The Big Gigs, April 17-23: Steve Winwood, Mountain Goats, Belfast Cowboys and more

Steve Winwood has one of the most distinctive voices in the history of rock. He landed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with both Traffic ("Low Spark of High Heeled Boys," "Dear Mr. Fantasy") and Blind Faith ("Can't Find My Way Home"), but he's also the voice of Spencer Davis Group ("Gimme Some Lovin'," "I'm a Man") and such 1980s solo hits as "Higher Love" and "Roll with It." A respected organ player, he can be heard on everything from Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" to Miranda Lambert's "Baggage Claim." Winwood likes to jam live, which could explain why his sets are long on musicianship and short on song titles. Opening is Nashville singer-songwriter Marc Scibilia, who is heard singing "This Land Is Your Land" in a recent commercial for Jeep. (8 p.m. Fri. State Theatre, $53.50-$100.) Jon Bream

Versatile New York pop/jazz songbird Ann Hampton Callaway has recorded tribute albums to Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, appeared on Broadway in "Swing" and written songs for Barbra Streisand, including "I've Dreamed of You" which Babs sang to James Brolin at their wedding. So why shouldn't Callaway sing the Streisand Songbook with the Minnesota Orchestra? Aram Demirjian conducts. (8 p.m. Fri. Orchestra Hall, $30-$70.) Bream

He still has the big hair, bushy mustache, soaring voice and huge reputation in Winnipeg — home of the Burton Cummings Theatre for the Performing Arts. The 67-year-old piano rocker will revisit the hits of the Guess Who ("Undun," "American Woman," "These Eyes") and his solo career ("Stand Tall") along with some classic covers. Opening is Gypsy, Minneapolis own FM hitmakers ("Gypsy Queen Part One," "Dead and Gone") circa 1970. (8:30 p.m. Fri. Medina Entertainment Center, $36.33-$57.78.) Bream

After taking the stage as often as the Twins took the field in town over the past decade — and for gigs that often lasted as long as an average ballgame — Twin Cities bar vets the Belfast Cowboys not surprisingly sound effortlessly tight and soulful on their first album in six years, "The Upside to the Downslide." What's more surprising is how well frontman Terry Walsh's original tunes — such as the instant-classic "Looking for the Northern Lights" and Soul Asylum-y "Killjoy Was Here" — stack up and blend in with the deep Van Morrison cuts that are the band's bread and butter, including the Them nugget "My Lonely Sad Eyes" and a hard-grinding "I've Been Working." They knocked it outta the park with this one. Ol' Yeller opens the release party. (9:30 p.m. Fri., Cabooze, $8-$10.) Chris Riemenschneider

A warm-up to Duluth's all-local answer to South by Southwest (April 26-May 3), the Duluth Homegrown Twin Cities Invasion sends some of the City on a Hill's most active music makers down I-35 for a big-city showcase. This year's ensemble includes ominous, thrashing prog-metal quartet Wolf Blood, psychedelic song man Toby Thomas Churchill, dance-rock hippies Red Mountain and sultry, new-wavy pop-rockers the Social Disaster. (9 p.m. Fri., First Avenue, $7.) Riemenschneider

The second in a series of fundraiser concerts to help the Twin Cities' most eclectic community radio station out of a financial hole, the KFAI Weekend Bash is bulging with 30-plus performers spread over three stages and two thematic nights. Night One is a rootsy/acoustic-flavored showcase with Cajun faves the New Riverside Ramblers, ace pickers Steve Kaul, Phil Heywood and Lonesome Dan Kase, bluesmen Dave Babb, Sneaky Pete Bauer and Chris Holm, plus Diane Jarvi, Patty & the Buttons, Jon Rodine and more. The second night boasts a mighty fun garage-rock/punk lineup with Kinda Kinky, the Silverteens, Mrs., Hipbone, Pentacine, Scaphe, Weakwick and others. (7:30 Fri. & Sat., Minneapolis Eagles #34, $10 or more donation.) Riemenschneider

