Junior Brown at the Canal Club
Kind of the Thomas Edison of the country music world, Junior invented his instrument, a double-necked monster he calls the “guit-steel.” Part lap-steel guitar and part six-string, it’s allowed Junior to invent onstage too, powering along through songs that become jam sessions with himself with his über-bass voice rumbles underneath. The steel twang turns everything into a kind of surf song from the desert, a whole new country for country music. He plays Friday, April 27, at 8 p.m. $16-$18. 643-2582.
Concice Records for Days
For two days, it’s all hip-hop and b-boys, when Concice Records takes over Skateland April 27 at 10 p.m. and then Gallery5 April 28, noon to midnight, for a festival of underground hip-hop. Intrumentalists God’s Guns host an open mic, along with performances by Divine Profitz, Murk One, Swordplay, IDE from Creative Juices, NYC, Stranger Day, Swerve 360, Echo Boomers and others. $10-$15. 644-0005.
Brian Vander Ark at Ashland Coffee & Tea
The Verve Pipe’s 1997 hit “The Freshmen” was one of those songs that people still get swoony over, evoking lost nostalgias and childhood loves they never even had. But still, songwriter Brian Vander Ark really brought us together, all in our stumbling adolescence, and made us feel like we were falling in love at the start of either high school or college, depending on how closely you listen to the song. But anyway, the mind and voice behind such rampant nostalgia comes to Ashland Coffee & Tea Saturday, April 28, at 8 p.m. $16. 798-1702.
Spring Boch Festival at Legend Brewing Company
One might ask what the connection is between rock and sausage. But one might then miss the joys of such things as the crowning of “Miss Wurst” and “Little Miss Brat,” a sausage cook-off contest, and other weinerific delights like a whole day of music from Todd Watts (of Emmet Swimming), Trust In The Fall, Duchess of York, Palominos, The Elbe Band and Mannorchor of the Gesang Verein Virginia. The Spring Boch Festival is Saturday, April 28, 1-8 p.m. $12-$15. 232-3446. S
