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Hailing from a dry county in rural Kentucky, Black Stone Cherry are tee-totaling, God-fearing Southern rockers with a taste for the Black Crowes and Led Zeppelin. On its new, second CD, “Folklore and Superstition,” frontman Chris Robertson (not to be confused with the Crowes’ Chris Robinson) sounds like Darius Rucker with leather lungs. Drummer John Fred Young has the perfect pedigree: His dad is Kentucky Headhunters founding guitarist Richard Young. Headlining is biker rock mainstay Theory of a Deadman. Jon Bream

The Rock Nightclub
2029 Woodlynn Av.
Maplewood, MN
651-770-7822

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Texas trumpet firebrand Roy Hargrove was taking no prisoners at his last Dakota visit, playing a brand of hard bop/post-bop that was both fierce and fun. Now touring behind a brand new CD titled, "Earfood," Hargrove's horn mastery is complemented by a razor-sharp band that burns on uptempo tunes, gets more than a little funky, and lets ballads really breathe. Watch out for young drummmer Montez Coleman, a blossoming monster. Tom Surowicz

Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant
1010 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN
612-332-1010

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Featuring Dan Lund and Becky Thompson, with Joe Savage on pedal steel, James Dungan-Seaver on bass/vocals and John Griggs on piano/guitar and vocals.

Lee's Liquor Lounge
101 Glenwood Av. N.
Minneapolis, MN
612-338-9491

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The Combo (a k a Dr. Mambo’s Combo or the Legendary Combo, with Michael Bland, Sonny Thompson, Billy Franze, etc.) has played a weekly gig at Bunkers going back to, like, the Eisenhower administration. Now, it plays Sundays and Mondays. Chris Riemenschneider

Bunkers
761 Washington Av. N.
Minneapolis, MN
612-338-8188

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It was 10 below on a Monday this winter, and warm as a campfire inside the crowded 331 Club, where the Roe Family Singers hold down a weekly spot. Led by ex-Accident Clearinghouse co-leader Quillan Roe and his wife, Kim, and featuring Trailer Trash guitarist Dan Gaarder, the folksy acoustic troupe plays old Harry Smith-approved folk tunes, lots of Carter Family and clever originals with banjo, mandolin and even a musical saw. Chris Riemenschneider

331 Club
331 13th Av. NE.
Minneapolis, MN
612-331-1746

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Seven years since peeling off “Bohemian Like You” - still a favorite of TV advertisers desperately seeking coolness - the Dandy Warhols seem to have lived down the fame/notoriety that came with the mega-hit and are back to playing to their core crowd (the ones who stuck around). Their new album “Earth to the Dandy Warhols” is loaded with more playful ’60s psychedelica but also throws ’70s funk and disco into the mix, offering the kind of hip if hokey rehashing that earned the Portland band a cult following. Chris Riemenschneider

First Avenue Mainroom
7th St. and 1st Av. N.
Minneapolis, MN
612-338-8388

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Paula Nelson has done an admirable job of not riding her famous father Willie’s coattails (or ponytails?) and making her own go of it in the Austin, Texas, music scene. Part of her success has come from echoing other Texas legends - including Lou Ann Barton, Marcia Ball and Janis Joplin - more than her honky-tonking dad, resulting in a rollicking boogie-woogie and soulful blues-rock mix on her new CD, “Lucky 13.” Local dolly Andra Suchy opens. Chris Riemenschneider

Lee's Liquor Lounge
101 Glenwood Av. N.
Minneapolis, MN
612-338-9491

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Hard-core Chicago fans know the story of “Stone of Sisyphus,” recorded in 1993 but not released because it lacked commercial potential for a band then-thriving on mushy adult-pop radio ballads. Finally issued this year, the horn band’s 32nd album features such excrementious entries into the Chicago canon as “Bigger Than Elvis” (with the Jordanaires, Presley’s backup singers) and “Sleeping in the Middle of the Bed,” social commentary by rappin’ Robert Lamm. Jon Bream

Orpheum Theatre
910 Hennepin Av.
Minneapolis, MN

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Artists' Quarter
408 St. Peter St.
St. Paul, MN
651-292-1359

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Musical adaptation of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, starring Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura in the 1970's television series, as "Ma." Opening night is Aug. 15, with tickets at $75. [Two week extension of run, through Oct. 19, $34-$65]

Review: A big, broad pageant on pioneer spirit. There is not a great deal of texture and only a nod at character, but the show is wholesome to the point of sanitized and it never drags in Francesca Zambello’s production. The tunes are Disney, though the arrangements hint at Copland Americana. “I’ll Be Your Eyes” between Laura and Mary Ingalls is the one song that’s a guaranteed money moment.

