It’s the morning of May 7 and you yawn awake and have a nice leisurely stretch, then toss on some semblance of an outfit and head down to the Downtown Topeka Farmers’ Market, where the sights and smells have nearly the same effect as a nice, strong cup of coffee, and even if you’re still needing the caffeine to fully open those eyes, there’s coffee available down there, too. And lucky you, on this date, May 7, you’ll also run into a band, an energetic group of volunteers, and a wave of generator-powered sound that will not only wake your Saturday morning self up, it will get you shaking your moneymaker among the aisles of vendors. Music at the Market, in its second year at the farmers’ market, is again underway. From 9-11 a.m. each Saturday, local, regional and national acts will appear alongside the jellied jalapenos and the watermelon pyramids.

First Saturdays Presented by Topeka Blues Society

In the past, performances included huge names such as Duke Tomatoe (formerly of REO Speedwagon) and Buddy Flett, lured to the market by none other than the Topeka Blues Society and Suki Willison, the nationally-lauded booking agent for Uncle Bo’s Blues Bar. The Blues Society will be back at it again this year, bringing both traveling artists that happen to be in town on a Saturday morning and local acts that we know and love like Josh Vowell and the Rumble and Nick Hern Band each first Saturday throughout the spring and summer.

Second Saturdays Presented by the Americana Music Academy

This out-of-the-way music instruction academy, located in Potwin’s future “Fiber Arts District” has its feet deep in American roots music, with bluegrass, folk, country, blues and jazz. The students, teachers and musicians from AMA will not disappoint listeners at the market this season.

Music every Saturday

Volunteers are working hard to book acts, with just a few more spots to fill. Some of the performers already lined up for dates this year are:

May 21: Ellie Smith and Ryan V.

June 26: The Argyll McHaggis Memorial Pipes and Drums

August 27: Sam Billen

Check in often with seveneightfive.com and in print for features on the bands playing at Music at the Market, and a weekly schedule of performers. Or “like” Music at the Market on Facebook to stay fully in the know.

Now go out there and do some rocking, um, I mean, shopping. Or both, whatever! Music at the Market is cool like that.

[ April 2010 | Leah Sewell | photos by Leah Sewell | Sam Billen portrait by Micah Rolfs | image at top provided by Jeff Davis/courtesy of Music at the Market ]