MAKIN PLANS: Craft beer, arts fest fun in Somerville

If your dad is like me, he'll love the yummy brew, tasty tunes, good eats and sunny rays of Somerville Craft Beer Fest 2015.

I'm looking forward to spending Father's Day there. Tapastre, the clever restaurant (a mix of tapas and craft beer taps) that organized the event, seems to have gotten some of the summer's best brews:

• Founders' Kentucky Breakfast Stout

• Weyerbacher's Sunday Morning Stout

• Cricket Hill's Small Batch Russian Imperial Stout

• Dogfish Head's 75 Minute Firkin IPA

• Stone Brewing's Odd Russian Imperial Stout

•Carton Brewing's SS Kentucky Smoked IPA and brand new Dune Fruit Prickly Pear Cactus Sour Ale

• Great Lakes' Rye of the Tiger IPA

• Kane's Morning Bell Imperial Milk Porter with Coffee

• Captain Lawrence's Seeking Alpha Triple IPA

•And a top secret brew from Abita.

Participating restaurants will include:

• Division Café

• Hansel 'n Griddle

• Court House Sub Shop.

Live music will be provided by:

• The David Easton Band

• Sequoia

• Dave Fields.

Highlights also will include the opportunity to paint with Pinot's Palette, a new spot on Main Street that usually encourages its artists to drink wine, but is trying its talented hand at beer on Sunday.

The event will take place noon to 6:30 p.m. June 21 in downtown Somerville. Tickets, which includes a souvenir tasting glass, are $5 at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/tapastre-presents-somerville-craft-beer-fest-2015-tickets-16970478157 or $8 at the door. For $20 online and $25 at the door, a bonus pack also will include a swag bag and a $10 gift certificate to Tapastre. Online sales include service charges.

Tastes will be $1 to $3, and full pours $5 to $7. Portions of all proceeds will benefit St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center.

For more info about the Craft Beer Fest, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1635578053332178/.

Arts on Division

Somerville also will be hopping all weekend with the Arts on Division Festival, featuring works by area artists at the Pop Up Gallery, 50 Division St., and a live music showcase Somerville School of Rock, 1 W. Main St.

Hours are 6 to 10 p.m. June 19, noon to 10 p.m. June 20 and noon to 8 p.m. June 21. For more info, visit www.artsondivision.com.

Dollys' CD release

For 35 years, the most enjoyable aspect of writing about local music has been discovering new bands that blow me away.

Dollys is such a band, especially girl vocalist-drummer, Natalie Newbold, who seems like the punk grandchild of The Band's Levon Helm. The New Brunswick basement trio nearly captures its abundant live energy on its new "Oh, Please" CD, which will it will celebrate 8 p.m. June 19 at The Court Tavern, 124 Church St., with Deal Casino, Rocky Catanese & the Chapter, Romp, and The Vaughns.

Particularly tasty are the funky opener, "Shameful," The Jam-like title track, and Brian Wilson-inspired harmonic wash of "Waiting." But the entire nine-song collection impresses and vaults Dollys to the top of New Jersey's rich and fertile music scene.

Tickets to the show are $10. For more info, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1752014448358492/. For more about the Dollys, check out http://dollysband.com/.

Deslondes worth the trip

Another new band I recently got turned onto by streaming New Orleans' WWOZ is The Deslondes. While formed and based in the Crescent City on the Lower Ninth Ward street from which it took its name, The Deslondes sounds more like a cross between Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams on its self-titled New West debut. But occasionally, the rootsy five-piece slips in a nod to the 1950s New Orleans R&B of Fats Domino and Huey "Piano" Smith, as well as the swampy atmospherics of Daniel Lanois, who could have helmed the 12-track outing had it not been self-produced.

All five members democratically contribute songs, which should keep the process healthy and happy. The chunky train song, "Heavenly Home," and "Low Down Soul," an expressive sequel to Jimmie Rodgers "Waiting for a Train," stand out on a well-crafted collection that will be adored by Americana music fans and hopefully not ignored by the young band's peers.

While not playing locally this weekend, The Deslondes can be enjoyed live on June 23 at Johnny Brenda's in Philadelphia and June 25 at Mercury Lounge in New York City. For more, click http://thedeslondes.com/.

Emerging choreographers

"Jersey New Moves" is a dance recital 8 p.m. June 19 featuring four choreographers honored by New Jersey Performing Arts Center and Dance New Jersey as "emerging choreographers."

They are:

• Robert Mark Burke, Elmwood Park, mentored by Randy James artistic director of 10 Hairy Legs

• Lauren Connelly, Bayonne, mentored by Claire Porter of Claire Porter's Portables

• Kyle Georgina Marsh, Jersey City, mentored by Nai-Ni Chen, artistic director of self-named dance company

• Arielle Petruzzella, Hoboken, mentored by the namesake artistic director of the Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company.

Connolly is a producer and curator with the New Brunswick-based coLAB Arts incubator, and Marsh and Burke also have worked with coLAB.

Tickets are $20. For more info, visit http://www.njpac.org/events/detail/jersey-new-moves.

More from coLAB

Colie McClellan, another coLAB partner artist will present her one-woman show, "They Call Me Arethusa," 6 to 8:30 p.m. June 20 at First Reformed Church, 9 Bayard St., New Brunswick. Tickets are $50, but that includes a three-course meal and a donation to Dina's Dwellings, the forthcoming haven for battered women and their children. To buy tickets, get more info, and see a two-minute tease of "Arethusa," go to http://townclockcdc.org/?page_id=244.

Summer Solstice

Solberg Airport will host its 20th Annual Summer Solstice on June 20, with a rain date of June 21. Gates open at 4 p.m. for the free family fun that will include a hot air balloon launch, a Kiwanis Club cookout, face painting, petting zoo, ice cream, aircraft display, fly-ins, airplane rides, and a beautiful sunset Hunterdon County sunset you'll want to catch on camera.

Solberg Airport is at 39 Thor-Solberg Road in the Whitehouse Station section of Readington. Bring a lawn chair, and call 908-534-4000 or click www.solbergairport.com for more info.

Staff Writer Bob Makin: 732-565-7319; bmakin@MyCentralJersey.com