Provided The Biscuit Burners perform an early show at the Rongo tonight. JIM CATALANO

Hailing from the Asheville, N.C. the band has been making waves on the bluegrass circuit, even thought they don't have a fiddle player--guitar, banjo, Dobro and bass are their instruments of choice. "Our music is more of a mix of bluegrass and old-time country," says Shannon Whitworth.

Together since 2003, the quartet, which also includes Mary Lucey, Dan Bletz and Billy Cardine, have been keeping busy this summer touring the country, hitting various festivals. To learn more, visit www.thebiscuitburners.com.

Opening the show are Phil Weinrobe and Tom Eaton of Cletus and the Burners. There's an $8 cover for the show. Call 387-3334 for more information.

Bound for Glory returns

North America's longest-running live folk-music broadcast kicks off another summer season Sunday night. Featured will be the Sillanppaa Family, who perform traditional and American folk fiddle tunes.

Bound for Glory is broadcast live on WVBR (93.5 FM or www.wvbr.com) from the Cafe in Cornell's Anabel Taylor Hall. There's no cover for the show, which comprises three half-hour sets between 8-11 p.m.

Other summer shows include: July 3, Alien Folklife; July 10, Jack Hardy; July 17, Curtis Crawford; July 24, Leo Kretzner; July 31, Mike Agranoff.

Call 844-4535 or visit www.wvbr.com for information.

More shows

There are some more cool shows going on this week, a couple of which don't cost a dime.

Tonight, for example, the Destination performs 7-9 p.m. at The Commons' Bernie Milton Pavilion as part of the Downtown Ithaca Summer Concert Series.

Friday, local favorite Joejo perform at Castaways' Happy Hour. The band has been working up a lot of new songs lately, along with continuing to hone the tunes from their debut CD, "Cowpunk from Willseyville."

Out in local clubs and cafes, there are some more things worth checking out.

Saturday, the Luminescent Orchestrii performs on Crossing Borders. Blurring boundaries among many genres (gypsy, jazz, punk, tangos, klezmer, hiphop, Appalachian and more), the band is known for its high-energy stage presence. There's a $10 cover for the 8 p.m. show, which is broadcast live on WVBR from the Carriage House Cafe on Stewart Ave. Visit www.crossingborderslive.org.

Also Saturday, the Commander Cody Band will throw a DVD release party at the Rongovian Embassy. Last year, the band recorded a set at Turkey Trot Acres in Candor, and it's packaged in both CD and DVD formats in the new package. Still led by George "The Commander" Frayne, the band has been cranking out rock and roll since the late 1960s, earning a top ten hit in 1972 with "Hot Rod Lincoln." Visit www.commandercody.com to learn more. There's a cover for the 10 p.m. show. Call 387-3334 for information.

Another cool Saturday show is at Castaways, with the local alt-pop geniuses The Sutras teaming with out-of-towners The Stand for a 9 p.m. show.

M&T Jazz Festival returns

The annual M&T Jazz Festival returns to Onondaga Community College in Syracuse this weekend. A mix of local, regional and national performers will be featured during the three-day event, which is free and open to the public

Friday, the music starts at 5 p.m. with the OCC Jazz Ensemble, followed by the Ron Blake Band. TRIO!, the new supergroup featuring Bela Fleck, Stanley Clarke and Jean-Luc Ponty, will play at 7:30 p.m. They'll be followed by the Randy Brecker/Bill Evans Soulbop Band at 9:30 p.m.

The festivities continue beginning at noon Saturday, with the Signature Syracuse Jazz Ensemble. Eye Level plays at 3 p.m. followed by The Mike Longo Trio at 4:30 pm. and Ilona Knopfler at 6 p.m., the Club Django Sextet of Toronto at 7:30 p.m. and vocalist Gino Vannelli at 9 p.m.

Sunday kicks of with some local ensembles at noon, followed by Spaces at 3 p.m., guitarist Corey Christiansen at 4:30 p.m., and Toph-E and the Pussycats (featuring Will Lee, Cliff Carter, David Mann and Ralph McDonald) at 6 p.m. The festival comes to a satisfying end with Smokey Robinson at 7:30 p.m. The legendary singer just released a new CD, "My World: The Definitive Collection," which contains most of his big hits such as "The Tracks of My Tears" and "Shop Around" as well as a couple of new songs.

For more information, visit www.syracusejazzfest.com.

N.Y. State Fair tickets go on sale Saturday

Tickets for the New York State Fair Grandstand shows go on sale 10 a.m. Saturday at the State fair Box Office and via Ticketmaster (722-7272; www.ticketmaster.com)

Here's the lineup: Aug. 26, Alan Jackson; Aug. 27, The Allman Brothers Band with Southside Johnny; Aug. 28, Bob Weir and Ratdog with the Neville Brothers; Aug. 29, Toby Keith and Lee Ann Womack; Aug. 30, Alice Cooper and Cheap Trick; Aug. 31, Motley Crue; Sept. 1, Nickelback with Seether, Crossfade and Dark New Day; Sept. 2, Larry the Cable Guy; Sept. 3, Hilary Duff; Sept. 4, 3 Doors Down with Staind and Breaking Benjamin.

Visit www.nysfair.org for more information.

Get set for GrassRoots

The Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance is rapidly approaching, returning to the Trumansburg Fairgrounds July 21-24. Once again, we'll be bringing you extensive coverage in Ticket and the Ithaca Journal. Since it's the 15th anniversary, I wanted to collect some anecdotes from festivalgoers for a preview story. What has been your favorite GrassRoots moment since the festival started? What advice would you give to someone who has never attended the festival before?

Let me know by sending me an email (put "GrassRoots" in the subject line). Thanks in advance.

Soundoff appears in Ticket every Thursday. Jim Catalano has covered the local music scene since 1992. Contact him at jcatalano@ithacajournal.com or jimcat@aol.com

Originally published Thursday, June 23, 2005