Gigs, gigs, gigs. They keep piling up. This week I have a veritable plethora of them.

Let's start with a couple of one-offs. On May 31, singer Lydia Pense and guitarist Robben Ford are coming to Baycourt with the Rodger Fox Big Band. I don't think I need to say any more.

Essential stuff.

The previous week, the brilliant Stan Walker is at Totara Street on Saturday, May 26, and a couple of days before that a bunch of top musos are holding a Bob Dylan birthday concert at the Tauranga Boys' College theatre on May 24 – Bob's 77th birthday.

All of those are on Eventfinda, but that's not necessarily the case for the free music that pops up all over town on weekends, music sessions from duos, soloists and occasionally trios.

Typically these are cover acts, but not exclusively - the likes of John Michaelz and Alice Sea mix in original material, and artists such as Josh Durning and Mike Garner specialise in early Americana styles.

There are also exotics such as Santiago, with his Latin-infused looping.

All-in-all, I'd guess there are a couple of dozen acts revolving between various venues. I guess you could call it ambient background entertainment, but it's usually created by people skilled enough to attract audiences specifically to hear their music.

More acts

In addition to those names, you might see the heavily-tattooed Kam Kafai, guitar fixer Waylon McPherson, B-Side Band members in Play Misty, Take Two, from Mount music shop Music Planet, Whakatane blues player Jinan Dodd, Kokomo duo The Self-Righteous Brothers, more blues from Twelve Pound Daddy, Izzie and Moe, SparX, soloist Josh Pow and more.

That's not an even vaguely exhaustive list, but it is diverse. The roster of venues featuring music is also ever-changing, so don't consider for a second this overview is comprehensive – I received complaints about omissions last time I tried this, so apologies in advance.

And I'm only looking at free music on weekends.

Some of these are listed on Eventfinda, some aren't; some are on the venues' websites or Facebook pages, some aren't. It's a bit of a punt. I'd suggest contacting places directly to confirm their music.

But this might help with where to look.

The obvious place is along The Strand in Tauranga on a Sunday. Perhaps that's a good reason to visit the chronically-underused CBD. Croucher Basecamp has music from 2-5pm. Further on up the road, The Phoenix also has live music from 2-5pm. The Crown and Badger seems to have stopped Sunday afternoons, but is doing Friday nights. Just round the corner on Wharf Street, The Barrel Room has been having music on Saturday nights and some other times too. Keep an eye on them as unusual touring acts sometimes pop up. Along the end of The Strand, The Cornerstone has Sunday music from 4-7pm (Gold Star Award – The Cornerstone actually has live music every night from 9.30pm!). If you're out Greerton way, there's also a regular Sunday session at Greer's, running from 5-8pm.

Over at the Mount, there's another whole bunch of stuff.

The Rising Tide has interesting Sunday music from 2-5pm (this week it's a country session with the Harmonic Resonators), and Astrolabe often has Sunday sessions from 1-3pm.

There's also Hide: Thirst And Hunger, the tucked-away little restaurant that promises $10 dumplings along with their live music (Sundays 3-6pm).

The venue with the most music at the Mount is The Mount Social Club, site of the monthly jazz jams, with a pile of music each weekend - at night on Friday and Saturday and from 6pm on Sundays.

Best to contact them for details.

There are also a couple of other Tauranga spots.

In Bureta, just around from the supermarket, new entry Jack Dusty's is doing Sunday music from 3-6pm, and I inadvertently exaggerated a couple of weeks ago when I said that Sunday sessions at The Matua pub had 'withered and died”. In fact they are continuing on the last Sunday of every month. This month it's Damo and Joel, who are always worth seeing.