The Big Gigs: Our critics' music picks

COUNTRY

Sherwin Linton has been playing country music long enough to have recorded for Acuff-Rose and to have literally filled Johnny Cash's boots on one occasion, and he proves he's still a sturdy showman every year alongside musicians less than half his age at the Cabooze's annual tributes to the Man in Black. The South Dakota-reared Minnesota music vet returns to the West Bank rock club to celebrate his 70th birthday in wild fashion, although his wife and singing partner, Pam Linton, will be there to keep him in line. Many of his younger musician fans will also perform to help him celebrate, including Trailer Trash, the White Iron Band and Molly Maher & Her Disbelievers. (8 p.m. Tue., Cabooze. 21 & up. $10.) (C.R.)

POP/ROCK

To be sure, the show is sold out. But can David Cook, 2008's "American Idol," prove he's a rock star and not a reality TV hero? While his self-titled CD debuted at No. 3 last year, you won't find his songs on the radio these days. Maybe that's because he sounds as if he's obsessed with late '90s grunge-pop. Cook has been known to mix things up in concert with a version of Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher." (8 p.m. today, Mystic Lake Casino. Sold out.) (J.B.)

Long overdue in following up its 2006 album "IV," Godsmack has tided fans over for the summer with a blistering new track, "Whiskey Hangover," while a new record is in the works -- as is a solo disc by frontman Sully Erna. The Massachusetts metal kings are playing a few headlining gigs between dates on the Crüe Fest 2 Tour. New York's "Hell Yeah" rockers Rev Theory open here and are touring with the Crüe, too. (8 p.m. today, Myth. All ages. $39.) (C.R.)

Stillwater's Lumberjack Days, which started Thursday and runs through Sunday, has been known to present bands that are a shadow of their former selves, like tonight's headliner Creedence Clearwater Revisited, which features two CCR original members but not frontman John Fogerty. (5 p.m. today, Lowell Park North, Stillwater. $10.) There are no reasonable facsimiles on Saturday. The Bottle Rockets, Missouri's alt-country favorites, always generate barroom fun -- even outdoors. They'll set the table for the good-time Wallflowers, Jakob Dylan's Band-like group known for the '90s hits "6th Avenue Heartache" and "One Headlight." (5 p.m. Sat., $10.) (J.B.)

Festivals that steal their names from South by Southwest (which stole from Hitchcock) are a dime a dozen, and organizers of the North by Midwest Festival didn't seem to spend one dime on promoting their inaugural mini-fest (something SXSW mastered from Day One). But they did find an interesting venue, a historic St. Paul theater normally home to schlocky "How to Talk Minnesotan" kind of shows. And they did land a bankable lineup of classic-styled, guitar-heavy local rock bands, including veteran punk-popsters the Magnolias, buzzing noisemakers the 757s, big-things/little-package favorite Little Man, plus the Hard Left, Middlestates and Chemistry Set. (5:30 p.m. Sat., Lowry Theater, 16 W. 5th St., St. Paul. $10.) (C.R.)

With its campfirey summer-night '90s hits "Walk on the Ocean" and "All I Want," Toad the Wet Sprocket is still in demand this time of the year for outdoor fests such as its gig at Duluth's Bayfront Park on Sunday with the Gin Blossoms. Twin Citians get them indoors a night earlier, with Wisconsin-reared finger-picking guitar wiz Willy Porter and Arkansas bluesman RJ Mischo opening. (9 p.m. Sat., Cabooze. $25-$28.) (C.R.)

In this 40th-anniversary-of-Woodstock summer, the worst rock marketing idea is "Hippiefest." None of the acts on this touring multi-band bill was a hippie band, though each had a hit or two back in the hippie heyday. The lineup features Denny Laine, who sang "Go Now" with the Moody Blues and joined Paul McCartney in Wings; Chuck Negron, who sang "Joy to the World" and "Easy to Be Hard" with Three Dog Night; the Rascals' Felix Cavaliere, known for "Good Lovin' " and "Groovin'"; the Turtles, who celebrated "Happy Together," and Minnesota's own Joey Molland, who will reprise Badfinger's "No Matter What." (7:30 p.m. Tue., Orpheum Theatre, $42-$52.) (J.B.)

Don't dismiss Kevin Costner and Modern West as an actor's vanity project. Before he became a Hollywood star, Costner tried to make it as a singer. In fact, he's still collaborating with some of the bandmates from 20-some years ago plus hotshot guitarist Teddy Morgan, 37, the Minneapolis native and Lamont Cranston alum who gives Modern West grit, savvy and cred. Costner and company charmed a full house at the Cabooze this past winter with their rootsy Eagles-meets-Seger sounds. (7:30 p.m. Wed., Minnesota Zoo, $35.) (J.B.)

Whether or not you know the origins of the One Day in July concert -- a commemorative party for the 1934 Teamsters strike that is credited for making Minneapolis a union-heavy town -- you probably need to know only two things about it: It's free, and it will be headlined by truth-disputing Rhymesayers rap hero Brother Ali, who played the 70th anniversary show in 2004 and has come a long way since. The lineup features several other radical acts from very different walks of life, including fiery poet MCs El Guante and Mic Crenshaw, wild-eyed industrial punk band City on the Make, folk singer Ellis and acoustic blues trio the Brass Kings. (2-10 p.m. Sat., 3rd St. and 7th Av. N., Mpls. All ages. Free.) (C.R.)

Committed to original hard bop/post-bop music and sporting the best band name ever in the annals of Twin Cities bar jazz, the Illicit Sextet jump-started the careers of several talented players prominent on the club scene. Pianist Chris Lomheim went on to record some exquisite trio CDs and trumpeter Steve Kenny, whose droll onstage patter rivals his hearty playing, later starred in the combo the Five. It's been more than 15 years since the sextet's CD "Chapter One," and there was sadly no "Chapter Two," with sax man Kelly Bucheger splitting for Buffalo, N.Y. But now there's an unlikely weekend reunion for the bristling band, with original bassist Tom Pieper, guitarist Dave Roos, and drummer Nathan Norman on board, and Paul Harper standing in for Bucheger. Should be fiery fun. (9 p.m. Fri-Sat., Artists' Quarter. $12.) (T.S.)

Thirty six years after storming the charts with "Pick Up the Pieces," the Average White Band still has "Work to Do" in clubs around the globe. Its reputation has only been enhanced by being one of the most sampled bands of all time, with 27 different acts, from Nas to Janet Jackson, recycling a bit of "Schoolboy Crush," and some 20 hip-hoppers latching onto "Person to Person." Scottish co-founders Alan Gorrie and Onnie McIntyre could just sit back and collect royalties, but they prefer to remain a splendid live act, nightly delivering jazzy, funky instrumentals, classic groovin' soul songs and the occasional resplendent ballad. (7 & 9:30 p.m. Mon-Tue., Dakota Jazz Club. $20-$45.) (T.S.)

Contributors: Staff critics Jon Bream and Chris Riemenschneider and freelancer Tom Surowicz.

His ticket to a big-time recording contract was writing "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" for Trace Adkins in 2005. Randy Houser comes across like a Nashville pro on his 2008 debut, "Anything Goes." With its stinging slide guitar and outlaw stomp, his current hit "Boots On" sounds like it could have been written for Montgomery Gentry or Toby Keith. But Houser, with his aggressive Every Man voice, delivers it like a redneck anthem. The Mason Dixons open. (9 p.m. Wed. Cabooze, $17 advance, $19 door.) (J.B.)