THURSDAY, JANUARY 19
Sasha w/Three Big time Welsh DJ and producer Sasha makes a pit stop in Tampa, bringing his progressive electro grooves to The Kennedy dancefloors. (The Kennedy, Tampa)
Anberlin w/Foxy Shazam/States Winter Haven’s heavy, angular, Christian-but-not-brash-about-it alt rock band has put out five full-length albums, the most recent 2010’s Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place, which was recorded with Grammy Award-winning producer Brendan O’Brien (Pearl Jam, AC/DC). Anberlin saw growing renown with their single “Feel Good Drag” in 2008, originally from 2005’s Never Take Friendship Personal, but re-introduced on their fourth album and first release with Universal. Though none of their other singles have done quite as well, that one topped the Alternative Songs charts and lingered at the No. 1 spot for 29 weeks. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
FRIDAY, JANUARY 20
Jeremy Gloff Birthday Show w/Girls on Film CL’s favorite local pop star celebrates another year with his friends in Tallahassee electro pop group Girls on Film. If the name wasn’t indication enough, the trio takes their sonic cue and fashion sense from the glammy New Wave ’80s. (Collage Ybor, Ybor City)
Southern Hospitality Tour: JP Soars, Victor Wainwright, Damon Fowler A triple bill of blues-rock guitar slingers. The Bay area’s adopted son, slide and lap steel leader Damon Fowler, resides in Bradenton but plays here habitually enough to be a native. Rich rumbling singer JP Soars, from South Florida, incorporates swinging R&B into his sound with his band, The Red Hots. And Memphis-based Victor Wainwright rounds out the bill with his piano-driven mix of boogie blues, soul, and roots rock backed by his own outfit, the WildRoots. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
The Features w/Girl in a Coma “I was born screaming, and then I hit the ground / like a wild demon, I never settled down,” guitarist/vocalist Matt Pelham howls in “Kids,” a cut off The Features’ 2011 third record, Wilderness. The 15-year-old indie rock quartet from Tennessee has seen a career arc that found them dropped by Universal Records, then snatched up by Kings of Leon’s imprint, Serpents and Snakes, in 2009. They craft bold and ballsy psyche rock with Brit Invasion overtones, thick guitars, bright pop keyboard flourishes, and sturdy driving tempos. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
Magadog w/Johnny Cakes & the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypso/Victims of Circumstance Tampa Bay ska scene vets Magadog (est. 1992) tout this show as the first official Ybor City release party for their 2011 album of the same name. The rambunctious brass-pumping octet mixes the flavors of old Jamaica with modern pizzazz in their loose homage to the area that birthed them. Ybor City was among our favorites of 2011. Warm up by two local like acts that both have punk/ska leanings. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
Stan Hunter & Jazz Combo St. Pete-based jazz great Stan Hunter is a composer and master of ivories (B3 is his specialty) whose more than five-decade career has found him performing with the likes of John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan and Jimmy Paxton, among many others. For this program, the musician is joined by the Ruth Eckerd Hall/Clearwater Jazz Holiday Jazz Combo. (Murray Studio Theater @ Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
Falling In Reverse w/Oh, Sleeper/Skip The Foreplay After vocalist Ronnie Radke was kicked out of Escape the Fate when his two-year prison sentence didn’t fly with the band’s career trajectory, he formed a new group from behind bars, Falling In Reverse, and started recording with them when he was released in December of 2010. They signed to Epitaph shortly after and issued their first LP, The Drug In Me Is You, last July. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
Hymn For Her w/Rebekah Pulley/Mountain Holler/Kersey Williams Lucy Tight and Wayne Waxing — the husband and wife duo who are living the American dream on the road as Hymn for Her — return with their vintage silver Airstream in tow to serve another helping of stompin’ punk-grass tunes; they also headline the fourth annual Blueberry Patch Ball on Saturday. This particular bill is rounded out by a few other roots-leaning artists. (Ramblin’ Rose Upcycle, St. Petersburg)
Gordon Lightfoot Canadian folk-rock troubadour Gordon Lightfoot has been spreading his feel good easy-going brand of soft folk rock for more than five decades. He’s charted several No. 1 AC hits in both Canada and the U.S. — the melancholy “If You Could Read My Mind” (“I don’t know where we went wrong, but the feeling’s gone and I just can’t get it back”) and the hip-swaying “Sundown” among them. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
SATURDAY, JANUARY 21
Plains w/Zulu Wave/The Dags An up-and-coming indie rock group from Miami makes their Tampa Bay premiere. Plains is the creative project of Chicago native Michael McGinnis, who re-located to the bright southern reaches of Florida a few years back and began crafting the songs that would eventually make up his 2011 first album, Plains. His jangly, grungy sound has a little retro percussion, modern fuzz and ’90s alt-rock guitar licks mixed with acoustic guitar strums and earnest easy-on-the-ears vocals. Live, he’s joined by drummer Jorge Rubiera, bassist Max Johnston and guitarist Jorge Gonzalez. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
Panther Sequoia w/Crash Mitchell Five Drake Scott’s claim to fame is stints performing on a few Violent Femmes albums in the ’80s (Hallowed Ground, Blind Leading the Naked). Currently, the multi-instrumentalist produces freaky experimental-avant rock songs as Panther Sequoia. (Dave’s Aqua Lounge, St. Petersburg)
