Music on the lake, this weekend and next.

Live music on Seneca Lake isn't a scheduled event industry — it's the background to a weekend. A three-piece on the Hazlitt deck at six. Bluegrass at Grist Iron once the sun is low enough to sit on the porch. A songwriter at Lucky Hare while the dogs sleep under the picnic tables. It's the kind of music you stumble into, not the kind you plan a flight around.

The season runs May through October, with the peak between Memorial Day and the last weekend of September. Wineries and tasting rooms tend to book acoustic acts for Friday and Saturday afternoons. Breweries lean later — seven or eight — and louder. Watkins Glen venues like Seneca Harbor Station pick up the fine-dining end of the calendar, jazz quartets and standards on the terrace as the sun drops behind the west shore.

A show at a Hector brewery beats a city venue because the room is smaller, the beer is better, and the view usually wins. We keep this calendar short and opinionated on purpose — everything on it is a place we'd send a guest to on a Friday night. Updated every Monday.