Williams Street Fest offers hours of free music; ‘American Idol Live’ sells out Z

There’s a whole lotta live music this Saturday in New Bedford, music fans.

First, I want to mention a little fest with a big heart:

The 3rd Annual Upper Williams Street Neighborhood Festival, from noon to 6 p.m. on Sept. 15, will see the area come alive with hours of live music, art exhibits, local artisan wares, food trucks, kids’ activities and more.

Don’t miss this one, guys.

I’ve written about this gem of a grassroots fest for the last two years, as it’s just so wonderfully pure, founded on a sincere love for the New Bedford art and music scene.

The fest — which received a community service award from the Seaport Cultural District in 2016 — aims to showcase the flourishing downtown art scene and local artists, and also drive people, specifically, to three historic churches/venues in the neighborhood in need of some TLC:

• The First Baptist Church, which dates back to 1829 and was declared a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

• The First Unitarian Church, circa 1838, the longtime home of Tryworks Coffeehouse, a folk music venue that started in 1967 at the height of the American folk revival scene.

• And the First Universalist Church, which dates to 1855 and is now Gallery X — a cooperative art gallery with a mission of “cultural outreach through community partnership.”

“Our mission is for all to see these three historic churches as vital and important to our community,” festival organizer and Gallery X founding member Charles “Chuck” Hauck told me for a past column. “What better way than by inviting the community to celebrate the art and history that New Bedford is blessed with? Although maintaining these buildings is expensive, saving them is worth every penny, many times over.”

Founded in 2016 on the premise that people are more vested in preserving and saving historic buildings when they know and appreciate them, the festal is collaboration between the three church buildings and AHA!

“The goal of the fest is simply to get people in the door of these historic buildings, and show them the beauty of the buildings themselves, as well as the art and live music inside,” Hauck told me previously.

This year’s fest is the biggest yet, organizers say, with the footprint expanded to include Eighth Street from William to Union. There will also be food trucks and exhibitors and musicians in the City Hall parking lot.

Music fans, get ready for hours of free music for a good cause. Shows include The Jethros, Morrissey Blvd, South Coast Brass Band, New Bedford Harbor Sea Chantey Chorus, Pumpkin Head Ted, local kids’ favorites the Toe Jam Puppet Band, and more.

These are all SouthCoast cult favorites, and I’ve written about all them before in this column. Two that you can’t miss:

The Jethros are a phenomenal New Bedford-based folk/rock/blues/bluegrass five-piece — with equal parts New Orleans’ gumbo jazz, Tex-Mex flavor and Mexican mariachi — can go from back-porch blues dirge to Mardi Gras street party to Johnny Cash-flavored rockabilly. They’re exactly the type of band I’d expect to hear on WUMB, but probably best seen live. 1:30 p.m. at Gallery X.

Morrissey Blvd embodies the joy of the old-fashioned family band, and gives hope to the next generation of musicians. They’ve made a name for themselves on the benefit concert circuit, and this concert for a cause is right up their alley. The four New Bedford siblings — Zan, Zoelle, Henri, and Wilson Morrissey (a sixth-grader!) — can absolutely crush Bob Dylan and The Band covers. Unreal. 2 p.m. at Tryworks.

Zan, the eldest, told me previously he was “2 or 3” when he first saw The Toe Jam Puppet Band at Buttonwood Park Zoo. “That’s my first real memory of being inspired by music.”

So any future musicians out there might also want to take in Toe Jam. 3 p.m., outside First Unitarian.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/Upperwilly.

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Meanwhile, SouthCoast “American Idol” fans — and there are clearly lots— will rock out to “American Idol: Live!” at the Zeiterion Theatre.

Yup, the pop culture juggernaut that ran on Fox for 15 seasons returned this past March, after a brief hiatus, for a new life on ABC. And now this season's Top 7 finalists play a sold-out show at the Z on Sept. 15.

The concert features finalists Gabby Barrett, Cade Foehner, Caleb Lee Hutchinson, Catie Turner, Jurnee, Maddie Poppe and Michael J. Woodard with special guest: Season 8 “American Idol” winner, Kris Allen.

I recently caught up with Barrett, 18, who placed third on the show, behind Caleb Lee Hutchinson and winner Maddie Poppe.

Barrett and fifth-place winner Foehner met on the reality-singing show’s set and are now dating, Barrett said. The couple has posted their own renditions of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s “I Need You” and Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” on YouTube. Foehner’s deep vocals pair well with Barrett’s powerful built-for-ballad lungs.

Barrett — who considers Carrie Underwood an “Idol” idol— sang quite a few country songs on the TV show, including Underwood’s “Good Girl” and “Church Bells,” along with Miley Cyrus’s “The Climb,” Gretchen Wilson’s “Redneck Woman” among them.

She said her favorite part of the “Idol” experience was meeting season four winner Underwood, who won the show waaaay back in 2005, when — ready to feel ancient? — Barrett was 5 years old.

“I’ve looked up to her my whole life,” Barrett said of Underwood. “She’s an amazing mother and person in general. I’m trying to be that [role model] for up-and-coming female singers now. I was 5 when she won, but I do remember the finale, and that my parents voted for her to win.”

Born in 2000, Barrett, said she's from Pittsburgh and started singing at 9 in a gospel choir. She began performing at local venues and restaurants when she was 11.

She landed on “Idol” as a high school senior. She's since performed with country superstars Luke Bryan and Toby Keith.

New Bedford is the second-to-last stop on this 40-city tour, which wraps up Sept. 16 in Washington, D.C.

“Getting to be on road with six of my best friends has been absolutely awesome,” Barrett said. “The Top 7 were really close, genuinely. We all have same sense of humor." The tour has been “go, go, go. It’s a nice taste of what the next part of my life will be like.”

Lauren Daley is a freelance writer and Spotlight music columnist. Contact her at ldaley33@gmail.com. Follow her at https://www.facebook.com/daley.writer She tweets @laurendaley1.