Friday, January 14
Marcia Ball w/Julie Black She’s a vivacious, piano banging and storytelling songstress with a throaty-voiced howl and a romp-and-stomp sound that mixes elements of Texas R&B and swampy New Orleans blues. 8 p.m., Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa, $20.
Trace of Day / The August Name w/Surviving the Skyway/Atlas Rising A co-headlining bill by two St. Petersburg-based emotive alt rock quintets – the longer-lived Trace of Day and the fresh young August Name – with like acts playing in support. 7 p.m. doors, State Theatre, St. Petersburg, $8.
[image-1] [pictured right] w/Blind Buddy Moody Born in Mississippi, raised in South Central Florida, and looking like he came direct from low-low country on a steam train circa 1915 with his shaggy unkempt beard and striped conductors’ cap, Ben Prestage performs a one-man mix of “muddy water-meets-backwater” blues and outsider Americana, delivers the lyrics in a crusty drawl, and plays fingerstyle, lap steel, resonator and cigar box guitars in addition to harmonica, banjo and foot-drums. Blind Buddy Moody rounds out the bill with his own rolling blues. 9 p.m., Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin, free admission.
Bob Dylan Tribute: All Dylan, All Night Long w/Have Gun Will Travel/Wendy & The Soul Shakers/Ronnie Elliot & Rebecca Pulley/Grant Peeples/Radio Free Carmela/Steve Arvey/Blind Buddy Moody/Bleu Gravy/The Human Condition A musical tribute to the top-notch troubadour by a bill ranging from the bluesy jams of Wendy & the Soul Shakers to the country-tender and socially-aware acoustic songwriting of Ronny Elliott & Rebekah Pulley. 7 p.m., Beach Theatre, St. Pete Beach, $10, all ages.
Saturday, January 15
of Montreal w/Kid Sister The Athens, Ga. psyche pop ensemble brings the second leg of their False Priest tour to town. Click here to read my complete interview with visionary frontman Kevin Barnes. 7:30 p.m. doors, The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City, $22.50.
Obits w/Gentlemen Jesse & His Men Brooklyn indie rock band Obits – which fuses taut and snotty post-punk with raw-edged surf-garage rock – performed their first gig in 2008 at a club on NYC’s Lower East Side, and were signed to Sub Pop shortly after bootleg recordings of the show found their way onto the internet and caught the attention of label rep Chris Jacobs. Obits' second album, Moody, Standard and Poor, is due out March 29. 9 p.m., Crowbar, Ybor City, $9 in advance/$12 dos.
[image-2] [pictured left, photo by Kim Newmoney] w/Lauris Vidal/Michael Claytor & Devon Stuard (of The Takers)/Ricky Kendall Nimbly frolicking from one song to the next, Holy Ghost Tent Revival of Greensboro, N.C. crafts old timey newgrass-tinged folk pop marked by upbeat banjos, perky horns, and wildly harmonizing vocals – overall, chipper, charming, blithe-spirited good time music. For fans of Langhorne Slim, Dr. Dog and Grecian Urns. 9 p.m. doors, New World Brewery, Ybor City, $8.
An Evening with Cake From the mid-1990s to today, quirky Cali college rock outfit Cake released a string of ubiquitous singles – “The Distance,” “Never There” and “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” – and recorded several odd covers along the way (like Piero Umiliani's Sesame Street-beloved, "Mahna Mahna" and Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”). Their sound mixes elements of ska, funk, hip hop, and alt country and is marked by the deadpan-rusty talk-sung vocals and clever wordplay of frontman John McCrea. Cake’s just-released Showroom of Compassion is their first album of new material in seven years and according to McCrea, the band has introduced sonic textures never before found in the Cake sound: acoustic piano and screeching reverb. 6 p.m. doors, Jannus Live, St. Petersburg, $37 (all ages).
JJ Grey & Mofro From the slinky, hip-strutting harmonica-fused funk of “Diyo Dayo,” to the introspective, acoustic guitar-driven soul of “King Hummingbird,” Georgia Warhorse (Mofro’s fifth and latest studio effort) finds make-no-apologies namesake JJ Grey showing off his songwriting chops and innate ability to mix Southern rootsy melodies with rural-grown blues and rock n’ roll grit. The Jacksonville band plays a two-night stand in Tampa, with guitarist Darryl Hance opening Saturday’s show in his solo side project and Damon Fowler Group searing it out on Sunday. *BOTH NIGHTS ARE SOLD-OUT*. Sat., Jan. 15-Sun., Jan. 16, 8 p.m. each night, Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa, $20/$25.
Sunday, January 16
[image-3] Craftsmen House hosts a pair of evening concerts – one at 6 p.m., the other at 8:30 – featuring songstress and skilled slide guitarist Patty Larkin, who sings in a rich, husky-hypnotic croon and has been compared to anyone from Bonnie Raitt to Lucinda Williams. She’s currently promoting her 12th album, 25, a retrospective celebration produced in her 25th year as a musician and featuring 25 of her songs re-worked with support from a roster of 25 musician friends, among them, Janis Ian, Suzanne Vega, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Rosanne Cash. 6 and 8:30 p.m., Craftsman House Gallery, St. Petersburg, $30-35 per show.
