May as well just leave those calendar pages flipped to the summer months this week. In addition to today's announcement of the Minnesota Zoo outdoor amphitheater series Music in the Zoo, we're also due to discover the billings for this year's Live Nation festival on Harriet Island and SoundTown this Wednesday.

As for the Music in the Zoo series, this year seems especially well-booked (and as one avid showgoer points out, has the high ticket prices to prove it). Iconic songwriters and singers Emmylou Harris, John Prine, and Mary Chapin Carpenter will appear alongside popular indie heavyweights Feist, Rufus Wainwright, and DeVotchKa and reliable recurring staples like Los Lobos and Tower of Power.

The Pines are the only local artists on the bill so far, but that may change if opening acts are added to some of the bigger nights.

Tickets go on sale April 30; more info and ticket prices here.

June

2  Feist with The Low Anthem 
16  Jimmy Cliff 
17  Jerry Jeff Walker 
19  Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers 
20  Brandi Carlile
21  Brandi Carlile 
23  The Pines 
27  Gavin DeGraw & colbie Caillat 
28  Emmylou Harris 
29  John Prine

July

1  David Gray 
3  Ziggy Marley
5  An evening with Dark Star Orchestra 
6  DeVotchKa 
13  Marc Cohn 
22  Los Lonely Boys & Ozomatli 
25  Los Lobos & Steve Earle 

August

1  Mary Chapin Carpenter 
3  Dave Koz featuring BeBe Winans 
4  Tommy Castro & the Painkillers & Marcia Ball 
7  Barenaked Ladies & Blues Traveler with Cracker 
8  Taj Mahal & the Blind Boys of Alabama 
11  Rufus Wainwright 
15  Tower of Power