Wednesday | 4/21

TRAMPLED BY TURTLES

This set of five upstanding individuals from the port city of Duluth, Minn., plays bluegrass music like Muddy Waters plays the blues. By infusing the soulful emotion of singer Dave Simonett with the feverish banjo-picking of Dave Carroll and the devil-dueling fiddle skills of Ryan Young, TBT finds a passionate niche in the dime-a-dozen indie bluegrass genre. Moe's Alley; $10 adv/$12 door; 8:30pm. (Curtis Cartier)

Thursday | 4/22

CROSSING BORDERS

Vancouver-born vocalist and pianist Jennifer Scott and Bay Area sax player Kristen Strom front this outfit specializing in melodic jazz anchored by serious instrumental chops. The five-piece leans heavily on standards with a few forays into modern pop song reimaginings. Scott and Strom bring a singular sensibility to their arrangements, and their backing players—guitarist Scott Sorkin, bassist Rene Worst and drummer Jason Lewis—are able hands with decades of experience between the three of them. Kuumbwa; $12 adv/$15 door; 7pm. (Paul M. Davis)

Friday | 4/23

MYKAL ROSE

Former Black Uhuru member Mykal Rose hasn't been seen stateside since a 2002 arrest in Miami that led to the revocation of his work visa. These days Rose is legit and on American soil once again with proof that he hasn't been idle for the past eight years. Rose's vocals are as distinctive as ever, as are his passionate political declarations, which are forceful and effective even when they devolve into paranoia. But no matter what, Rose's pop smarts remain: the man who brought the world numerous international hits, both solo and with Black Uhuru, still knows his way around a prime reggae jam. Moe's Alley; $25 adv/$30 door; 8pm. (PMD)

Fri-Sat | 4/23-24

The DEVIL MAKES THREE

It's always a party when the local-kids-made-good in The Devil Makes Three roll through town with their trademark rowdy acoustic jams full of working-class grit and dark ruminations of the otherworld. Kicking off a tour of the West Coast, which is now lined with die-hard fans, DM3 will pass through their old stomping grounds to raise a ruckus and promote their latest album, Do Wrong Right, a hearty melange of that genre-elusive sound of bluegrass laced with ragtime, punk and good old American blues. Catalyst; $16 adv/$19 door; 9pm. Saturday's show 16 and over. (Maria Grusauskas)

Saturday | 4/24

DEER TICK

Hearing singer John McCauley rasp out blues songs about heartbreak and hard times, one could easily place him as a 50-year-old, pack-a-day smoker with a list of dead hound dogs and jilted ex-wives. So when Providence indie folk band Deer Tick takes the stage led by a rail-thin, baby-faced 24-year-old, a common reaction is to wonder if it's Bring Your Kid to Work Day. In reality, McCauley was simply blessed by the same larynx fairy that fluttered down and blessed Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. Add the sandpaper vocals to the high-energy folk rock that the rest of the up-and-coming quintet produces, and you've got an act on the ground floor with nowhere to go but up. Crepe Place; $12 adv/$15 door; 9pm. (CC)

THE ENGLISH BEAT

There was a time when U.K. ska group the English Beat toured with acts like David Bowie, the Police, R.E.M. and the Talking Heads. Then 1983 came along and the Beat broke up, sending the two-tone reggae-punk-ska revival they'd help usher in into a slow tailspin. But don't fret, skank fans, a slightly modified version of the group reformed in 2005 under the leadership of guitarist Dave Wakeling. Besides the classic gems like "Save It for Later" and "Mirror in the Bathroom," the veteran toasters have plenty of peppery new material to unleash. Don Quixote's; $20; 8pm. (CC)

Sunday | 4/25

SISTA MONICA PARKER

To celebrate the release of her first live gospel album, Singin' in the Spirit, Sista Monica Parker is throwing a party: the Heart, Soul and Gospel Music Fest, with its stacked lineup of blues, gospel and soul artists including Earl Thomas, Candye Kane, Charlene Moore, Gene Viale and Sista Monica's 50 Voice Gospel Choir. In addition to being a release party for the album, which was recorded in Santa Cruz, the evening is also a celebration of Sista Monica's birthday and her seventh anniversary of being cancer-free. Rio Theatre; $20 adv/$25 door; 6pm. (Cat Johnson)

Monday | 4/26

PAT METHENY

Pat Metheny is willfully, almost perversely, unpredictable: in the past, he's been just as likely to trade in no-wave guitar skronk as light-jazz noodling. Metheny's latest project, Orchestrion, finds him merging the organic and the digital, building a push-button automaton orchestra of acoustic instruments. It's a fascinating twist on the one-man band: Metheny's version of electronic music involves sequenced machines hitting mallets or striking piano keys. The result transcends gimmickry and may be Metheny's most revelatory experiment to date. See story, page 25. Civic Auditorium; $40.25–$72.75; 8pm. (PMD)

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