Tim’s Picks: ‘Rounding into the start of summer
‘Round the Fountain Art Fair celebrates 50. Music at The Spot, Nine Irish, Digby’s and People’s. Five choice ideas for long weekend and beyond
This edition is sponsored by Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc., presenting the Subaru Wilderness 5K Saturday, June 15, at the SIA Recreation Center Grounds in Lafayette. The event benefits Humane Society for Greater Lafayette, NICHES Land Trust, Multiplying Good / Students in Action and Mental Health America (Wabash Valley Region). To register, click the flyer below.
Here, again, with five suggestions for your Greater Lafayette week …
By Tim Brouk / For Based in Lafayette
Round the Fountain Art Fair, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, May 25, around Tippecanoe County Courthouse, downtown Lafayette — One of Indiana’s premier art fairs has been held in downtown Lafayette every Memorial Day weekend for 50 years now. Round the Fountain features about 100 artists of just about every medium imaginable from across the country and sometimes even Canada. This is a buyer-friendly fair, which explains the strong turnout in quality artists. Some return year after year, but there’s always a healthy crop of new talent, too. Proceeds from the sales go to great local causes: fine arts education in the six area public schools, after-hours arts programs, courthouse restoration projects, the restoration of the Marquis de Lafayette Fountain, outside lighting and seating, landscaping, and public art projects and installation. The grand event is indeed a cultural pillar in our community as the event commemorates art and the exciting start to summer in Lafayette.
Nüde with Pudding and Lusso, 9 p.m. Saturday, May 25, The Spot Tavern, 409 S. Fourth St., Lafayette — Putting Pudding and Nüde together in the same night always makes for a memorable one — even if it’s just a sonic experience from Chicago experimental punk bands. Nüde is a duo with spastic tunes that offer some surprising rock grooves, while Pudding, another duo, have a more ‘90s-‘00s electronic dance punk vibe. Fans of Le Tigre would love some Pudding. By no means a third wheel in the Nüde/Pudding party, Indianapolis/Lafayette post punk-power pop superstars Lusso will rock well in the opening role, especially after the band’s successful Liar’s Club performance in Chicago last weekend. The Lusso lads are also preparing to record a new EP, “Luxury II,” next weekend. $10.
Dogwood Road, 9 p.m. Saturday, May 25, Nine Irish Brothers, 119 Howard Ave., West Lafayette — Veteran Buckeye Irish music duo of Tyler Moore (fiddle, mandolin, vocals) and Karl Wohlwend (guitar) are collectively known as Dogwood Road. The Columbus, Ohio, duo has jigged out 10 albums, first as part of a larger group and then as a streamlined duo since 2014. The band will bring a modern traditional sound to one of Indiana’s best Irish pubs, Nine Irish Brothers in West Lafayette. Expect up-tempo reels, somber ballads and new arrangements on classic Irish tunes along with the pair’s original compositions.
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Debutants, 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 28, People’s Brewing Company, 2006 N. Ninth St., Lafayette —Bluegrass makes its triumphant return to People’s in the form of Fort Wayne’s Debutants. Comprised of seven string players and singers, the band will be performing in support of its newest album, “River on the Moon.” Debutants even has its own beer, an “Indiana Brewgrass” IPA from Junk Ditch Brewing Company out of Huntington. While I’m sure it’s quite tasty, it ain’t no People’s! Tickets $12.
The Robin Davis Duo, 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 29, Digby’s Pub and Patio, 133 N. Fourth St., Lafayette — Digby’s Pub is leaning into this beautiful patio weather already by booking numerous acts from near and far. One of the far ones is husband and wife bluegrass duo Robin and Jimi Davis from Pagosa Springs, Colorado. As The Robin Davis Duo, they have presented traditional bluegrass music since 2015 and released a couple of recordings since. Robin (husband, fiddle and guitar) and Jimi (wife, banjo and bass) are also in a “grunge-grass” band called Dreem Machine. Robin Davis also plays mandolin in the Broke Mountain Bluegrass Band, a sort of super group that features Andy Thorn of Leftover Salmon, Travis Book of The Infamous Stringdusters and Anders Beck of Greensky Bluegrass. The Robin Davis Duo will also pick and grin in Lafayette May 30 at The Spot Tavern.
Tim Brouk is a longtime arts and entertainment reporter. He writes here (almost) weekly, tracking things to do for Based in Lafayette.
Thanks, again, to sponsor Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc., presenting the Subaru Wilderness 5K Saturday, June 15, at the SIA Recreation Center Grounds in Lafayette. For details and to register, click here.
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