Lovable alt-rock weirdos They Might Be Giants are figuratively towering thanks to their constant presence over the past few decades. You're likely in the minority if you can't recite a piece of Turkish history to the band's 1990 cover of "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" or scream-shout their Grammy-winning theme song to '00s sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle." TMBG have dabbled in kiddie music since 2002, but new album "Glean," due out Tuesday, returns to the beloved Dial-A-Song process where the band records songs onto an answering machine. (9 p.m. Sat. First Avenue, sold out.) Alex Nelson

The Twin Cities' own '80s dance-pop pioneers, Information Society, have done an admirable job updating the sound of their 1988 megahit "What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)" — one of VH1's top 100 "One-Hit Wonders of the '80s" — with modern musical twists and topical turns on their first album in six years, "_hello world." Bandleader Paul Robb is finally making it back to the band's hometown with his original InSoc partners, singer Kurt Larson and bassist/keyboardist Jack Cassidy. Thought Thieves and Dance Assault open with DJ Jake Rudh. (8:30 p.m. Sat., Fine Line, $20-$25.) Riemenschneider

There are myriad indie-rock outfits more popular than the Mountain Goats, but few have fan bases as relentlessly devoted. Over the past 20 years, the band's bookish and hopelessly prolific frontman, John Darnielle, has produced more than 500 songs, 15 studio albums and widespread critical acclaim. Oh, and last year he found time to publish a novel, "Wolf in White Van," that was nominated for a National Book Award. The Goats have released seven albums in the past decade and, given the tone and urgency of last week's wrestling-themed LP "Beat the Champ," they don't sound like they'll be slowing down soon. Stephen Brodsky opens. (8 p.m. Sun. First Avenue, $25.) Raghav Mehta

With Mötley Crüe's farewell tour on break until next month, Nikki Sixx found time to squeeze in more tour dates with a metal singer whose range goes beyond three notes. His slicker and more anthem-driven side band Sixx:A.M., featuring short-lived Crüe replacement singer James Michael and flashy guitarist DJ Ashba (also now part of Guns N' Roses), is out supporting its third album, "Modern Vintage." Finnish cello-thrash band Apocalyptica and Vamps open. (8 p.m. Sun., Mill City Nights, $37.) Riemenschneider

Led by standout vocalist Jordy Towers, soul-steeped rockers SomeKindaWonderful stormed onto the scene in 2013 with the punchy breakup burner "Reverse"; the track spent 18 weeks on Billboard's alternative songs chart. The Cleveland quintet returned last summer with a welcome batch of more aggressive, rock-based R&B on its self-titled debut. New single "Burn" shows off a lighter, bouncier sound, yet the band retains the galvanizing energy that initially put it on the map. Local electronic duo Tired Tongues opens. (8 p.m. Mon. 7th Street Entry, $10-$12.) Nelson

Ben Chasny is an impossible artist to catalog. As Six Organs of Admittance, the avant-garde songwriter shifts gears from folk to psych rock to noise at the drop of a guitar pick. But if there's been any constant throughout his variegated 17-year-run, it's the Drag City vet's ability to weave compelling guitar tapestries. This year, the Comets on Fire axman released a heady new album, "Hexadic," based on a compositional method involving playing cards he devised and dubbed the Hexadic System. Elisa Ambrogio opens. (9 p.m. Tue. 7th Street Entry, $10.) Michael Rietmulder

Saul Williams should fit in as easily at our local jazz haven as he did at the punky Triple Rock on recent tours. The New York rapper/poet/singer/writer, who first came to many people's attention in the 1998 spoken-word movie "Slam," continues to push the envelope and avoid being pigeonholed musically. The first track off his upcoming album, "Martyr Loser King," shows a thrashy electronic side. He's touring with young rapper Haleek Maul and New York garage-rock trio Sons of an Illustrious Father. (11 p.m. Fri., Dakota, $20.) Riemenschneider

Two of the most powerful voices in Twin Cities hip-hop, MaLLy and Haphduzn both grew up around the Whittier neighborhood of south Minneapolis with similar calamity-conquering backgrounds, but they only recently came together as collaborators. The old-school-leaning rappers teamed with DJ Last Word (Prof, Get Cryphy) for a throbbing new single, "Squad," which dropped Monday ahead of this "tri-headlining" concert. Mac Irv and Plain Ole Bill open. (10 p.m. Fri., 7th Street Entry, $7-$10.) Riemenschneider