*Tickets are going on sale Friday, April 23, at 10 am, for O.A.R., with special guest Citizen Cope, for a July 23 show at the Comcast Theatre in Hartford.

Reserved seats are $38.50, while lawn seating is $29.50 per person, and these tickets will be available through LiveNation.com.

*Also going on sale Friday will be the tickets for CREED’s stop at Mohegan Sun Arena on Monday, August 2. Those tickets are priced at $20 and $10, purposely to coincide with the year as well as the band’s stand against rising concert costs.

Tickets will be available through TicketMaster vendors beginning at 10, and then also through the casino’s box office 24 hours later if they’re still available.

*Tony Summo and Lou Bellofatto will be back at Proud Mary’s this weekend, performing as OLD SCHOOL on Saturday night from 8 to 11 pm.

*Just a reminder that Newtown Middle School will not only be filled with lots of folks celebrating Earth Day this weekend (and my sister, if you see her, should be wished a “Happy Earth Day Birthday!”) but will also have plenty of live music going on. Newtown’s 3rd Annual Earth Day Festival will be running from 10 am to 4 pm Saturday, April 24. Please note the schedule has been updated from what was posted just a week ago, with some groups added and the start times of others shifted around a bit.

There will be performances of bluegrass by THE BANDOLINS at 10:15, singer-songwriter JOHN TAMBURELLO at 11 (this is one of the additions I was just talking about), local “enviro-rappers” MEN IN GREEN at 11:15 (also an update from last weekend), and then originals and covers by a number of performers who are billing themselves as 59 BANK STREET TUESDAY OPEN MIC from 11:30 to 12:15 (new start time).

Dancers from THE GRACEFUL PLANET will then be featured at 12:15, and music will return with DR RICHARD COOPERSMITH & THE BLUE YODELS AT 1, followed by modern jazz, fusion and blues by THE NORTHWEST QUARTET at 1:15, and reggae by THE SKANKTONES will close out the festival, running from 2:15 until at least 4.

If all this isn’t enough, there will also be an Earth Day Hootenanny at My Place Restaurant, also on Queen Street, at 6 pm Saturday. This promises more live music, as well as great beer and pizza specials.

The Earth Day event is a pretty cool one. If you have any time available, stop by the middle school to visit with any of the 40-plus vendors including businesses, clubs and associations; the return of The Environmental Maze, as well as The Recycled Art Show (a way cool presentation), a food court, and plenty of environmentally friendly information for all ages.

Full details, including an updated schedule, is available at NewtownEarthDay.org.

*Saturday night will see a return by JIM ALLYN at The Blue Z, over at 123 Main Street South. Jim will start performing around 7:30 and plans to have three of the four musicians (Rick Brodskey, Korey Brodskey and Ryan Daley) who were with him in March back with him again this month.

*COWBOY JUNKIES, who is scheduled to release their next album, Renmin Park (the first of a series of four albums to be collectively titled The Nomad Series), on June 15, will be in Connecticut for two nights prior to that.

The band is scheduled to perform on Thursday, May 13, at The Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook ($45 for the all ages show; call 877-503-1286), and then the following evening at The Ridgefield Playhouse (with special guest Lee Harvey Osmond, $47.50; call 203-438-5795)

Volumes 2, 3 and 4 of The Nomad Series, by the way (titled Demons, Sing In My Meadow and The Wilderness, respectively), to be released over the next 18 months, are still in the works.

Until next week, I’ll be seeing you… on the road.

Questions and comments should be sent to Shannon Hicks c/o The Newtown Bee, 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown CT 06470, or shannon@thebee.com, or call the office at 426-3141. Shows listed at clubs are for ages 21 and over unless specified.

UPCOMING SHOWS

APRIL 23 — Laura Sumner at The Blue Z Coffee House, Newtown; Montgomery Gentry at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Darryl Worley opening; Graham Parker at Fairfield Theatre Company; WCCC Homegrown Showcase at The Webster Underground, Hartford, featuring Domeringer, Tempest Edge, Limited Sight, Big Moon and Agrippa 93;

April 24 — Old School at Proud Mary’s, Newtown; Jim Allyn at The Blue Z, Newtown, with Rick Brodskey, Korey Brodskey, and Ryan Daley;

April 25 — Manny Pavone at The Blue Z; The Fray at The MGM Grand at Foxwoods, Mashantucket; Disco Biscuits at The Webster;

April 27 — Echo and The Bunnymen at Fairfield Theatre Company’s StageOne;

April 28 — “One Night of Queen” performed by Gary Mullen & The Works at The Ridgefield Playhouse.

MAY 1 — Mark Knopfler at The MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods, Mashantucket; Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes at The Ridgefield Playhouse, Ridgefield;

May 2 — 2010 Ridgefield Band Jam at The Ridgefield Playhouse (local bands, fundraiser for the playhouse, 4 pm start);

May 5 — Jesse Ruben at Fairfield Theatre Company, Fairfield;

May 6 — Little Feat at The Ridgefield Playhouse;

May 7 — Dar Williams at Fairfield Theatre Company; Colin Hay at The Ridgefield Playhouse;

May 8 — Rhythm Authority at Rivalry, Monroe; Cobra Starship and 3OHI3 at Ives Concert Park, Danbury; The English Beat at Infinity Music Hall, Norfolk;

May 9 — The English Beat at Fairfield Theatre Company (also May 10).