Voodoo Glow Skulls, Mark Chesnutt

THURSDAY, JUNE 19

MARK BRYAN When not making pedestrian bar rock with Hootie & the Blowfish, singer/songwriter and guitarist Mark Bryan (he plays lead guitar and sings backup for Hootie) makes pedestrian bar rock as a solo act but with more of a strum-pop bent. (Tamiami Bar, St. Petersburg)

VOODOO GLOW SKULLS w/KNOCKOUT SoCal six-piece Voodoo Glow Skulls inject ska with a pronounced hardcore vibe punctuated by brief, fierce guitar solos. (Orpheum, Ybor City)

JAH ROOTS w/TRIBAL STYLE/BADDA SKAT & RAS KANA/BLACKSTONE SOUND SYSTEM White boys from Missouri Jah Roots win the weakest reggae song title award for "Ganja Weed" ("Spliff N My Lady" came in a close second). The actual tunes aren't any better. (Push Ultra Lounge, St. Petersburg)

THE LEFTOVERS w/THE MENZINGERS/THE TRI-FIVES Portland, Maine, power poppers The Leftovers hit Sarasota as part of an East Coast tour. The trio's 2007 Rally Records disc, On the Move, showcases a more melodic sensibility than that of their nu-punk peers, infused with Beatle-esque hooks and Beach Boy-styled harmonies ("Pick and Choose," "Dance With Me"). Sharing the bill are Scranton, Pa.'s The Menzingers, another solid indie act with obvious influences (The Clash). (Pastimes Pub, Sarasota) —Amanda Schurr

FRIDAY, JUNE 20

THE SUGAR OAKS w/WIN WIN WINTER/KG & THE BAND/THE ALVAREZ QUARTET Satisfyingly mellow folk-rock-organic-pop sextet the Sugar Oaks, of Orlando, celebrate the release of their new three-song EP, No One Can Love You Like Me. In addition to the R&B-flavored, jealous-kind title-track, there's the breezy guitar-'n'-flute number "Very Sparrow" and the humorous piano-and-sax ditty "Girl on Girl," which, I think, is about rubbing one out in the afternoon. Or getting laid. Or a young man getting his girlfriend to get it on with another gal — for his entertainment. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)

ENTER THE HAGGIS w/ODON SOTERIAS Celtic jam band Enter the Haggis alternates between somber acoustic numbers and rave-ups like "Gasoline," a highlight on the Toronto ensemble's live Northhampton disc. ETH has also been known to incorporate jazz, bluegrass and prog-rock into the mix. Led by singer/multi-instrumentalist Brian Buchanan, the quintet has been touring and recording since 1996. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)

MARK CHESNUTT More honky-tonk than most of his Hat Act peers, Chesnutt is a workmanlike Nashville star who churned out such country chart-toppers in the '90s as "Brother Jukebox," "I'll Think of Something" and "It's a Little Too Late." Chesnutt's biggest hit, though, was his 1998 cover of the Diane Warren-penned Aerosmith smash "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing." It topped the country survey for two weeks and reached No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. But in the long run, the song hurt Chesnutt's career more than it helped. He hasn't cracked the country Top 10 since. The title track to his new disc, Rollin' With the Flow, sounds like a winner, but now that Chesnutt's been dropped by the major labels, his chances of returning to the upper regions of the charts are minimal. (Dallas Bull, Tampa)

THE LATIN ROOTS QUINTET Info is scarce on this ensemble, which is playing the Mahaffey's Bayview Room. But I'm gonna stake my reputation and say that this band will include five members and play some iteration of Latin jazz. (Mahaffey Theater) —Eric Snider

PM DAWN Portly siblings Prince Be (Attrell Cordes) and DJ Minute Mix (Jarrett Cordes) delivered a gauzy mash-up of hip-hop and R&B in the early-'90s, resulting in such hits as "I'd Die Without You," "Paper Doll" and "Looking Through Patient Eyes." (Bourbon St. Nightclub, New Port Richey)

BOBBY LEE RODGERS AND THE CODETALKERS w/RADIO-FREE CARMELA AND THE TRANSMITTERS After almost a decade together, Atlanta axe-master/singer Rodgers, bassist Andrew Altman and drummer Mark Raudabaugh tear through jazz, Southern rock, funk and bluegrass with virtuosity and originality. The band's known for its unhinged live shows, high-energy spectacles of stellar musicianship and booty-busting atmosphere. Not to be missed. (Ace's Lounge, Bradenton) —AS

