POP/ROCK Forget all the tailoring, accessorizing and hair-spraying that goes with Voltage: Fashion Amplified. You always wind up with a pretty cool cross-section of local buzz bands at the annual runway show -- wherein each musical act is made up by a hometown designer of equally rising talent. This year's models include cranking fuzz-pop duo the Red Pens, warbly alt-twang charmers Caroline Smith & the Good Night Sleeps, juniors-sized electro-rocker Mayda, Astronaut Wife co-leader Christian Erickson's new, classically Brit-poppy band Blue Sky Blackout, plus headliner Ruby Isle, the synth-pop trio led by Mark Mallman that has been working on an electronic remake of GNR's "Appetite for Destruction." Oh, the fashion possibilities there. (8:30 p.m. Fri., First Avenue. $25-$30. 21 & older.) (C.R.)
Rowdy Charlottesville, Va., bluegrass/country pickers the Hackensaw Boys have enough cred among twang purists to have toured as Charlie Louvin's backing band and opened Del McCoury's New Year's Eve show at the Ryman Auditorium. But they also have a following among rock hipsters, since Modest Mouse recruited co-leader Tom Peloso as a part-time member. The Gypsy Lumberjacks open. (9:30 p.m. Fri., Cabooze. $12. 18 & older.) (C.R.)
In person, Paul Cebar is a polyrhythmic groove merchant, fronting one of the sweatiest R&B/dance bands you'll find outside New Orleans. But on his new solo CD, "One Little Light On," he shows off his moodier singer-songwriter side. The CD is largely one man with one deft acoustic guitar, commendable taste and lots of wordplay. Although Cebar can get plenty funky without a band -- check out "It Done Fell Off" -- most of the disc is tender, reflective and indigo-hued. (9 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Wilebski's Blues Saloon.) (T.S.)
Philly's cult-adored hippie-pop soul quintet Dr. Dog is slowly gaining more mainstream attention -- and coincidentally or not, it's also getting better. Its sixth disc, "Shame, Shame," came out last week via a new deal with Anti- Records, and the new single "Stranger" sounds like an early summer anthem on the Current and elsewhere. In the past these guys have been quirky and hippie-retro to a fault, but their live sets at South by Southwest last month underlined their growing accessibility, sounding more like "Being There"-era Wilco than Wilco does these days. (9 p.m. Sat., Fine Line. Sold out.) (C.R.)
After impressing as a Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits acolyte on his first few albums, Nashville singer-songer Matthew Ryan sounds like an unplugged, somber Bono doing Leonard Cohen on last year's "Dear Lover," written (he says) in a hospital emergency room. Ryan plays the middle set between Brandon Sampson and the Bitter Spills. (9 p.m. Fri., Sauce, $5.) (J.B.)
It's time to "Shake It Out" once again with estimable jazz saxophonist turned old-school groover Karl Denson and his chameleonic, funky band Tiny Universe. His catchy original songs are often judiciously laced with echoes of departed heroes: Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Fela, Curtis Mayfield, et al. (9 p.m. Fri., Fine Line. $18.50-$78.50.) (T.S.)
Although it sounds like a tribute to Yanni, the fourth annual It Whispers So Listen and Overcome concert is actually a hip and hard-rocking fundraiser for ovarian cancer research. Headlining this year is shoegazey boy/girl indie-pop band Now, Now Every Children, who toured with Paramore this winter. Innovative rap acts Big Quarters and No Bird Sing also perform, plus alt-rock favorites the Melismatics, metallic rockers Fall From Falling and Drift Effect, plus Sarah Pray, Fragile and Attention (5 p.m. Sat., First Avenue. $12. 18 & older.) (C.R.)
Pat DiNizio wears many caps -- frontman for Smithereens, author ("Confessions of a Rock Star"), reality star (ESPN2's "7th Inning Stretch"), aspiring senator (see the 2001 documentary "Mr. Smithereen Goes to Washington") and solo artist. It's in that capacity that the baseball-loving, power-pop purveyor will appear in the Twin Cities, no doubt doing material from two 2009 tribute discs -- the solo "Buddy Holly" and "The Smithereens Play Tommy." (7 p.m. Sun., 7th Street Entry, $10.) (J.B.)
