Bottoms Up Blues Gang / Wednesday, March 3
Keith Mokris
Hard swagger: the Cool Kids.
Courtesy Warner
Glamour queen Little Boots.
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The through-line from W.C. Handy's groundbreaking, genre-establishing "St. Louis Blues" to St. Louis' Bottoms Up Blues Gang (currently the Gateway City's reigning blues duo) can appear fuzzy at times. Whereas Handy and company (Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, et al.) fused brass-laden, 12-bar melodies with elements of pop, jazz, and ragtime, Bottoms Up guitarist Jeremy Segel-Moss and vocalist Kari Liston stick to a twangy, backwoods acoustic vibe. What past and present share is a wry delivery of arch, shoulda-known-better lyrics and a deliberately rough-edged stage presence that invites everybody to come a little closer. With a repertoire carefully crafted of equal parts originals and covers, Bottoms Up also knows how to pay reverent tribute; the duo cleverly re-imagines Louis Jordan's "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby" as part boozy nightclub torch song, part groovy jam-band ditty. And like all great blues bands, no matter what the decade, they succeed wildly in making you feel anything but blue. With the Sam Marshall Trio. Highway 99 Blues Club, 1414 Alaskan Way, 382-2171. 9 p.m. $8. ROSE MARTELLI
Evan Dando / Wednesday, March 3
Being Evan Dando must be a little rough. As the affable frontman of the Lemonheads, he made some fantastic records in the '90s, but never quite became the institution that he was capable of being. A combination of cuddly and scruffy, Dando was a little too pin-up (was there a single issue of Sassy without a mention of Dando?) and pop-minded for that grunge-centric decade. Since then he's broken up and reformed the Lemonheads numerous times, battled with drug addiction, married a model, released an album of covers (Varshons), and put on notoriously inconsistent live shows; basically, he's jumped through almost every rock cliché in the book. Still, it's nearly impossible to hate the guy; any listens to Lemonheads records reveal the shy, quiet charmer who, all drama aside, is at the core of a great, quirky songwriter. With Milo Jones, Headlights. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-3599. 8 p.m. $15. GREGORY FRANKLIN
The Strange Boys / Thursday, March 4
As indie rock attempts to reinvent itself by mashing together every genre known to humankind, incorporating every instrument from the furthest reaches of the globe in search of truly new, uncharted sonic territory, there's something comforting about sassy, scratchy garage-rock bands like Austin outfit the Strange Boys. The garage is the last bastion of bona fide rock and roll as we know it, and that the Strange Boys' second full-length, Be Brave, sounds as if it could've been recorded 50 years ago is to the band's credit. Replete with organ, harmonica, and horns, but driven by the jangly, twangy guitars of fledgling rock and roll, Be Brave evokes the spirit of the genre back when it was truly music for revolutionaries. With Chain and the Gang, Night Beats, Lovvers. Comet Tavern, 922 E. Pike St., 323-9853. 9 p.m. $10.SARA BRICKNER
SXSW Send-Off Party / Thursday, March 4
Tonight, a mashup of genre-spanning local acts share the stage before heading off to Austin for SXSW. As in most cities, Seattle's musicians and their followers form around a sound. It's natural enough, but it makes for an unfortunate extension of a high-school cafeteria: you know, everybody sitting at the table with their own. But when Ballard-based lyricist Grynch, the Dipset-like Dyme Def, the sincere Pearly Gate Music, retro rockers Thee Emergency, and spaced-out soul sistahs THEESatisfaction come together for one fucking cool showcase, the potential for an enterprising promoter to get inspired multiplies. In theory, at least. If nothing else, it's enough that three performers from the hip-hop scene have ventured beyond the usual circuit, even if just for one event. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-3599. 9 p.m. $10. KEVIN CAPP
The Graze / Friday, March 5
If you're not familiar with The Graze, it's likely because the man behind The Graze, Louis O'Callaghan, took five and a half years to release his second full-length album, Give/Sell. You can download it free if you sign up for the mailing list on The Graze's Web site. And you'll want to, because Give/Sell is an instantly likable collection of lo-fi folk songs—a quality that's furthered by O'Callaghan's vocal kinship with the likes of Jeff Mangum and John Vanderslice. O'Callaghan's guitar work is distinctive, too. Had someone played it for me blind and said it was an early Elephant 6 demo, I would've believed it. Give/Sell is so rife with potential, in fact, that it makes you wonder what O'Callaghan could accomplish if he devoted a little more time to his solo work and a little less to the other three bands he's in (one of which, Mississippi Painful, also performs tonight). With Seth Howard. Mars Bar, 609 Eastlake Ave. E., 624-4516. 9 p.m. $6. SARA BRICKNER
Snoop Dogg / Friday, March 5
Last December's Malice N Wonderland may have been the Long Beach rapper's lowest-charting release yet, but that's not to say his career is nearing a smoke-shrouded end. Snoop's new material doesn't often stray far from his trademark cadence, and recurring cliché gangsterisms match uninspired rhymes that make the record seem more like an attempt at mainstream crossover than the real thing. But there are still flares of brightness, from a radio hit pairing with The-Dream to more Neptunes-produced pop brilliance to grown-man love songs inspired by his high-school-sweetheart-turned-wife. And despite any recent mediocrity, the Doggfather is a pioneer of West Coast gangsta rap with the impressive back catalog to prove it. With Helladope. Showbox SoDo, 1700 First Ave. S., 628-3151. 7 p.m. $35 adv./$40 DOS. NICK FELDMAN
