Feeling Haggard

Dale Katechis, founder of Oskar Blues Cajun Grill and Brewery in Lyons, is a big fan of Merle Haggard. A couple of years ago, he asked beerman Marty Jones how much it might cost to get the country-music legend to play at the brewpub, or at least record a song for the place. The tune alone would have run $50,000, Jones recalls, so they gave up on getting Haggard. But today from 3 to 6 p.m., Oskar Blues and a host of local bands, including Halden Wofford & the Hi Beams and Whiskey Trip, will celebrate Haggard's seventieth birthday — even if Haggard doesn't come anywhere close to Lyons. Admission is $10 for the music, $20 if you want food, too (the outdoor smoker will be fired up for the first time this season), unless you can prove you turned 21 in prison, like the subject of Haggard's "Mama Tried" — in which case everything is free. (It's Dale's mom's birthday, too.) For information, go to www.oskarblues.com.
Sun., April 6, 4-9 p.m., 2008