Now in the midst of July, we find ourselves at the height of tourist season, a time that is both exciting and exhausting for valley residents. The same question pops up annually: do we even need tourists? Maybe. Probably. Yes, definitely. It’s a balancing act each summer, but a fact of life that summers in Jackson are crowded.

It’s easy to lose patience when the streets are full and lines pile out the doors, but those same crowds fill our hotels and dine in our restaurants. Kick back, relax and go with the flow while summer is still around. On tap for this weekend we have three days of music and art and an afternoon of fried chicken.

Friday
Targhee Fest
All weekend long at Grand Targhee
Grand Targhee’s 5th annual Targhee Fest kicks off at 4 p.m. with live music that will last for three days. The show you will want to see on Friday is Grace Potter at 7:15 p.m followed by Gov’t Mule at 9 p.m. Tickets for Friday’s show are $55 or $130 for the entire weekend. You must buy tickets in advance, as there are no gate sales. Read the entire line up and get tickets here.

A Work in Progress: an night of art, music and the love of Vinyl
6-11 p.m. Full Circle Frameworks and Gallery 335 N. Glenwood Ave 733.0770

If you’d like to check the pulse of the Jackson art scene, attend this event. For the past five years roughly 20 of Jackson’s young contemporary artists have gotten together to create art together in one space for one night. There is a collaborative, momentary vibe to the whole thing where the artists are given a certain amount of time to complete each piece they are creating. They feed off each other and as a spectator, you have a lot of fun watching art come to life right before your eyes. This year’s the artists will be reinventing the album cover and will be creating art on old vinyl records. If you are not going to Targhee Fest, you should be here.

Saturday
44th annual Jackson Hole Art Fair
July 17-19, Miller Park

Every year the Art Association of Jackson Hole brings in over 160 artists from around the country to Miller park for 3 days (twice a summer) to create what is the Jackson Hole Art Fair. It’s a great way to spend Saturday afternoon, walking around checking out the diverse array of art. Admission is $3 and is well worth it. You never know what you’re going to find. If you miss the art fair this weekend, it will be back August 14-16.

Targhee Fest, continued
All weekend long
The music starts at noon on Saturday and goes until at least 10 p.m. The line up goes as follows: Tift Merritt, Vedera, James McMurty, Sonny Landreth, The Wall Flowers and Jonny Lang. It can be a very long, very fun day in the sun.

Sunday
Wilson Volunteer Fireman’s 42nd annual Chicken Fry.
12 p.m., Stilson Lot, on the corner of the Village road and Hwy 22.

I have never been to this Chicken Fry but I really want to go. Apparantly 3,000 to 4,000 people show up to eat. It raises money for a good cause and really, how can you deny a plate of fried chicken in July for $8?

Last day of Targhee Fest
Last Day of JH Art Fair

Popularity: 4% [?]

Catch some tunes and go to market

It’s been a long time coming but summer has officially arrived; the main indicator being that the first Farmers Market of the season is happening Saturday morning from 8 to 11 a.m. on town square. And as I mentioned earlier,  Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary is having her first art Market of the season directly after. These events should not be missed, unless, of course, you’re too tired to make it—a distinct possibility considering the music line up on Friday night which includes local favorite Boondocks reuniting for the only time in ’09 to play at the Mangy Moose with New York City’s Benyaro and local band Screen Door Porch ($5) starting at 9:30 p.m.  Meanwhile, in town, Leo Rondeau from Austin, TX, will play at 43 North starting at 10 p.m. for a small cover at the door. Now let’s take a look at what else is worthwhile this weekend.

Calle Mambo Concert at Snow King

This sounds promising. Calle Mambo is a 10 piece Latin-Rhythm-Jazz-Salsa-Dance group that will be playing at Snow King Resort inside the Grand Ballroom from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. on Friday night. The concert supports the cause, Cuba Travel Freedom. Mojitos and Cuba Libres will be served. If you’re down to get tropical, this is your scene on Friday.

Teton Freedom Riders Volunteer Dig Day

After you hit up the farmers market and Lindsay McCandless on Saturday, you may want to head over to the pass to help the Teton Freedom Riders with mountain bike trail maintenance. Bring your work gloves and your bike and meet them at the Philips Pass trail Head. If you bike the pass and use the trail system, lend a hand to keep these trails pristine.

A Mid Summer Night’s Dream

Saturday at 8 p.m at the Walk Festival Hall in Teton Village the Grand Teton Music Festival will be performing the music of a Mid Summer’s Night’s Dream. Tickets are $50 for Adults and $10 for students. Their web site describes the concert in this way: “An expert in eighteenth-century style, guest conductor Nicholas McGegan joins the Festival Orchestra, along with narrator Terry Schwab, for a program that celebrates the 200th birthday anniversary of Felix Mendelssohn whose incidental music for the great Shakespeare work, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” is on the program alongside two other masters celebrating anniversaries this year: Haydn and Handel.”

