Portland Yacht Rock Festival singers (left to right). Sean Slaughter, Owen Conforte, Gina Alibrio, Viva the Sensation, Don Campbell and Kris Rodgers. Design by Kate Beever Design by Kate Beever

If you love ’70s and early ’80s tunes from artists like Toto, Christopher Cross, America, Ambrosia and Bread, you’ll want to buy a ticket to the Portland Yacht Rock Festival.

The show is on Friday at Aura.

Yacht Rock is the tongue-in-cheek name given to soft-rock music that is loosely associated with southern California and boating. Mostly, it’s comprised of hit songs that you won’t bang your head to but will certainly sing along with. Best of luck with the those high notes in the refrain of Toto’s “Africa.”

Aura general manager Mark Curdo is a gigantic Yacht Rock fan, and the first planning meeting about the show took place at Three Dollar Dewey’s in January.

Curdo, with the help of guitarist Max Cantlin (Gina and the Red Eye Flight Crew, Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, Micromasse), assembled an all-star cast of 14 local musicians to perform a slew of classic Yacht Rock songs on Friday night.

“I’ve been a fan of light and easy listening rock my whole life,” Curdo said. “Whether people think Yacht Rock is cheesy or not, at the end of the day, this stuff is well done and the musicianship is ridiculous.”

Singer Gina Alibrio. Design by Kate Beever

The idea for the Yacht Rock show has been mapped out in Curdo’s head for a few years. “I wanted to have a few lead singers, I knew certain ones could hit certain notes, and I actually had the whole set list.”

It includes hits like “Reminiscing” by Little River Band, “Ventura Highway” by America, “Midnight at the Oasis” by Maria Muldaur, “Eye In The Sky” by The Alan Parsons Project and “On and On” by Stephen Bishop.

Don Campbell. Design by Kate Beever

Lead vocal duties will be shared among Don Campbell, Gina Alibrio, Owen Conforte and Kris Rodgers. There will also be a couple of guest vocalists taking the stage.

The band is led by Cantlin and includes Tyler Quist on bass, Chris Sweet on drums, Emma Stanley on trumpet and flugelhorn and Kate Beever on percussion, among several others.

The Portland Yacht Rock Festival
8 p.m. Friday. Aura, 121 Center St., Portland, $25, $35, 18-plus. auramaine.com

Musician Bitch. Photo by Dana Lynn Pleasant

Boston-based singer-songwriter Bitch (Karen Mould) is performing a Saturday night show on Great Diamond Island, the home of their longtime friend Dini Lamot.

“I’m gonna bring my bass and my violin, sing songs and tell some stories, and it should be really intimate and sweet,” said Bitch (known as Karen only to their mother, according to  a 2022 interview.)

The show will feature a number of songs from the 2022 album “Bitchcraft,” including “Easy Target,” which they wrote in the aftermath of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, and the synth- and percussion-heavy breakup tune “Pages.”

The album was well-received, and Bitch enjoyed the boost after a several year hiatus from putting out music. “It gave me wind under my broomstick again. It has been a beautiful homecoming into being an artist again.”

They said they’ve also been writing new material. “I actually started laying a couple of songs down in the studio last month. There’s a new project on the horizon.”

Bitch has been performing a one-woman show since the release of “Bitchcraft” and was excited to share that it will have an off-Broadway run in New York City starting this winter.

To get to the show on Saturday, take the Casco Bay Lines Great Diamond Island ferry at 6 p.m. Return trips depart at 10:35 p.m. Tickets are $14 and be purchased at the terminal. Visit cascobaylines.com for details.

Bitch
7 p.m. Saturday. Elwell Hall, 1 Crescent Ave., Great Diamond Island, $10-$20 donation at the door. bitchmusic.com
Note: Due to artist illness, this show has been canceled