Hillbilly Hellcats w/Cadillac Bombers An evening of heel-kicking, hell-raising rockabilly twang headed up by Denver’s Hillbilly Hellcats, which writes spry tunes that err on the side of impudent, like “Hillbillies On Speed,” “Slappin’ My Baby Around,” and a few obligatory brown liquor-drinking rockers — including “I Like Whiskey” and “Drinkin’ Buddies” (“Jack Daniels, Johnny Walker, George Dickel, Jim Beam — drinkin’ buddies, how I love ’em / sometimes they’re my only friends, it seems”). (The Hub, downtown Tampa)
Jeff Black Alt folk/roots music multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Jeff Black hits town on the heels of his fifth release and first album in six years, 2011’s Plow Through the Mystic, his warm rough vocals offering up lightly emotive, imagery-ridden narratives. (Studio@620, St. Petersburg)
SUNDAY, JANUARY 22
Old 97’s w/Those Darlins/The O’s Carried on the wave of alt country that washed in around the mid-’90s was Texas foursome Old 97’s. Last year marked the release of their ninth full-length, The Grand Theatre, Volume Two, the 13 tracks encompassing serenades, barn-burning rockers and some dusty barroom honkytonk and cow-punk spunk. Gritty femme-fronted garage twang quartet Those Darlins return to warm-up the Old 97’s crowd, with folk-roots pop two-piece The O’s, from Dallas, kicking things off. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
Affiance w/Serianna Us/From Outside/Sirens & Sailors Affiance is a metalcore five-piece from Cleveland, Ohio with a name that means “to betroth in trust and confidence” and a shred-heavy sound that got them signed to Bullet Tooth Records; the label dropped the band’s debut full-length, No Secrets Revealed, in 2010. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
Andrew Hardin & Jeannie Burns Austin guitarist Hardin is best known for his tenure recording and touring as a member of Tom Russell Band from the 1980s to 2005. These days, he rolls solo, showing off his expert fretwork on an acoustic guitar and delivering country blues rock that also touches on Spanish and R&B vibes. Burns’ throaty vocals take center stage in the folk-rock balladry she writes away from her regular gig as one-third of the siblings who make up The Burns Sisters. The artists meet in Florida on their respective tours and share headlining duties for this intimate Sunday afternoon concert. (UU Dome, Tampa)
August Burns Red w/Silverstein/Texas in July/Letlive A seven-week tour launches 2012 and celebrates the hallmark year that metalcore outfit August Burns Red enjoyed in 2011, which included the release of their fourth record; Leveler not only debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200, and No. 1 on the Hard Rock and Christian charts, but earned high marks from critics across the board. (The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City)
MONDAY, JANUARY 23
Gabe Dixon/Lelia Broussard w/Drake & Sofia/Friends of Giants Gabe Dixon Band’s namesake released his first solo album last year; the emotionally-charged piano-driven pop-rock of One Spark nabbed Dixon a “Best Music of 2011” nod from the Huffington Post and features guest spots by Starsailor’s James Walsh and bluegrass luminary Alison Krauss. Songbird Lelia Broussard also got recent props from a notable publication — Rolling Stone — when she was one of the top two artists featured in the rag’s “Choose the Cover” competition (she lost cover billing to The Sheepdogs). Her soulful sweet vocals have a rich texture, like crushed silk, and are laid against melodic, richly textured indie pop. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24
Alias Julius Trio w/Karmic Tattoo Tampa-based songstress Alias Julius has been making her mark in Europe with her acoustic guitar-driven folk rock, and returns from her latest tour with her band to try out new material before hitting the road again in March for dates in Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
Danny Aiello w/The Bronx Wanderers Bet you didn’t know the Academy Award-winning actor who’s appeared in more than 80 films was also a singer with some rather fine pipes, a distinctively low and smooth delivery and a classy aesthetic. Want another surprise? On his 2011 album, Bridges, he collaborated with producer/rapper Hasan Bridges, who brought hip-hop swagger to Aiello’s covers of swinging lounge standards like “City of Lights” and “Besame Mucho.” (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25
The Mountain Goats In a hilarious roundabout post directed at cyborgs and ultimately referencing their nonstop tour schedule — which would continue despite the apocalypse and death to humanity — the Mountain Goats announced their first dates of 2012, all in the south because according to the band, “the American South in January is evidence that the universe loves us deeply and holds an abiding concern for our pleasure and well-being.” The popular indie rock group led by singer-songwriter John Darnielle issued their 13th album last year, All Eternals Deck, and netted a huge 8.1 rating from Pitchfork.com, which called it a career highlight for Darnielle. This show will likely sell out if it hasn’t already; get your tickets quick. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
Rebelution w/The Grouch/Pep Love West Coast reggae rock four-piece Rebelution hits town with a hot-off-the-presses third LP, 2012’s bouncy uplifting Peace of Mind, released on their own label (87 Music) and offered as a triple album that also includes acoustic renditions of the tracks as well as dub remixes by Easy Star’s Michael Goldwasser. (The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City)
Dirty Bourbon River Show The self-styled New Orleans-bred “gypsy folk circus rock” quintet — made up of co-lead vocalists Charles “Big Charlie” Skinner (trombone) and Noah Adams (piano, guitar, trumpet), support singers Matt Thomas (tenor and baritone sax, clarinet), Jimmy Williams (bass, sousaphone), and drummer Dane “Bootsy” Schindler — released their fourth album, The Old-Timey AfroPop Jibberish Junction, in November and are currently on the road to promote it. (The Hub, downtown Tampa)
CLICK HERE to see a complete rundown of shows taking place this week and in the coming weeks.