Guthrie Theater
818 S. 2nd St.
Minneapolis, MN
612-377-2224

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Paintings, sculpture, prints, photographs and decorative arts representing the office of president.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts
2400 3rd Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN
612-870-3131

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After several albums of toying and teetering around with an often dizzying kaleidoscope of styles, Spiritualized streamlined and went for broke on its ambitious new album, “Songs in A&E.” The British psychedelic rock band’s frontman, Jason Pierce (ex-Spacemen 3), endured a near-fatal bout of pneumonia before making the album, and he sounds as haunted as he does reborn over the album’s frantic, frazzled and often truly spiritualized 18 tracks. The group has been earning raves on its summer festival dates. Chris Riemenschneider

First Avenue Mainroom
7th St. and 1st Av. N.
Minneapolis, MN
612-338-8388

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In the early ’90s, Ice Cube was the hardest rapper on the planet. His albums “AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted” and “Death Certificate” were downright scary ­­- and scary good. Now he makes family comedies. But just when you might think he had lost his edge, the gangsta-rap pioneer returns with his best album in a decade. Released independently, “Raw Footage” is free from major-label compromise, finding Cube returning to his politically-minded beginnings. At one point he dubs himself the “only rapper who wanna fist-fight the president.” Sounds like old times, right? Tom Horgen

Myth
3090 Southlawn Dr.
Maplewood, MN
651-779-6984

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Czech psych rockers Plastic People of the Universe, Vaclav Havel's favorite band (for whom he occasionally penned lyrics), happily assault listeners with a bracing, often relentless sound that incorporates electric viola, stand-up bass, and some saxophone mangling that would fit right in on an ESP-Disk free jazz session from the '60s. Celebrating their 40th Anniversary, though some of those years were lost to incarceration by the communist state, others to band break-ups and new identities (for a while, the Plastic People were called Pulnoc), these remarkable musicians soldier on, never failing to rivet listeners. Inspired by Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, The Velvet Underground, English mavericks Henry Cow, poets, progressive politics, William Blake -- you name it, they claim it -- Plastic People of the Universe long ago carved out a sound all their own, playing a mile-wide spectrum of music, from garage punk to full orchestral. Tom Surowicz

Cedar Cultural Center
416 Cedar Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN
612-338-2674

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O'Gara's Shamrock Room
164 N. Snelling Av.
St. Paul, MN
651-644-3333

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Musical adaptation of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, starring Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura in the 1970's television series, as "Ma." Opening night is Aug. 15, with tickets at $75. [Two week extension of run, through Oct. 19, $34-$65]

Review: A big, broad pageant on pioneer spirit. There is not a great deal of texture and only a nod at character, but the show is wholesome to the point of sanitized and it never drags in Francesca Zambello’s production. The tunes are Disney, though the arrangements hint at Copland Americana. “I’ll Be Your Eyes” between Laura and Mary Ingalls is the one song that’s a guaranteed money moment.

Guthrie Theater
818 S. 2nd St.
Minneapolis, MN
612-377-2224

website  |   view more details →

Paintings, sculpture, prints, photographs and decorative arts representing the office of president.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts
2400 3rd Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN
612-870-3131

website  |   view more details →

On his fourth solo album, Ben Taylor sounds just like dad James Taylor, - even better, at times. There’s a bit of a hip-hop sensibility on some of the rhythms on “The Legend of Kung Folk - Part One (The Killing Bite),” due Sept. 16. “You’re the One for Me” and “Space” (with Jamie Cullum on piano) evoke Sweet Baby James with a more contemporary vibe. However, “Wicked Way” is a tongue-in-cheek sexist detour that should have been booted off this disc by co-producer Kevin Bacon. Jon Bream

Hard Rock Cafe Minneapolis
600 Hennepin Av.
Minneapolis, MN
952-285-7625

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August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about a Negro League baseball player forced to let go of his dream of major league success.

Review: Flickering between felicitous light and brooding darkness, James A. Williams takes us on a riveting, quicksilver journey as the star of August Wilson’s masterwork about baseball, betrayal and dreams. Surrounded by much talent, Williams delivers a brilliant, bravura performance in Lou Bellamy’s memorable staging.