MUPHIN CHUCKRS W/MISCONNECTED/BARELY BLIND Virginia punk outfit Misconnected takes over the front room, supported by like-minded Texas rockers Barely Blind and Palmetto's own Muphin Chuckrs. (Rasher Tierney's, Bradenton) —AS

SATURDAY, JUNE 21

SUMMER JAM 4: SOUTH RAKKAS CREW w/BIRD STREET PLAYERS/THE BASIQS/SAINT SWEETHEART/PETROGRAD IN TRANSIT/DISH/TIDES OF MAN/X.O.X.O./JUICE CITY/KING OF SPAIN/DYNASTY/DJ SANDMAN/(THE) SOFT ROCK RENEGADES Headlining this annual bash is South Rakkas Crew, the Orlando production team responsible for doctoring tracks by everyone from 'N Sync to Michael Jackson to dancehall stars Beenie Man and Elephant Man. Dennis "Dow Jones" Shaw, who will be performing at Crowbar, reps the crew and will be spinning with assistance from MC/hype man Agony. To read my interview with Shaw click here. At press time, the schedule had not yet been finalized with regard to which acts would be playing which venue. I'll post the information as soon as I get it at the CL music blog, TampaCalling.com. (Crowbar/New World Brewery, Ybor City)

VIA SEGOVIA w/BERWICK/FROM THE EMBRACE/WMP Local prog-rockers Via Segovia are very serious about the Queensryche-style music they make. To wit (from the band's website): "Via Segovia exists solely to feed and propagate its uniquely ordered sense of chaos to the deepest points in our world." (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)

KOOL & THE GANG In the first half of the '70s, the new Jersey ensemble played legitimately funky, hard-hitting tunes that hold up as worthy nuggets of the R&B canon: "Funky Stuff," "Hollywood Swinging" and, especially "Jungle Boogie" (which Tarantino used to terrific effect in Pulp Fiction). Then there was the second phase in the late-'70s/early-'80s — beginning with "Ladies Night," "Too Hot" and "Celebration" — where Kool & the Gang went soft and cute. It got worse — phase three, if you will — as the '80s wore on, with throwaway treacle like "Joanna" and "Cherish." Still, as postgame concerts go, Kool & the Gang is a pretty good choice — lots of lively hits that should appeal to a broad range of folks. The band will perform after the Rays/Astros game. (Tropicana Field, St. Pete) —ES

HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL Another chance to catch the superb local alt-country act. (Pastimes Pub, Sarasota) —AS

MONDAY, JUNE 23

FUCK YEAH FEST: MATT & KIM/THE DEATH SET/MONOTONIX/TEAM ROBESPIERRE/REGGIE WATTS Brooklyn duo Matt & Kim play lo-fi electro/experimental pop that's at once catchy and silly to the point of borderline irritating. (Transitions Art Gallery at Skatepark of Tampa, Tampa)

TUESDAY, JUNE 24

THE BURNIN SMYRNANS Hailing from New Smyrna beach, The Burnin Smyrnans (get it?) offer a solid albeit rather boring meld of jazz, reggae and all-around jamminess. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)

THE MORNING OF w/THE WHITE TIE AFFAIR/HOLIDAY PARADE Piano-led emo outfit The Morning Of features co-vocalists Justin Wiley and Jessica Leplon, a pair of singers who look and sound like they should be starring in a Disney musical. Very vanilla. The New York six-piece's debut disc, The World as We Know It, came out last July and became somewhat of a hit this year thanks to a serious online presence (more than a million MySpace plays). (Orpheum, Ybor City)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25

WILD 98.7 BLOCK PARTY w/PLEASURE P/SHAWTY PUTT/TOM G The radio station's assistant promotions director explained to me via e-mail that "WiLD will be choosing a listener to present the party. Pleasure P, Shawty Putt and Tom G will be swinging through to party with us," it reads. "It's kind [of] a spin-off of the Dave Chapelle type block party. … Tickets are win only." Headliner Pleasure P is one-fourth of the Miami rap/sleaze-&-b quartet Pretty Ricky, the group responsible for hits like "Grind with Me," "Your Body," "On the Hotline" and "Push It Baby." (Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)

This article appears in Jun 18-24, 2008.