THURSDAY, APRIL 24
WOODSBOSS The Austin-based Weary Boys, a throwback honky-tonk outfit that also melded bluegrass and house-shaking rockabilly into its performances, built a loyal following in Tampa Bay over the years thanks to energetic performances at places like New World, where the band's latest incarnation will perform. Fiddler/vocalist Brian Salvi notes via e-mail: "Four-fifths of The Weary Boys [have] reformed as Woodsboss, more country rock." The new material, posted at myspace.com/woodsboss, harks back to the stoner country sounds pioneered by Gram Parsons — but with accordion. Joining the boys on vocal duties (and tambourine) is Brian's wife, Molly Salvi, a gifted singer with a whole lot of twang in her pipes. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
MICHALE GRAVES Best known for his mid- to late-'90s stints as singer for horror-punk icons The Misfits, Graves made like original frontman Glenn Danzig and split to form his namesake band. Fear not: Graves should do "Dig Up Her Bones" and other Misfits classics. He performs with The Dead Popes and Brian Beardsley Friday at Pastimes Pub, Sarasota. (Bourbon Street Nightclub, New Port Richey) —Amanda Schurr
BUILDING THE STATE w/DJ MIKEY FRESH/ZILLIONAIRE/GUILTMAKER Gainesville quartet Building the State (the band also has ties to Brooklyn) has drawn comparisons to instrumental indie-rock standouts like Explosions in the Sky by dint of its slowly swelling, mathy-yet-melodic post-rock, which also skews emo with pensive vocals. (Push Ultra Lounge, St. Petersburg)
FRIDAY, APRIL 25
ANTI-FLAG w/STREET DOGS/THE BRIGGS/FAKE PROBLEMS Punk revival vets Anti-Flag may have pulled a Green Day and gone mainstream with their new album, The Bright Lights of America, which came out on RCA and was produced by Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T.Rex), but the quartet's strident politics remain intact. On the title track, for instance, singer-guitarist Justin Sane bellows: "To live and die in the heart of America/ Where they sell souls/ A concrete city hell — city hell." For my interview with Sane, go to my music column. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
DARRYL WORLEY w/JENNIFER HANSON Worley spent Christmas 2002 with U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan, which resulted in his 2003 breakout album, Have You Forgotten? A sentimental, jingoistic affair, it topped the country charts and even crossed over to No. 4 on the Billboard 200 pop survey — largely on the strength of the mega-hit title track. The song opens: "I hear people sayin'/ We don't need this war/ I say there's some things worth fightin' for." Like what? Halliburton? (Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
BILL STAINES Folk fans won't want to miss this opportunity to catch acclaimed singer/songwriter Staines — whose detailed tales principally deal with American archetypes and have been covered by the likes of Nanci Griffith and Fairport Convention — up close in this intimate venue. (Craftsman House, St. Petersburg)
LEON RUSSELL A revered session man/arranger who rose to stardom as a piano-playing frontman in the early '70s, Leon Russell has penned some stirring, gorgeous numbers, including oft-covered classics like "Delta Lady," "A Song for You," "Hummingbird," "Tight Rope" and "This Masquerade." (Bourbon Street Nightclub, New Port Richey)
ROCKAPELLA Rockapella specializes in reinventing an array of timeless hits from the rock era with nothing other than their voices, but their biggest success came from a series of Folger's Coffee commercials and the theme for Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?. Leonard says the group will be performing the latter in Tampa. (Tampa Theatre, Tampa) —Eric Snider
Q-FEST: STARSHIP STARRING MICKEY THOMAS w/RARE EARTH/INVASION I'd rather endure the anxiety of completing my taxes again than witness Starship — an offshoot of Jefferson Airplane that included Grace Slick until '88 — perform "We Built This City," one of the most annoying songs to flood the airwaves during my childhood. (Coachman Park, Clearwater)
TRIBAL STYLE w/MAGADOG The area's top purveyors of reggae (Tribal Style) and ska (Magadog) share the stage for what will surely be a pleasurable evening at the Skipperdome. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL CD RELEASE SHOW w/THE PROSPECT Those who missed recent Creative Loafing interview subject HGWT at their Ybor City CD release show have a second chance to sample Casting Shadows Tall as Giants, the outstanding, nuanced alt-country debut album by Bradenton brothers Matt and Danny Burke, along with Nate Oliver, JP Beaubien and Josh Hernandez. Fellow B-towners, power-pop ensemble The Prospect, open. (Rasher Tierney's, Bradenton) —AS
SATURDAY, APRIL 26
CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE w/SACK'O'WOE Mississippi bluesman Charlie Musselwhite ranks as one of the all-time great harmonica players and was a leading member of the "white blues movement" that emerged from Chicago in the 1960s. The harpist/singer/bandleader has maintained a respectable solo career over the years while also famously collaborating with Paul Butterfield, Bonnie Raitt and Tom Waits. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
CONVERGE w/THE RED CHORD/COLISEUM/GENGHIS TRON Steadfastly delivering hardcore punk replete with larynx-shredding vocals, Converge has been rattling rock dens and home stereos since the early '90s. The quartet's recent releases, including 2006's No Heroes, the band's most popular to date, have come out on Epitaph. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
