Two different Twin Cities music vets named Slim will be the beneficiaries of two hefty benefit gigs this weekend.

First up is the Mad Ripple St. Paddy's Day Hoot for Slim at the Amsterdam Bar & Hall on Saturday at 8 p.m. A "celebration" of Slim Dunlap, who is still hospitalized following last month's severe stroke, the songathon will feature songs by, about and in the spirit of the former Replacements guitarist. Host Jim "Mad Ripple" Walsh will be joined by Curtiss A, Martin Devaney, Dan Israel, Gini Dodds, Stook!, Nick Leet, Ashleigh Still, Jennifer Markey, Joe Fahey and many more. There's no cover (to keep the event open to everyone), but a tip jar will be passed around.

The second Slim benefit is for Minneapolis blues alum Lynwood Slim at the Cabooze on Sunday from 1-7 p.m. A singer and blues harpist who was a mainstay of the West Bank music scene in the late-'70s and early-'80s (primarily with Aces, Straights & Shuffles), the real-life Richard Duran suffers from chronic Hepatitis C and gallbladder pancreatic and now needs a liver transplant. Among those performing to help out are Big Walter Smith, Willie Murphy, the Butanes with Maurice Jacox and Willie Murphy, Dave "Cool Breeze" Brown, Mick Sterling, Lisa Wenger, Jimi "Prime Time" Smith, Big George Jackson and many more. The suggested donation at the door is $10, and there will also be a silent auction.