INTO GALACTIC?

Making a name for yourself in a city so rich with jazz as New Orleans isn’t achieved by playing the standards. There are plenty of bands for that.

But when you throw funk into the mix, ears perk up, toes start tapping, and you start getting record deals with major labels.

Meet Galactic.

This six-piece fusion of jazz and funk will be making its way into rock ‘n’ roll-heavy Portland for a gig at the State Theatre. Galactic will take the stage at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 9.

The band, comprising guitarist Jeff Raines, organist Rich Vogel, bassist Robert Mercurio, sax players Ben Ellman and Jason Mingledorff, and drummer Stanton Moore, has built a following while opening for a few names its members idolize – The Meters, Maceo Parker, and Medeski, Martin & Wood.

The band released its first LP in 1996 and was snatched up by the Capricorn label. The band rereleased that album – “Coolin’ Off” – and followed up with two more successful efforts in 1998 and 2000.

Tickets for the show are $16.50 apiece, including a 50-cent charge for theater restoration. To get tickets, call Ticketmaster at 775-3331 or visit the State Theatre Box Office, any Ticketmaster outlet, or www.sfx.com.

MAKE YOURSELVES AT HOME

Whenever flatlanders come to Maine, many here are content to send them packing when they hit the border, but there is one group that will be welcome any time.

These Flatlanders are music legends in their native West Texas. The trio comes with such diverse music backgrounds, they seem an unlikely success story, but have taken the fame pretty well over their 30-year run.

The Flatlanders have strong musical bloodlines in Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely and Butch Hancock. Each brings his own style to the table – and does it so well – one magazine drew comparisons between The Flatlanders and the Traveling Wilburys.

Gilmore honed his skills on old-school country music while Ely took a separate path. His rock sensibilities that give the band such a unique sound once landed him on tour with one the most successful punk bands of all time.

Let’s just say Johnny Clash would be a good way to sum up this threesome.

So why are we telling you all this? Because it’s not every day music legends make it to Rockport for a show.

That’s right, folks. You’re getting The Flatlanders you’ll never want to send home.

The band will appear at Camden Hills High School’s new Strom Auditorium at 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 5.

Tickets are $24 a head and are available at Wild Rufus in Camden; Grasshopper Shops in Rockland, Ellsworth and Bangor; Mr. Paperback in Belfast; Amadeus in Portland; Music Bar in Bar Harbor; and the Music Gallery in Waterville.

Visit www.joelraymondpresents.com for more information.

ARTS SAFA-RI

Schoodic Arts For All, or SAFA, a nonprofit grass-roots arts organization on the Schoodic Peninsula, is sponsoring the third Schoodic Arts Festival, running now through Aug. 12.

The event includes far too many events to list. All are worth attending, but there are some items of particular interest.

The annual art show will be held Sunday, Aug. 5.

And Maine favorites The Moon Puppies will play a dance the next-to-last night of the festival, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 11.

Between those events, there will be classical music, drum and bagpipe shows, dancing, and fiddling.

For more information, call (866) 751-2787 or visit www.schoodicarts.org.