SAY WHEN Relatively new (formed in '02) Boston pop-punk outfit cranks out pedestrian, albeit catchy, radio-ready jams — which have yet to make much of a mark on the airwaves. (Market on 7th, Ybor City)
SWIMMING POOL Q's Anyone who remembers those halcyon days in the early '80s when a nascent New Wave scene developed in Tampa Bay (its hub was a bar called the Buffalo Roadhouse) must recall a quirky band that came down regularly from Atlanta called the Swimming Pool Q's. The band's principal singer/songwriter, Jeff Calder, grew up in Lakeland. The extraordinary fact is: Swimming Pool Q's formed in 1978 and never broke up, despite falling short of a significant national breakthrough. Oh, and I should mention that the Q's are a very good band. Their Royal Academy of Reality CD (Bar None, 2003) is a fetching combination of folk-rock hooks, gauzy harmonies, jangly guitars and psychedelic touches. On stage, the Q's are a bit more rambunctious and often very funny. For a full lineup, go to lakelandmusicandfriends.squarespace.com. (Polk Theater, Lakeland) —ES
FUN 'N SUN COUNTRY CONCERT: BILLY CURRINGTON w/THE ROAD HAMMERS/JYPSI/JAMEY JOHNSON Headliner Billy Currington became a Nashville star with pop appeal with 2005's "Must Be Doin' Something Right," the kind of sappy, brain-dead ballad that personifies everything that's wrong with contemporary country music. (Coachman Park, Clearwater)
SUNDAY, APRIL 27
BON JOVI w/DAUGHTRY The only hair-metal band to land almost an equal number of hit singles in the '80s, '90s and '00s, Bon Jovi had me back in the day with "Livin' On a Prayer," "Bad Medicine" and "You Give Love a Bad Name" — but then lost me completely with adult contemporary tripe like "I'll Be There For You," "Bed of Roses" and just about everything else they've done since 1988. (St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa)
SANTANA w/DEREK TRUCKS BAND Carlos Santana has been a rock icon and guitar hero for nearly four decades, although he's experienced his share of ups and downs. Check out my interview/feature with Carlos in this week's music feature. Trucks, who doubles as a member of the Allman Brothers Band, is a brilliant guitarist/slide guitarist whose own group brings a bit more jazz/hippie vibe to the proceedings. (Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa) —ES
THE NEVILLE BROTHERS This show should find the famed Crescent City funk family in good form — it occurs several days before the siblings close the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, their first homecoming performance post-Katrina. (Central Park in Largo, Largo)
ALCHEMY FEST 3: THE SOULFOUND SEXTET/ACHO BROTHER/KATHERINE KELLY/TARANTELLA/GIVING TREE My esteemed colleague and Auditorium frontman Joran Slane assembled this annual shindig (a family-friendly event named after his daughter), which this year features his pals from local alterna-rockers Soulfound, among others. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
FUN 'N SUN CARNIVAL LATINO: JOSÉ ALBERTO W/JOWELL & RANDY/ANGEL & KHRIZ/NG2/DOMENIC MARTE José "El Canario" Alberto — born in Santo Domingo, raised in Puerto Rico — is a pop crooner who has placed several Spanish-language singles on Billboard's Latin Tropical/Salsa Airplay chart in recent years. (Coachman Park, Clearwater)
BLACK 47 Named after the potato famine of 1847, this band of Irish expats gooses Celtic rock and traditional Emerald Isle folk with ska and reggae. The quintet's latest album, Iraq, takes swipes at Dubya with songs like "Stars and Stripes," a punk rewrite of "Sloop John B" that manages to be both antiwar and pro-soldier. (Four Green Fields, Tampa)
TUESDAY, APRIL 29
SHERYL CROW w/MATT WHITE Doesn't it seem like just a handful of years ago that Sheryl Crow hit the scene with the cute ditty "All I Wanna Do"? Well, that was 1994, and while her songwriting has matured, it hasn't progressed a whole lot. About the best thing I can say about Crow is that she's had a consistent output over the course of her career — but she's rarely excited me. Matt White is a sweet-voiced pop singer/songwriter from New York in the John Mayer mold. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater) —ES
OZOMATLI Multiethnic Los Angeles-based collective Ozomatli travels the country with a rotating lineup of musicians, which encompasses a lively horn section that helps bring the salsa to the group's Latin-infused hip-hop. Ozomatli is usually compared to Rage Against the Machine — both groups are from LA, both write songs with socially conscious lyrics, and both are of the rock-hop genre, though Ozomatli is a great deal more mellow and peace-loving. (Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg) —Leilani Polk
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30
THRICE w/CIRCA SURVIVE/PELICAN Orange County's Thrice fuse emo, post-hardcore, metal and shades of New Wave to create something a bit more dynamic than the average modern rock offering. The Cali quartet's hits include "All That's Left," "Stare at the Sun" and "Image of the Invisible." (Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
TODAY IS THE DAY w/RWAKE/COMPLETE FAILURE/S.W.W.A.A.T.S./LEFT IN ASHES/LIGHT YOURSELF ON FIRE/MOUNTAIN OV DAWN/KHANN Nashville extreme-metal heroes Today is the Day have garnered a rabid underground following over the years with their proggy, unprecedented concoction of death-metal speed, acoustic forays and use of synthesizers. (Brass Mug, Tampa)
This article appears in Apr 23-29, 2008.