It’s summertime and the time is right for dancing, or just tapping a toe, at the Butterfield Amphitheater, as Ken Dahleen and the Idyllwild Summer Concert Series (ISCS) board bring back the Thursday night bands. The eight-week series starts at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 7, and is free to all. The series has been ongoing since 2000, and always features top-notch, crowd-pleasing acts.

Each year, Dahleen and his crew book the entertainment, make the necessary financial arrangements, and provide the sound and lighting set up to give the community eight weeks of professionally produced and memorable summer evenings. Dahleen’s Big Band Staff always provides a special program, this year on July 14, when they present a tribute to 140 years of Broadway. That show starts at 7 p.m. without an opening act.

This year’s series is dedicated to the memory of Idyllwild’s departed “Gentleman in Chief” Doug Austin. Austin will live on in the hearts of all who remember his years of service to the community, and his humble and entertaining way with a mic and a crowd at the series.

The first headliner is Lisa Lynn and the Broken Hallelujahs. Singer and frontwoman Lisa Lynn Morgan has gotten the ISCS crowd dancing before, when her band was called the Country Gents. The group serves up what it calls “Southern fried Y’all-ternative rock ‘n soul.” The band covers everything from classic country to classic rock and newer material, including originals. The list runs from Patsy Cline and Tammy Wynette to Hendrix and Joplin, Rolling Stones to Foo Fighters, Merle Haggard to Bruce Springsteen … something for everyone. “We choose the songs that move people the most — that meet them right where they’re at. We want to leave our music family in a better place than when we found them. That is our goal and purpose,” said Lynn.

The band has won several Coachella Valley Music Awards over the years, and Lynn has been nominated several years running for Best Frontwoman and Best Female Vocalist. She has sung with Paul Rogers, Mickey Thomas, Terry Reid, Great White and New Christie Minstrels, and Travis Meadows, not to mention touring and performing in bands with residencies in Las Vegas.

Among the Desert Sun’s Top Picks in 2016, critic Bruce Fessler had this to say about the band: “They (LLBH) aren’t a cryin’-in-your-beer honky tonk band. Morgan has a passionate, upbeat sound that is fresh, yet traditional. … Lisa Lynn Morgan, a backup singer for one of my favorite country bands, R Buckle Road, stepped up front in a new band, Lisa Lynn and the Country Gentlemen (now Broken Hallelujahs), and went on to win Best Country Band at CVMAs. They premiered an original song at that awards show and it sounded like a Dolly Parton classic.” Award winning Nashville singer/songwriter Travis Meadows called her “… a fire, a contagious fire. A true artist and an inspiration to everything the fire touches.”

Opening the show is Nathan James, appearing as a one-man band, singing and playing a variety of instruments including percussion, harmonica and his trademark washboard guitars. The emphasis is on well-crafted songwriting and artistry; the “how does one guy make all that music?” soon gives way to “What a groove! What a song!”

James has recently moved to Idyllwild, and was born and raised in Fallbrook. James was attracted to the individuality of self-made music and artistic expression from an early age. Growing up in a small agricultural town he could relate to music originating from a rural environment. “There wasn’t a lot to do here, so you either got in trouble or found something productive to do with what you had around you.”

Having supportive parents who didn’t force him into college after high school allowed James to go straight into the real world of a “working musician.” At age 19, James got the call from internationally known blues veteran James Harman to join his band and tour the country. With Harman, he gained the experience that has shaped his own career. In 2007 he, with Ben Hernandez, took first prize at the Memphis International Blues Challenge. For the last 15 years he has been moving audiences across the U.S. and around the world.

Asked by the Crier for comment, James wrote, “I am excited to be a fairly new resident to Idyllwild for the past couple of years, and I grew up camping at Lake Hemet and Thousand Trails in Pine Cove when I was learning to play guitar and was dreaming of playing music for a living. The mountains are a big part of my inspiration and now I’m very fortunate to live here, which is a dream come true as well as being able to play music for a living. Another thing to mention — I will be returning to Europe for a tour performing in the fall to the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.”

The concerts are all free, but donations are gratefully accepted. The funding is met through contributions from the community, and the series always starts on a wing and a prayer. The budget this year is more than $34,000. Contributions, checks payable to “Idyllwild Summer Concert Org,” may be sent to P.O. Box 1542, Idyllwild, CA 92549-1542, or call (760) 413-4638. Major donors include Mountain High Escrow, Bob and Gisela Stearns, Doug and Pat Austin, Stephanie Yost and Steve Olsen, Kathryn Kleindienst, Manny and Linda Rider, Idyllwild Town Crier, and the Idyllwild Pizza Company.

Remember that temperatures drop in the summer evening. Come prepared with an extra layer of clothes, food, drinks and/or chairs. Butterfield Amphitheater, 54201 Ridgeview Drive, has access through the Idyllwild Community Center Playground Parking lot on Highway 243 just south of town.