Isaiah Rashad If you can pay your bills, then you’re good. So head over over to Orpheum on Thursday for this sleeper set by one of hip-hop’s most undersung rising stars, Isaiah Rashad, who has gone from shifts at Hardee’s to spitting rhymes all over the country. The Chattanooga, Tennessee born Top Dawg signee (think Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q) and son of a single mother was reared on ATLiens and turned his obsession with weed and Southern rap into his own style of ultra-confident, silky future music that fans have been eating up in mass quantities since about 2013. His 2016 LP, The Sun’s Tirade, debuted at no. 17 on the Billboard 200, so don’t be surprised to be standing in a ridiculously packed room at the one. (Orpheum, Ybor City) INFO
Nate Najar CD Release w/James Suggs/John Lamb/Mark Feinman It’s not easy to reinvent an age old genre, but Tampa jazz guitarist Nate Najar tries to do just that on a new LP, This is Nate Najar, where nylon-stringed jazz travels to France (Chopin’s “Prelude in E Minor (Op. 28 No. 4)”) and Brazil (Antônio Carlos Jobim’s “O Morro Não Tem Vez (Favela)” while also touching down here at home thanks to originals like “What Would Ola Mae Do?”. Trumpeter James Suggs (who is all over the new LP) joins Najar at this one. (Studio@620, St. Petersburg) INFO
Hackensaw Boys It’s probably good that there aren’t any doors on the performance space at New World because the Hackensaw Boys would probably just blow them off. Nearly three years after bringing a hootenanny to Gasparilla Music Festival, the Virginia string band is bringing their crazy blend of punk, bluegrass and Americana to the beloved Ybor City watering hole for a free show in support of last year’s Charismo LP. (New World Brewery, Ybor City) INFO
Something Else Thursdays w/DJ Wally Clark/Rude 100/Bobby Duke Let’s just go ahead and say that Wally Clark is CL’s favorite comic book loving producer. For this one, Clark is tapping Rude 100 and Bobby Duke to help him brings an exploration of future soul, hip-hop, downtempo, R&B and more to an incognito beer bar that’s adding another quirky wrinkle to a fast growing Tampa neighborhood. (c. 1949, Tampa) INFO
Michael Franti & Spearhead At this point, the world cannot have too much hyper-posi, good vibe music, and Michael Franti will be a welcome guest when he gets to Jannus for a set of reggae and spoken word that can go from totally innocent (“Say Hey,” from 2008’s All Rebel Rockers) to angry (“Crime to Be Broke In America,” from 1994’s Home) on dime. The latest from the 50-year-old Oakland born songwriter, last year’s Soulrocker, even delved heavy into EDM, so it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out for across-generational fanbase of Franti fans. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg) SOLD OUT
Smokey Robinson Pick an award, any award, and Smokey Robinson probably has one (the 76-year-old is the proud owner of Grammys, Soul Train Awards and even a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). It’s well deserved for the Motown legend who has had a firm hold on many of his fans since they first heard that silky croon on cuts by Motor City ‘60s doo-wop and soul outfit The Miracles. (Mahaffey Theater, St. Pete) INFO
Infinite Third Ambient Installation Billy Mays III had three shows listed in this edition of Music Week, so we pulled back two of ‘em (happening at Pizza Box on Feb. 10 and The Loft on Feb. 15) because all of the shows are part of his ambitious Ambient Installment Series where Mays (aka Infinite Third) seeks to bring his trippy looping techniques to non-traditional spaces in the hopes of helping himself (and listeners) find something new amidst the guitar texture and rhythm of his improvised set. (Black Crow Coffee Co., St. Petersburg) INFO
ALSO PLAYING
The Funky Knuckles (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin) INFO
Real Music Series: Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone (Busch Gardens, Tampa) INFO
Adults at Leisure: Sicilian Tenors (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater) INFO
Symphonic Chats with the Maestro (Opera Central, Preis Hall, St. Petersburg) INFO
Gaelic Storm (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater) INFO
Y&T (Central Park Performing Arts Center, Largo) INFO
Stephen Kellogg w/Harrow Fair (The Attic, Ybor City) INFO
USF Faculty & Friends w/Chris Rottmayer (Barness Recital Hall at University of South Florida, Tampa) INFO
This article appears in Feb 9-16, 2017.