Kylesa w/Zoroaster/Fight Amp CL Music Team Contributor Joel Weiss included Kylesa’s 2010 album, Spiral Shadow, in his Top 10 of last year, writing that the Savannah, Ga. metal fivesome “manages to pack more melody and raw chaos into the follow-up to their 2009 breakthrough ... The ethereally gloomy sludge is great ‘headphone album’ material with its dual drumming and spacey guitars.” 7 p.m., Brass Mug, Tampa, $10 (all ages).
Brisco w/Vonnie Vonshay South Florida rapper Brisco (real name British Alexander Mitchell) made headlines in 2008 for getting pistol-whipped and robbed at his local barbershop. And then he wrote a single about it, “The Revenge,” spouting rhymes lines like “Pallbearers and flowered wreaths / just the season for putting niggas under white sheets / fuck a diamond, you can have the gold / don’t want it back young nigga, rather have your soul” that are interrupted by audio from a TV broadcaster’s news report on the incident. Brisco is gearing up to drop his much anticipated full-length debut, Street Medicine (out sometime this year), which, according to the artist, is based on real-life experiences and mixes "club tracks, sex tracks and religious tracks" all on one album. The first single, "On The Wall" features sometime friend and collaborator, Lil Wayne. 8 p.m., Jannus Live, St. Petersburg, $20 (all ages).
ALSO THIS WEEK
Thursday, Jan. 13 4Troops (Capitol Theatre, Cleartwater)
Thursday, Jan. 13 Pickford Sundries (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin)
Thursday, Jan. 13 AJ Swearingen (Dunedin House of Beer, Dunedin)
Thursday, Jan. 13 WMNF All Ages Outreach Show: CrAow / Diamond Man / Counters (Mojo Books & Music, Tampa)
Friday, Jan. 14 Dead Popes w/No Loves/Locolism (Emerald Bar, St Petersburg)
Friday, Jan. 14 Bird Street Players w/Middle Rhythm Session (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
Friday, Jan. 14 Dead End River / Sunshine & Bullets / Badranch / Red Rockits (Crowbar, Ybor City)
Friday, Jan. 14 Rising Down/Shine Box/The Trio/Paint the Town Red (Gasoline Alley, Largo)
Friday, Jan. 14 Enabler / Landbridge / Escapist / Unrest / Vicious Bricks (Transitions Art Gallery @ Skatepark of Tampa, Tampa)
Friday, Jan. 14 John Q w/Southside Serenade/10th Concession (The Local 662, St. Petersburg)
Friday, Jan. 14 Hip Hop Show w/Llil Gus/Ghetto C/Black Kaspa/D'Aveli/G-Prez (Pegasus Lounge, Tampa)
Friday, Jan. 14 Sound Spektrum (Ella's Americana Folk Art Cafe, Tampa)
Friday, Jan. 14 Fred Eaglesmith (Ace’s Lounge, Bradenton)
Friday, Jan. 14 Rob Tyre & AJ Swearringen (Hideaway Cafe, Tampa)
Friday, Jan. 14-Saturday, January 15 The Black Honkeys (Blue Martini, Tampa)
Friday, Jan. 14-Saturday, January 15 Trio Vibe (Della’s, Brandon)
Saturday, Jan. 15 M.L.K. Salt & Peppa w/G-Breed The Legend/Heather Marie/Acafool/Fiya Marshall/Jason Marcus/many others (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
Saturday, Jan. 15 Big Eyes / Teenage Softies / Bitter Hearts (Transitions Art Gallery @ Skatepark of Tampa, Tampa)
Saturday, Jan. 15 The Winter Jam 2011 Tour Spectacular w/Newsboys/David Crowder Band/Kutless/Francesca Battistelli/RED/KJ-52 (St. Pete Times Forum, St. Petersburg)
Saturday, Jan. 15 Earth Bombs Mars (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin)
Saturday, Jan. 15 Room Full Of Strangers / Fish Flaps / Doll Parts / Hot Hands / Yogurt Smoothness (Pegasus Lounge, Tampa)
Saturday, Jan. 15 Gaelic Storm (PHCC Performing Arts Center, New Port Richey)
Sunday, Jan. 16 Hannah's Whirl / Big Bear & Red (Sweetwater Organic Community Farm, Tampa)
Sunday, Jan. 16 Charity Concert with Scotty Lee Rexroat/The Nunes Trio/Mosey Down/The Wrenchers (JolliMon’s, Dunedin)
Sunday, Jan. 16 The Classics IV (Largo Cultural Center, Largo)
Sunday, Jan. 16 Cristabel & The Jons (Ella's Americana Folk Art Cafe, Tampa)
