Has there ever been more music in the air in Jefferson County? I doubt it.

Let’s drop the needle and think about it.

Indian Head Casino is leading the way with its summer concert tour. This is the second year of the casino’s summer concerts, and they’ve brought acts like America, Little River Band and Clint Black to Jefferson County. Unfortunately, a freak and intense rainstorm hours before the show, and an equally freakish mistake to not cover equipment, led to the cancelation of the Black show last summer. A minor hiccup. I was at the Little River Band concert a couple weeks back at the casino east parking lot and the show was outstanding, a lot of fun, and helped pack the casino.

The casino has country star Jo Dee Messina still to come (July 25) and George Thorogood and the Destroyers (“Bad to the Bone”) coming Aug. 1, with Ace Frehley, the original Kiss guitarist, hitting the stage Aug. 9. Go to Indianheadcasino.com for ticket information, and if you’re looking for big time entertainment 15 minutes from Madras, you can’t go wrong. So cool to have those shows here, and I can’t wait to see who they bring in next summer.

But there’s also been some great live music right here in Madras. The Jefferson County Event Center — which some may remember as the fairgrounds — began its Music & Munchies series in June to boot up the summer, and it has showcased some of the best cover/tribute bands in the Northwest, all free for our local entertainment pleasure. Bands rocking out Heart (Barracuda), Creedence Clearwater Revivial (Bad Moon Risers) and the Foo Fighters (Fighting Foos) have heated up the Friday nights, to rave reviews. And here’s your warning: the all-female AC/DC tribute band Hells Belles is coming to the Event Center July 22, the day before the Jefferson County Fair kicks off, as a little pre-party. These ladies have been jamming for years and make Angus and the boys proud with their raucous sound. That should be big fun.

Kudos to Bart Platt, manager of the Event Center, and the fair board for bringing the series to town. It would have been understandable if the fairgrounds organization would have dedicated June to prepping for the July fair. Instead, they made Music & Munchies happen. Awesome.

In downtown Madras, The Spot and owner Andre Jackson has made it a point to have live music on many evenings, turning the spot on Fifth Street into a town party. His intention is to grow the location as a performance spot. It will be fun to see it evolve.

Madras has long been a summer town. Now summer is packed with music. Thanks to all who have cranked it up.