Big Gigs for Aug. 9-15: Big Time Rush, Yes, more

POP/ROCK

After four stellar solo albums in the '00s, Rodney Crowell has delivered two terrific duo albums in the '10s. A once-great country artist who is an Americana star by default, he teamed up last year with Mary Karr, a poet/memoirist, and this year with his old boss Emmylou Harris for "Old Yellow Moon," a soulful country collection about aging gracefully and nobly. This natural collaboration features classic Crowell tunes, some gems by their ex-bandmate Hank Devito and Matraca Berg's elegantly wistful ballad "Back When We Were Beautiful." Opening is Frankie Lee, a Minnesota singer/songwriter with a flair for rootsy Americana. (8 p.m. Fri., Cedar Cultural Center, $25-$28.) Jon Bream

On his sixth album, "The Other Life," Shooter Jennings gets loud, wild and crazed. The opening "Flying Saucer Song" is far-out in both words and sound. "Outlaw You" is a rambunctious diss of today's country stars like Eric Church. A passionate but unpolished singer, the son of Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter even dusts off "White Trash Song," written in the early 1970s by Steve Young, composer of Waylon's classic "Lonesome, On'ry and Mean." The payoff here is the pretty country ballad "Wild and Lonesome," with harmonies by Patty Griffin. Other guest collaborators include Jim Dandy of Black Oak Arkansas. White Iron Band opens. (9:30 p.m. Fri., Cabooze, $18-$20.) Bream

Fresh from last weekend's Yestival in New Jersey with the likes of Renaissance and Carl Palmer, Yes will perform 1971's "The Yes Album" and 1972's "Close to the Edge" in their entirety. The band's lineup is co-founding bassist Chris Squire, longtime guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Alan White, keyboardist Geoff Downes and singer Jon Davison, who signed on last year. (8 p.m. Fri., Mystic Lake Casino, $45-$250.) Bream

Returning to the bulging calendar of Minneapolis block parties after a year off, the Pizza Lucé Block Party has a new downtown location but the same all-local, anything-goes spirit. Good thing there's more room this year with Motion City Soundtrack for headliners, who played the Uptown installment way back in 2004 and just headlined the Warped Tour three weekends ago. The rest of the lineup ranges from the loud and heavy sounds of Bloodnstuff and extreme-metalists After the Burial (profiled on page E6) to blooming south Minneapolis rappers Haphduzn and Sean Anonymous and Americana/twang scenesters Frankie Lee and Martin Devaney, plus Lucé's own worthy staffers Pennyroyal and Cannons North. (Noon-10 p.m. Sat., 119 N. 4th St., Mpls., all ages, free.) Chris Riemenschneider

Valerie June is a most curious soul singer. Her influences are more Appalachian, bluegrass and country soul than R&B, jazz and blues. After getting exposure on the 2009 MTV online show "$5 Cover" about struggling Memphis musicians, the 30ish singer/banjo player/lap guitarist could be on the verge of a breakthrough with her Dan Auerbach-produced album "Pushing Against a Stone," due next Tuesday. Sounding like a cross between Dolly Parton and Corinne Bailey Rae, she has a thin, reedy voice but a certain intensity and mesmerizing quality. Southwire opens. (8 p.m. Sat., Cedar, $10-$12.) Bream

Big Time Rush, the made-for-Nickelodeon group whose four members were fictional hockey players from Minnesota who form a boy band, just released its third album in time for its third Twin Cities headlining appearance. "24/Seven" is sunny, generic bubblegum pop that can't quite compete with One Direction's hits. Meanwhile, BTR's Kendall Schmidt will be performing gigs with his other band, Heffron Drive, and recording some of the 50 unreleased songs he's written. No word on a solo album, yet. Opening is Victoria Justice, who has starred on several Nickelodeon projects, including the "Victorious" series, before launching a music career. (8 p.m. Sat., Target Center, $25-$65.) Bream

Freebie curiosity gig of the week: a transcontinental double bill of Americana music. In one corner, we have Brooklyn-based but Iowa-rooted combo the Paisley Fields, which conjoins the harmonies of country-folker James Wilson and opera singer Jessica Kimple. In the other, it's DAMN Union, a folk-rock collective from Las Cruces, N.M., that raises a hootenanny ruckus onstage. (9 p.m. Mon., Driftwood Char Bar, 4415 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls. No cover.) Tim Campbell

