EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA

Haverhill native Chad Perrone recycles. He's seen "An Inconvenient Truth." He's thought about buying a hybrid car.

Now the singer-songwriter will put his eco-friendly approach to work as part of EarthFest on Saturday.

"I think there is always more to be done," said Perrone, who now lives in Melrose. "It's an ongoing battle."

The free event, organized annually by WBOS, on the Esplanade in Boston is expected to draw 100,000 people and will feature headliners, including Guster, KT Tunstall, The John Butler Trio, and Mat Kearney.

Perrone is one of five up-and-coming musicians - along with Will Dailey, Jake Brennan, Tim Blane and Mieka Pauley - playing the Boston Music Stage at the festival.

David Ginsburg, WBOS program director selected local musicians like Perrone to play EarthFest based on who got the greatest response on the station's Boston Music Sunday program, which plays a local artist once an hour on Sundays.

Ginsburg said Perrone "seemed like a natural fit" for the event.

"He's a really talented kid, who has a shot of being a mainstream, John Mayer-ish sort of artist," said Ginsburg.

Perrone has had a lot of experiences with the other Boston Music Stage artists because he's toured or performed previously with all of them.

"It's nice to be part of this thing, where we are all friendly," said Perrone, who started writing songs about heartbreak when he was 8. "It feels like a group (because) you are part of something bigger. We're all in this because we love it."

Perrone was the lead singer of the Merrimack Valley-based band Averi (which opened for major acts like Barenaked Ladies and Sting) before going solo in November 2005.

Perrone, who left the band because he "needed a change and wanted to do something musically" he couldn't as part of a group, writes music, mostly in the pop rock vein with some folk and R&B influences. "It's a little more personal now. I feel a little more free to explore wherever the song takes me."

In addition to performers like Perrone on the Boston Music Stage and the main stage at the Esplanade, EarthFest will also feature Kids' Planet - an expanded interactive family area that includes child-friendly musical acts, 'tween sensation Girl Authority and a cappella group Firedrill!

For all ages, there will be more than 100 booths, exhibits and food sampling. The booths will be staffed by event sponsors and local environmental and nonprofit organizations like Reverb, an organization founded in 2004 by environmentalist Lauren Sullivan and her musician husband, Guster guitarist/vocalist Adam Gardner that "greens" concert tours while raising awareness and support for the environment through an interactive eco-village.

Save That Stuff, a company that says it sees recycling as a way of life, will be implementing a host of recycling programs at the festival, including setting up a zero-waste zone backstage.

All EarthFest events are carbon-neutral, according to organizers - carbon credits were purchased from a Vermont wind farm to offset the energy output of the festival and neutralize the effect of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

If you go

* What: EarthFest

* When: Saturday, May 26, beginning at 10 a.m.

* Where: Hatch Shell on the Esplanade in Boston

* How: Admission is free. For more, check out www.earthfest.com.

About the Boston Music Stage artists

* Chad Perrone is a singer and songwriter who uses music to capture his emotions and his memories. His heartfelt music helped earn him a nomination for the 2005 Boston Music Award for Best Vocal Male.

* Will Dailey, often compared to artists like Ben Harper, first discovered success in 2004 with his independently released album, "Goodbyeredbullet." Dailey's new release, "Back Flipping Forward" is due later this year.

* Winner of the 2006 Boston Music Award for Local Male Vocalist, Jake Brennan describes his music as hardcore folk.

* Tim Blane prides himself as a singer and songwriter whose music can be compared to artists like Peter Gabriel or Lyle Lovett. Blane performs all over the East Coast and has opened for bands such as The Verve Pipe and The Push Stars.

* Mieka Pauley has created her own style of music by incorporating a variety of genres such as soul, blues, rock, and acoustic. Pauley's musical career has taken her across the country performing 150 live shows a year and has allowed her to appear on the road with well known talents, Eric Clapton, Black Eyed Peas, John Legend, Wyclef Jean and Blues Traveler.

About the Mainstage artists

* Guster, a band started at Tufts University, today sells out New York's Radio City Music Hall, The Boston Opera House and has performed with The Boston Pops. In 2006, the band founded the eco-friendly Campus Consciousness Tour, with buses powered by biodiesel and performances powered by wind power. The band's fifth studio release "Ganging Up on the Sun," features the singles Satellite and One Man Wrecking Machine.

* KT Tunstall is a classic singer-songwriter from St. Andrews, Scotland. Her debut album "Eye To The Telescope," catapulted her to being the U.K.'s best-selling female artist of 2005. The album, featuring the singles "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" and "Suddenly I See" was released in the U.S. in February 2006.

* John Butler Trio, a U.S.-born, Australia-raised singer-songwriter, is performing at Earthfest following the release of their latest album "Grand National." The album is the follow-up to "Sunrise Over Sea," a five-time platinum album released in 2003. "Sunrise Over Sea" became that year's fifth highest selling album in Australia.

* Singer-songwriter Mat Kearney has traveled the road from Eugene, Ore., to Nashville, Tenn., with the debut of his major-label album "Nothing Left to Lose." Released by Aware/Columbia records, "Nothing Left to Lose" features 12 tracks produced by Robert Marvin and Mat Kearney, including the album's first two singles "Nothing Left to Lose" and "Undeniable."