Judy Tampa & Bunko Squad w/Dirty Spoons & Trash Revue/Skully Folk-Americana singer-songwriter Judy Hargraves is Judy Tampa and Bunko Squad is her band, which includes acoustic bassist Anne VanAtta, John McEwen on acoustic guitar, Irish bouzouki and vocals, harmonica and guitar player George Pappas, and drummer Harry Hayward. This intimate Hideaway bill celebrates the release of their new single, “Best Man in the World.” Beloved local songstress Natty Moss Bond, keys player Steve Peake and guitarist Sam Bond joining Judy and Bunko to become the fun rambling Dirty Spoons & Trash Review, which is also performing along with Skully, another related band featuring three frontwomen — Natty, Anne and the captivating Reina Collins. (Hideaway Café & Recording Studio, St. Petersburg)
Suncoast Blues Society Anniversary Party w/John Nemeth/RJ Howson Suncoast Blues Society celebrates 16 years with soulful bluesman John Németh, an Idaho-bred, Memphis-based singer, guitarist and harmonica virtuoso who was active for more than a decade before the buzz really started in earnest; 2013 found him with five Blues Music Award nominations. Warming up the stage for his Tampa date is Bradenton’s RJ Hownson, whose sound is rooted in the roots rock and Chicago blues of his native city. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
Jonathan Scales Fourchestra An orchestra of three despite the name suggesting otherwise. Asheville-based namesake Jonathan Scales leads on steel pans, which don’t quite lose the island hue but take on a novel polyrhythmic complexity and more varied tones in the hands of Scales and amid a jazz fusion aesthetic shaped with support from bassist Cody Wright and beat-keeper Phill Bronson. The trio was recently signed to Ropeadope Records. (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin)
SUNDAY, JUNE 9
The Airborne Toxic Event w/Leagues In 2008, amid loads of high praise from other music media, Pitchfork.com gave The Airborne Toxic Event’s debut full-length a 1.6 rating for unoriginality. Since then, the LA band released two more dramatic indie rock LPs, gave birth to multiple radio hits and developed their own distinctive sound. Punchy keys create the pop-rock feel of the catchy-chorused “Changing,” while rolling basslines and steady beats build intricate effects in songs like “Timeless” and “Sometime Around Midnight.” Lead singer/guitarist/keyboardist Mikel Jollett sings about love, loneliness and heartbreak — but mostly heartbreak — and a fluttery viola accentuates the band’s overall melancholy. Jollett even alludes to his own recurring despondence in “Elizabeth,” a song about a girl who chides, “All your songs are sad songs. Why do you always have to see the worst of it?” Though you may leave the show needing some Prozac, at least your ears will feel happy. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg) —TK
Ol’ Dirty Sundays w/Grandmaster Caz & Charlie Chase Two members of NYC’s old school hip hop collective The Cold Crush Brothers hit town to spin, emcee and get the bodies moving as part of the weekly Sunday dance party hosted by DJs Casper and LeSage. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
The Resignators w/Victims of Circumstances/Stop the Presses Australia hasn’t birthed many ska bands, let alone notable ones. The Resignators are fast trying to change that with their surprisingly eclectic brand of ‘psychoska,’ their sound see-sawing between laid-back reggae rock and mad-dashing punk-ska dosed in rockabilly and swing, the mix of melodic vocal harmonies and rah rah choruses broken up by lively horns tooting jauntily or screaming ominously amid the instrumentals. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
Black Taxi w/The Laurel Canyon The NYC four-piece’s electronic yet folky, synthesized yet acoustic style has been dubbed ‘grit-pop’ and ‘dance-punk.’ Think jangly like Talking Heads, and groovy and strutting ala The Strokes and OK Go. Black Taxi embellishes straightforward rock instrumentals with glockenspiel, trumpet, keys and synths to deliver funky, danceable tunes. Two-piece The Laurel Canyon builds a 1970s rock vibe with influences of gospel, blues and grainy psychedelia that hits both heavily and more intimately. (Skipper’s (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) —Tyler Killette
MONDAY, JUNE 10
Jake Shimabukuro Seems like guitar virtuosos are a dime a dozen nowadays, which is why Grammy award-winning musician Jake Shimabukuro stands out amongst his peers with the ukulele. He started playing uke at four and has come a long way in the more than three decades since, now considered one of the best four-string wielders around. Combining jazz, funk, classical, and flamenco aesthetics, Shimabukuro’s fingers dance up and down the petite fret to create some of the prettiest musical arrangements you’d ever have the pleasure of hearing. What the ukulele lacks in strings, it more than makes up for in joyfulness, something Shimabukuro knows firsthand. “I’ve always believed that it’s the instrument of peace, because if everyone played the ukulele this world would be a much happier place,” he’s said. (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg) —Matthew Drozdeck
TUESDAY, JUNE 11
Say Anything w/Eisley/HRVRD/Northern Faces When promoting their “Rarities and More Tour,” California indie punk outfit Say Anything promised to play songs, new and old, they’d never played live before — a treat for diehards but possibly a disappointment for those hoping to hear favorites like “A Walk through Hell” and “Alive with the Glory of Love.” But if the setlist isn’t as memorable as usual, the performance surely will be. Skinny jeans-favoring frontman Max Bemis, whose dramatic vocal delivery has grown even more theatrical over the years, tends to strut across stage in his signature grandiose style, breaking only for the occasional one-handed backwards somersault. Folk-influenced indie rock outfit Eisley happens to be fronted by Bemis’ slightly less angsty wife, Sherri Dupree, who makes dreamy chamber melodies and sings in mesmerizing vocal harmonies with her band of siblings. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg) —Tyler Killette
