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Photos by George Kopp

Lincoln Center Out of Doors is an annual summer celebration of free music, dance and spoken word at the beautiful Damrosch Park outdoor stage at Lincoln Center in Manhattan. Opening the show were relative newcomers the Cactus  Blossoms. The band is fronted by Minneapolis-born brothers, Jack Torrey and Page Burkum, whose lilting sibling harmonies are often compared to the Louvin and Everly Brothers, and with good reason. They definitely conjure the sound of those legendary musical brothers with their retro-leaning  country songs and sound.

His signature white Stetson firmly in place, Dwight Yoakam and his sequin-adorned  band were enthusiastically received by an adoring Manhattan  crowd. He performed a tasty sampling of tracks from his latest release, Second Hand Heart, and the big hits (“A Thousand Miles from Nowhere,”  “Honky Tonk Man,” “Guitars, Cadillacs”) that the audience was there to  hear. Opening with the classic “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud  Music),” the set also included medleys of Yoakam’s “Bakersfield sound”  heroes Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. The band also lent their hillbilly  spirit to covers of Elvis’ “Little Sister,” Lowell George’s iconic “Willin’ ” and  Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” A bang-up performance of classic, rockabilly-influenced  country music on a beautiful summer night in New York City.

—George Kopp