The Green Apple Music & Arts Festival continues to take shape. Produced by Relix Magazine and Peter Shapiro, the 2nd annual celebration of Earth Day will take place April 19-22 with concerts in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco.

Anchoring this year's festivities will be free Earth Day concerts featuring Bob Weir and Ratdog in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, a double bill of Umphrey's McGee and the Disco Biscuits at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo and children's star Laurie Berkner performing in New York City's Central Park. The Lincoln Park show will also feature Jeff Tweedy and Todd Park Mohr of Big Head Todd & The Monsters.

Each city will host a series of live shows throughout the long weekend with Chicago's slate of bands proving the most varied: in addition to separate performances by Umphrey's and the Biscuits at the VIC Theater, The Decemberists and Andrew Bird will play sets at the Riviera Theater and J.J. Grey and MOFRO and New Monsoon will perform at the House of Blues. In California, Tea Leaf Green and the Yonder Mountain String Band will respectively play the Fillmore on successive nights. New York City will feature two nights at the Lions' Den by The Radiators, a Zero reunion show with Steve Kimock at the newly opened Gramercy Theate, Particle returning to the Bowery Ballroom and a Beacon Theater concert by . . . Taylor Hicks.

New York's GAMF will open with at the Lower East Side's Tonic with two acoustic performances by the Benevento/Russo Duo and will close with Joe Russo participating in the reunion of Fat Mama.

Labels: Benevento/Russo Duo, Disco Biscuits, Green Apple Music and Arts Festival, Ratdog, Umphrey's McGee