And on Sunday 22local suggests you go swimming, fishing or boating. Celebrate the summer by practicing aquatics. It’s free.

Popularity: 11% [?]

The Robert Cray Band played the Center for the Arts in Jackson last night in front of a near capacity crowd, except for a few Wilsonites stranded by bridge repair. Earlier in the evening at 5:00PM, local Jackson Hole Music Experience project, Thirtsy, beckoned in the thunderstorms with their own brand of fun blues covers on the Center’s lawn.

As showtime approached, guests filed in slowly, stopping to say ‘hello’ to one another and share excitement over this, the first major billing at the Center for the Arts for the summer season. Mayor Mark Barron even made an appearance having waited out the storms and arriving on his bike.
Once inside, the Robert Cray Band impressed fans by playing classic songs such as “Bad Influence” and unreleased some unreleased songs like “Love in 2009”. Opening with a ruckus piano and organ solo, it was clear that the group was there to enjoy the evening and play some great music. Cray himself seemed to wander into spells at times offering blues riffs and solos that brought patrons out of their seats and into the dimly lit aisles to dance.

Crowd involvement was not a problem as drummer Tony Braunagel and bassist Richard Cousins help maintain the beat during another organ solo from Jim Pugh followed by a guitar solo by Robert Cray.
The band was forced into an encore after rattling applause refused to cease at the close of the scheduled set. The band thanked Jackson for the warm welcome and applause, closing the evening’s events until the center’s next big performance.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Seems like it’s been raining since forever and this weekend there are, again, chances of rain showers and thunderstorms. But don’t let that get you down. Fretting about the weather is silly and small minded. There’s tons of stuff to do no matter what. Below is a small selection of activities going on this weekend just in case your rock climbing-mountain biking-river rafting-extreme-o plans get canceled. Summer is here and it’s going to be fun no matter what.

Music -  Rotating Superstructure. Friday, 6:00 p.m. Cutty’s Bar, free all ages.

Rotating Superstructure is a new Jackson-based independent rock band comprised of four local Jackson kids in their late teens. The record-release party for their debut album “Bouncy Castle” is this Friday at 6 p.m at Cutty’s Bar on the corner of Hwy 89 and 22.  It’s a free all-ages show, which is a rarity in Jackson. Visit their myspace page, listen to the song The Quadratic Formula, memorize the lyrics and sing along at the show.

Art - Unbroken Spirit: The Life of Stanford Addison. Friday, 7:30 p.m Center Theater, Center for the Arts, Free/ $5 suggested donation

30 years ago, Stanford Addison, a Northern Arapahoe who lives on the Wind River Indian Reservation, became a paraplegic after his truck hit a herd of wild horses. Since then he has “ learned to make friends with the horses again.” Now, Addison has become a traditional healer and horse gentler all from the seat of his wheel chair. Friday night at the Center for the Arts Theater photos of Addsion by Sarah Kariko will hang on the walls, Lisa Jones, author of the book “Unbroken Spirit” will speak, and Addison will lead in an evening of song prayer and storytelling.

Food - Pearl Street Meat and Fish
260 W. Pearl Avenue
733.1300

If you miss Chef’s Table, rest assured, we now have Pearl Street Meat and Fish, Jackson’s newest gourmet market. In just their first week of business they have already become a bustling hub for townies and tourists alike. On the surface it may appear like a yuppie establishment with inflated prices, but don’t be fooled, the most expensive sandwich on their menu comes in at $7.95—pretty cheap—make it a “deluxe box lunch” for $3.50 more and you get a bag of chips, 20 oz. drink, and your choice of salad or a cookie. That means the most you’ll spend on lunch here is around $11.50. Not bad, as lunch at Chef’s Table could often cost more than that. Not just a lunch spot, you can also pick up high quality meats to grill for dinner later on. Check it out. It’s so good.

Movies - Now playing

Stay curent with the rest of America and go see that movie The Hangover. Everyone says it’s hilarious so it probably is. It’s playing at Jackson Hole Twin Cinema (the one on Pearl Avenue) at 4:30, 7:00 and 9:15. If you need to go to a more family friendly flick, go to Land of the Lost at the Teton Theater (the old single-screen one on North Cache), it’s playing at 4:30, 7:00 and 9:15 as well. Just one question: How come there are no late night showings here in Jackson?

Night Life - Never-ending

There are a myriad of bands playing at a myriad of bars on Saturday, none of which are particularly notable. Most are repeat acts that play around all the time at bars you’ve been to too many times. This is not to devalue these bands or these bars. If you walk into a bar and music is playing, most of the time it’s pretty good in Jackson. So on Saturday, go into town, walk into one of these bars, crack a beer and make sure you’re with friends. That’s all you really need to have a good time anyway. Beer, friends and music.

Popularity: 6% [?]