On her fourth album, critics darling Laura Marling, the 23-year-old prodigious British singer/songwriter, sounds more and more like Joni Mitchell and more Americanized. OK, there are hints of Pentangle and even the folkier side of Led Zeppelin on Marling's "Once I Was an Eagle," the ambitious 16-song, break-up album produced by Ethan Johns. But the spare and spookier moments suggest Gillian Welch and the poetic passages evoke Joni. Coincidentally, Marling (who used to date Marcus Mumford before he was really famous) moved to California after recording this album in England. (8:30 p.m. Wed., Woman's Club of Minneapolis, $20.) Bream

Ben Taylor calls his style "kung folk" because he practices martial arts and plays singer/songwriter music. What other kind of music would you expect from the son of James Taylor and Carly Simon? Last year's "Listening" also incorporates touches of reggae and country; still, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. (7:30 p.m. Thu., Cedar, $17-$20.). Bream

All the talk of festivals coming and going seems to ignore one local favorite that stuck: the Big Wu Family Reunion, now in its 13th year and second in its scenic, disc-golf-equipped prairie location. The namesake headliners, who started out two decades ago playing Dead covers at St. Olaf, just returned from an Alaskan tour and are playing both nights. Dean Magraw is set to join the Wu on Saturday following sets by rootsy Colorado favorites Leftover Salmon and "The Voice" star Nicholas David (who's still "Nick the Feelin' " to Wu family). The Almighty Senators, God Johnson, Charlie Parr, SOAP and more perform Friday. (Noon-Midnight Fri. & Sat., Camp Maiden Rock, Morristown, Minn., $60, BigWuFamilyReunion.com.) Riemenschneider

The annual Irish Fair offers lots of music, beer and all things Irish, including dancing, sports contests, baking competitions and genealogy. The big names musically are Gaelic Storm, the Celtic group from California that performed in the movie "Titanic," and the Screaming Orphans, a quartet of sisters from Donegal whose repertoire includes traditional Irish folk and treatments of rock and country hits. The three-stage, three-day, free fest also includes such winning Twin Cities musicmakers as Boiled in Lead, the Belfast Cowboys and Katie McMahon. (3 p.m. Fri. & 9 a.m. Sat.-Sun., Harriet Island, St. Paul, www.irishfair.com.) Bream

From Darius Rucker to Josh Thompson, country has been part of the menu at the Cabooze for several years. So why not present a country show outside on the plaza? The headliner is Billy Currington, who has scored six No. 1 country tunes including "Pretty Good at Drinkin' Beer" and "Let Me Down Easy." Expect a preview of material from his "We Are Tonight" album, due Sept. 17. (7 p.m. Sat., Cabooze plaza, $25.) Bream

There's a homecoming gig for young jazz pianist and composer Jesse Stacken, who grew up in Hopkins and has spent the past decade making his mark in New York City. His last two albums received four stars from Down Beat magazine. Besides his own intriguing writing, which will be the main feature of this intimate solo show, Stacken has recorded insightful takes of tunes by Carla Bley, Steve Lacy, Albert Ayler, Monk, Mingus and Ellington. Sharing the evening are local bass greats Chris Bates and Anthony Cox, who will play some deep duets. (8:30 p.m. Wed., Jazz Central, 407 Central Av. SE., Mpls. $5-$10.) Surowicz

Dreadlocked Mississippi blues and R&B artist Grady Champion returns with "Tough Times Don't Last," the seventh album by the hardworking singer, harmonica player, songwriter and guitarist, who just was signed by seminal Southern label Malaco Records. The title track is a classic soul ballad with an uplifting message: "Tough times don't last, but tough people do." In concert, his party hit is still "Make That Monkey Jump," a jaunty shuffle that is actually about strippers, not rain forest creatures. (7 p.m. Fri., Wilebski's Blues Saloon, $7.) Surowicz

California harmonica mainstay Mark Hummel has put together a talent-packed Golden State/Lone Star Revue featuring two guitar all-pros we thought had retired from the rigors of the road — Anson Funderburgh, the terrifically tasty leader of the Rockets, and Little Charlie Baty, a past master of jive fun with the Nightcats. Hummel sounds wonderful on a new all-star album, "Remembering Little Walter," especially on the epic ballad "Blue Light." And he's just published an anecdote-filled memoir titled "Big Road Blues." (7 p.m. Sun., Dakota Jazz Club, $25.) Surowicz

Since we last saw blues great Charlie Musselwhite in the Twin Cities, he's become a de facto TV star, appearing on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "Tavis Smiley," "Late Night With David Letterman" and the all-star PBS special "Memphis Soul: In Performance at the White House." His most recent CD was a well-received 2012 collaboration with Ben Harper, "Get Up!" on the revived Stax label. (7 & 9 p.m Thu., Dakota, $25-$35.) Surowicz