Local Music: Giving Epic a live music foundation

The fact that Epic is called an "event center" and not a nightclub by its operators has been rather fitting these past six months. Lo and behold, though, the club that took over and all-out rebuilt the Quest's former home/trouble spot has finally started rocking as a live music venue.

Grandmaster Flash and Rick Ross -- a giant of old-school hip-hop and the current kingpin of gangsta rap -- each have Epic gigs this weekend. Dutch trance DJ Tiesto and soul starlet Angie Stone will be there next week. Other confirmed players for the summer range from the god-awful but awfully popular pop-rocker Gavin DeGraw to thrash pioneers Testament to R&B vet Chaka Khan.

Part of the credit for Epic's new gigs belongs to its new in-house booker, Beecher Vaillancourt, former co-owner of Foundation nightclub.

It might seem funny to call Foundation a success, since it didn't even last two years. But under Vaillancourt, it brought some excellent DJs and lots of old-school and/or backpack-rap acts to downtown Minneapolis, resulting in a best-dance-club nod in City Pages.

"I think we accomplished a lot in a year and a half," he said, blaming the closure on a co-owner with whom he didn't see eye-to-eye and, of course, on the downturning economy. (He is not involved in Element, the new place replacing Foundation.)

At Epic, Vaillancourt said he has more latitude (read: money) to book and promote shows. The club really does rely heavily on private events for steady income, so its music bookings aren't do-or-die. Outside promoters such as Live Nation, Mr. Chan Presents and the company behind Sunday's Ross gig, Glamorous Life, also will be working there.

"We hope to get a lot of the shows that used to be the Quest's trademark and bring them back into the city," he said, a reference to Myth in suburban Maplewood.

"A big part of Epic's business is private and corporate events, so we'll be very careful to keep a safe and diverse image," Vaillancourt said.

Koza's 'Morning' mix The line between late night and morning always has been blurry, but Chris Koza captures it pretty vividly on his third album, "The Dark, Delirious Morning." Many of the songs deal in late-night imagery and starlit poetry, including the wistful, ultra-sweet title track and "The Avalon," a slightly New Wavey rocker.

Going back to his adored 2004 debut "Exit Pesce," the Minneapolis-via-Portland transplant has pretty well set his musical trademark: bright-eyed, bedroom-intimate pop tunes with sophisticated, Beatles/Beach Boys-refined arrangements, including strings and horns. The music sounds bigger than ever. There are 17 musicians credited in the "Morning" liner notes, including backup singers Haley Bonar, JoAnna James and Linnea Mohn, and yet the 12-track collection is cohesive. Hopefully, the CD party will be, too. It's Saturday at First Avenue with This World Fair and These Modern Socks (6 p.m., $8-$10).

Don't Box 'em in It's been hard for some of us to seriously enjoy college-age white kids in vintage fedora hats singing faux-gospel and dirt-stomping bluegrass, as has been the challenge set forth by A Night in the Box. The dilemma gets a little easier with "Write a Letter," the band's second CD and first with violinist Kailyn Spencer as its fourth member. Clayton Hagen's Jack White-ian vocals help turn "Let Me Know" and other gritty howlers into irresistible rockers, and Spencer adds some harmony layers to like on "The Garden."

ANITB promotes the disc Sunday at 7th Street Entry (6 p.m., $6, all ages), a day after its set at the Finnegans ShamRock fest, outside the Cabooze.

The Turf Club now has a biweekly hip-hop night called Reloaded Wednesdays, booked by St. Paul hip-hop stalwart Sean McPherson of Heiruspecs. Performing there next Wednesday is the buzzed-about quartet Hyder Ali and trashy newcomer Frugalis McSpiteful (10 p.m., $4). ... Trailer Trash, Slim Dunlap, Billy Dankert, the Rank Stranger and teen band the Post-Mercury are all playing an afternoon benefit for a friend with leukemia, Colin Kuehn, at Lee's Liquor Lounge on Saturday (1-5 p.m., $15). ...

Atmosphere and Brother Ali are playing an in-store gig at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday to kick off the Electric Fetus' 40th anniversary (passes will be given away that morning). The store is celebrating with beaucoup sales, more in-store gigs and other promotions. It culminates next weekend with a June 13 party at First Ave and the Entry, featuring Tony Glover and V3, the Hypstrz, the New Standards, Polara and Doomtree representing each of the store's five decades ('60s-'00s).