Sunday Sept. 7 marks the fifth anniversary of Warren Zevon’s death. To use the cliché, so close, so distant. I wrote something a few years back, and am revising it now to commerorate his life and death. It has nothing to do with going out to see anything. It’s just about someone I admired and respected very muchNo contemporary singer-songwriter wrote about death as much as Warren Zevon, from I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead’’ to Things to Do In Denver When You’re Dead.’’ (There’s plenty more.) Those songs tended not to be morbid, really; they were more celebratory, as in Live now, because death awaits you.’’ For years, the emblem he used – on back stage passes, album covers, etc. - was a grinning skull smoking a cigarette.I once asked him about Play It All Night Long,’’ a song about a dysfunctional, incestuous family that revels in playing Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama’’ – Play that dead band’s song/Turn the speakers up full blast/Play it all night long.’’ It’s how the broken family copes with its horror. Was it funny?

Fri. Sept. 12 - Sun. Sept. 14 The ICONS Festival held in Canton every year has become one of the more delightful outdoor fests of the summer. Yes, it's still summer. It emphasizes Irish music, from the traditional to the avant-garde, and offers at three day pass (Fri. Sept. 12 - Sun. Sept. 14) for $60. This year's highlights include Liam Clancy, Lunasa, Sola, Luka Bloom (in photo), Crooked Still. There are 11 areas - stages and the likes - where peformances start at 7 p.m. Friday and 12:15 Saturday and Sunday 'til 11:30. They shut down at 8:30 Sunday. Our former colleague at the Globe, Steve Morse, does the writing for ICONS and he gave JSink persmission to pluck a couple of pieces off for this site. Which we have done, on Bloom and Crooked Still. But you can read more of Morse's takes and about the Festival's layout, aim the dozens of acts, and all the rest at its comprehensive website, www.iconsfestival.com (http://www.iconsfestival.com/) Single day pass: $25.200 New Boston Drive, Canton, 617-931-2000 www.ticketmaster.com

Sat. Sept. 13 It's walkin' time in Boston. Actually, it's always walkin' time in Boston. If there isn't a charity walk on any given weekend during the summer or fall, we feel something's off with the universe. Saturday Sept. 13, The American Heart Association holds its walk-a-thon called Boston Start! Heart Walk starting at 10 a.m. the Hatch Shell. Providing the entertainmnent, beginning at noon, for walkers - or stragglers, or really anyone who wants to show up is Danny Klein's Full House, with guest guitarist Ernie Boch Jr. (You know Ernie from, well, everywhere: TV, his band the Automatics, his Music Drives Us Foundation.) Peter Hackel, drummer for Klein, describes what they do as a full-blown rock show, festive, a house party. An all out rock-a-thon. What they play is the music of the J. Geils Band, the band for which Klein was long the bassist. (Klein's band does 30-40 shows a year, many of them for c Charlie Farren is also on the bill. The gig was set up through Hackel's PH Productions - check out the number and website below - which specializes, he says in the four c's - charity, coporate, casino and cruises. This gig starts at noon. About 10,000-15,000 walked in the rain last year. More hoped for this year. Check out details about the walk at the website below.Hatch Shell, Storrow Dr. 508-656-2022 www.americanheart.org (http://www.americanheart.org/) and 671-283-4051 www.phproductions.net

Sun. Sept. 14 Tony Clifton. Now, where have you heard that name? Well, of you're of a certain age, you heard of him when he - or someone like him - appeared as Andy Kaufman's alter-ego. Where Andy was subversive, he also had a gentle side; Clifton, who often opened for Kaufman, was an abrasive, loud-mouthed lounge-singer comic. Pudgy, garish, confrontational. If reviewing Clifton's comeback tour in Chicago this summer, Mike Thomas of the Sun Times wrote, Tony Clifton may be the rudest, crudest and most musically talentless lounge lizard ever to stalk a stage. But for those of a certain age and/or sensibility, he is an entertainer nonpareil. Now, if Kaufman is dead, as we all assume he is, who is Clifton?

Sat. Sept. 13 The Milling Gowns have no objection to the phrase gloom pop to describe it is that they do. They're certainly not a rock band in the conventional sense in that the main instrumentation is piano, viola, bass and drums. The violist is Betty Widerski and pianist is Sharon Crumrine. M is the singer; Alan Esser is on drums. They've got a record release party for Diving Bell Shallows Saturday Sept. 13th at The Lily Pad. On the CD, the Milling Gowns employ a full string section, oboe, lever harp, french horn, and choir. On the 13th, the band has reserved the Lily Pad for the entire evening. Doors are at 8:45pm, with a $10 requested donation. The opening performer will be local singer/songwriter Dan Blakeslee, who also guested on Diving Bell Shallows. Then The Milling Gowns will take the stage. The Lily Pad's 7-foot Kawai grand piano will allow Crumrine to fully realize the songs' elegant keyboard parts, and guest string players and vocalists will recreate their studio parts live. 1353 Cambridge St., Cambridge 617-395-1393 www.lily-pad.net (http://www.lily-pad.net/) or www.themillinggowns.com

Thurs. Sept. 25 We all know the cliched joke: If you remember the '60s, you weren't there. Ha. I was a kid growing up in the '60s in a university town, so there was plenty of hippie culture to go around: the music, the love beads, the patchouli, the pot, the protests, the ever-present backdrop of the undeclared Vietnam War. But as a kid I was on the fringe: Bought stuff at the headshop, but decorative stuff. I felt in tune, but know all that was going on was going on with the generation ahead of me. I loved it ... but it turned, and all was not peace and love. The radical left blew up buildings and innocents and ... well, that's another essay. This bit is to alert you to Psychedelic Cinema: Light Show Films (1967-1969) by Ken Brown (best known perhaps for his unique, humorous postcards). He shot these Super 8 films and projected them at the Boston Tea Party (where the now defunct Avalon once was and where House of Blues construction is now) and they were a visual accompaniment to the Velvet Undeground, Led Zeppelin and other icons of the era.

Tues. Oct 7 I met Tina Shafer about 30 years ago at a party me and my college housemates threw. A wild party it would seem. Tina’s recollection: One of my stoner room-mates kind of actively pursued her and my friend Dale Spear – more on him and what he and Tina started out doing later – locked him in his room for safety. Whew. Skip forward. Shafer – a recording artist/songwriter whose songs have been covered by many, like Sheena Easton and Phoebe Snow, but most famously, Celine Dion - has been putting on something called the New York Songwriters Circle for 18 years at the Bitter End. She’s bringing that concept here, to Johnny D’s Tuesday Oct. 7 sy 8:30. She will perform with Will Knox, Liz Longley, Chana Rothman and Jesse Ruben.