Martin Luther King Center
270 N. Kent St.
St. Paul, MN
651-224-3180

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Like the Strokes and Interpol, Scotland’s snarling punk-popsters the Fratellis must have decided the best way to avoid the sophomore slump after a big breakthrough debut was to do it relatively quickly and with the same musical game plan. The trio’s “Here We Stand” echoes its previous “Costello Music,” from the scruffy, Hamburg-era Beatles hooks and Supergrass-spazzy riffs, to its iTunes-ad-ready ba-dop-ba choruses. These guys were a blast at the Varsity last year, and there’s every reason to believe they’ll repeat themselves onstage, too. Airborne Toxic Event and Texan buzz band Electric Touch open. Chris Riemenschneider

First Avenue Mainroom
7th St. and 1st Av. N.
Minneapolis, MN
612-338-8388

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The fledgling electronic dance scene at Epic nightclub gets a Berlin-sized lift this week with Paul van Dyk. The German trance pioneer and hero of British dance floors was overdue for another Twin Cities appearance, especially after his strong showing last year with the album “In Between,” which featured guests ranging from David Byrne to the lead Pussycat Doll.

Epic
110 N. 5th St.
Minneapolis, MN
612-332-3742

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Plenty of hipsters will probably stick around after the Fratellis to catch Does It Offend You, Yeah? next door. The hyper British synth-rock band is a bit cutesy and gimmicky, as evidenced by its zombie-adorned performance of “Dawn of the Dead” on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” but some of its punchy digi-romps are truly cutting-edge and pack a lot of oomph. Dr. Manhattan opens. Chris Riemenschneider

7th Street Entry
7th St. and 1st Av. N.
Minneapolis, MN
612-338-8388

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An exhibit that examines a celebrity obsessed culture.

Form + Content Gallery
210 N. 2nd St.
Minneapolis, MN
612-436-1151

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Musical adaptation of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, starring Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura in the 1970's television series, as "Ma." Opening night is Aug. 15, with tickets at $75. [Two week extension of run, through Oct. 19, $34-$65]

Review: A big, broad pageant on pioneer spirit. There is not a great deal of texture and only a nod at character, but the show is wholesome to the point of sanitized and it never drags in Francesca Zambello’s production. The tunes are Disney, though the arrangements hint at Copland Americana. “I’ll Be Your Eyes” between Laura and Mary Ingalls is the one song that’s a guaranteed money moment.

Guthrie Theater
818 S. 2nd St.
Minneapolis, MN
612-377-2224

website  |   view more details →

Paintings, sculpture, prints, photographs and decorative arts representing the office of president.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts
2400 3rd Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN
612-870-3131

website  |   view more details →

August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about a Negro League baseball player forced to let go of his dream of major league success.

Review: Flickering between felicitous light and brooding darkness, James A. Williams takes us on a riveting, quicksilver journey as the star of August Wilson’s masterwork about baseball, betrayal and dreams. Surrounded by much talent, Williams delivers a brilliant, bravura performance in Lou Bellamy’s memorable staging.

Martin Luther King Center
270 N. Kent St.
St. Paul, MN
651-224-3180

website  |   view more details →

An exhibit that examines a celebrity obsessed culture.

Form + Content Gallery
210 N. 2nd St.
Minneapolis, MN
612-436-1151

view more details →

“This is an old Irish tune.” That’s how the Cities’ venerable Memphis-style R&B/soul band the Butanes introduced “Green Onions” during one of their regular Friday gigs at the Irish bar that used to be the Poodle Club. In other words, Curt Obeda & Co. -- whose weekly Cabooze gigs from 15 to 20 years ago are still fondly remembered -- haven’t altered their act to suit the green surroundings. Chris Riemenschneider

McMahon's
3001 E. Lake St.
Minneapolis, MN
612-722-1377

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Musical adaptation of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, starring Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura in the 1970's television series, as "Ma." Opening night is Aug. 15, with tickets at $75. [Two week extension of run, through Oct. 19, $34-$65]

Review: A big, broad pageant on pioneer spirit. There is not a great deal of texture and only a nod at character, but the show is wholesome to the point of sanitized and it never drags in Francesca Zambello’s production. The tunes are Disney, though the arrangements hint at Copland Americana. “I’ll Be Your Eyes” between Laura and Mary Ingalls is the one song that’s a guaranteed money moment.

Guthrie Theater
818 S. 2nd St.
Minneapolis, MN
612-377-2224

website  |   view more details →

Paintings, sculpture, prints, photographs and decorative arts representing the office of president.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts
2400 3rd Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN
612-870-3131

website  |   view more details →

August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about a Negro League baseball player forced to let go of his dream of major league success.

Review: Flickering between felicitous light and brooding darkness, James A. Williams takes us on a riveting, quicksilver journey as the star of August Wilson’s masterwork about baseball, betrayal and dreams. Surrounded by much talent, Williams delivers a brilliant, bravura performance in Lou Bellamy’s memorable staging.

Martin Luther King Center
270 N. Kent St.
St. Paul, MN
651-224-3180