-day intensive workshop is geared to teens ages 13 to 18 who are interested in pursuing a career in the music industry. AMP provides the expertise via several professionals such as singer/songwriter Ellis Paul, studio engineer Jim Parr and several radio professionals and musicians while the students bring their desire and determination.

Derek Davies and Lizzie Plapinger always dreamed of hosting a music festival on Martha’s Vineyard. As best friends spending summers at the Chilmark Community Center, they shared a love of music and the Island. As they grew up, they never lost sight of their passions or their goal.