On Thursday night at Blue, Connor Garvey and eight of his fellow Maine singer-songwriters will play each other’s songs in a show called Cover Your Friends that Garvey first organized 10 years ago.

Garvey, a Portland singer-songwriter, usually holds the event once or twice a year to bring together local and sometimes touring musicians. Admission is by donation, and attendees must be 21 or older.

Joining Garvey this time are Dan and Sarah Boyden, Kate Beever, Jeff Christmas, Jed Bresette, Tom Peabody, Caroline Cotter and Jud Caswell.

“My favorite part of it is the vulnerability. It becomes very easy to play your own songs or to play those of objective greats like Dylan, but to get into the songs of your friends, to try to give the song justice or reimagine it and then to know your friend may be there to hear it is a whole different level of risk and reward,” said Garvey.

TWO MAJOR SHOWS AT MERRILL 

The show from hit makers Rick Springfield and Richard Marx, originally scheduled for Jan. 25 at Merrill Auditorium, was postponed because of illness, and a new date of Sept. 5 was recently announced. If you have tickets, they’ll be good for the new date. But if you can’t make it, you have until March 8 to request a refund by sending an email to help@porttix.com. And if you’d like to buy a ticket, there are still a decent amount left, but don’t wait too long. A few of Springfield’s biggest songs are “Jessie’s Girl” and “I’ve Done Everything For You,” and you may recognize Marx’s name for the ballads “Hold On To the Nights” and “Right Here Waiting.”

Another huge show coming to Merrill Auditorium was announced last week, and tickets are currently on sale. Iconic singer Diana Ross will be performing there on May 14. Tickets range from $132 to $279 (plus fees) and are available at porttix.com.

NEW MUSIC FROM GRASSHOLES, KING KYOTE

On the new music front, two songs were released last week.

The first is “Watermelon Sugar (C Money Burns Remix)” by New Gloucester-based bluegrass band The World Famous Grassholes. The original is a Harry Styles hit, and The World Famous Grassholes first covered it on last year’s “Gently Used” album in a bluegrass style. This time around, the version was remixed by local producer C Money Burns (Chris Burns), who took the raw files from the “Gently Used” take and added his own sounds and effects.

Grassholes singer Sam Pfeifle knows that the C Money Burns take on the cover is far from bluegrass, but he’s thrilled with it. “It is an awesome reinterpretation of acoustic music that manages to completely reimagine the song’s possibilities,” said Pfeifle.

He sure is right about that, because C Money Burns has upended the song and made it into a thumping club tune that’s heavy and very danceable, with thick keys, funky bass and much more.

Head to Flatbread in Portland on March 21 to see The World Famous Grassholes. Music starts at 6:30 p.m., and there’s no cover “But attendees are reminded that the more beer they drink, the better the Grassholes sound,” joked Pfeifle.

New from Portland’s King Kyote (Jon King) is “The Wild,“ which will be a track on his forthcoming full-length album of indie roots-rock and Americana tunes due out in the fall. With lyrics that speak to adventure, freedom and longing, “The Wild” features a string arrangement and driving drums. The conflicted emotions are reflected in King’s stormy yet warm, clear vocals.

In 2022, King Kyote was a contestant on NBC’s “American Song Contest” where he represented Maine and performed the song “Get Out Alive.” The show was hosted by Kelly Clarkson and Snoop Dogg and featured contestants from all 50 states.

See King Kyote live at Sunday River in Newry at 7 p.m. Saturday.

PRIMO EXPERIENCE

Primo Cubano, the seven member Portland area group that’s been playing a traditional style of Cuban music called Son for 16 years, got the chance to play in the country that inspires its sound. They performed two shows at the 39th International Havana Jazz Festival in January.

“Almost every musician we met, including people from the audience, said to us with complete sincerity and emotion ‘You are the first American band to ever come to Cuba and perform our music,” said trumpet player and percussionist Marc Chillemi about the experience. “It was a huge compliment and validation of our 16 years together.”

Chillemi said that he and several other members of Primo Cubano have been to Cuba before, but this trip fulfilled a lifelong dream of conga player Lenny Hatch, who is 84. “That was worth the entire trip,” said Chillemi.

Primo Cubano was invited to the festival thanks to promoter and founder of Go Big For Hunger, Greg Martens. Martens befriended someone who offers tours during the festival and came up with the idea of bringing Maine musicians to Cuba to play. “Never in a million years could I have dreamt this up,” said Chillemi.

Chillemi added that Martens hired filmmaker Seth Ferranti to document the trip, and a short teaser of it will be shown at the Thursday night Go Big For Hunger fundraiser concert at Bayside Bowl. The 8 p.m. show features several musicians, including Maine singer Darby Sabin, who also performed in Havana, and Tom Constanten, who played keys in The Grateful Dead in the late ’60s.

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