On sale this week from noon Fri Mar 12 are tickets for four fantastic shows, starting with Dark Dark Dark's illuminating Bright Bright Bright EP release (4/15), in a show that will not only feature the choir that helped out on the recording, but also music from kindred chamber folkies Spirits of the Red City, and Brett Bullion (of Tarlton). Get happy with the inaugural local production of Radio Happy Hour (10pm 4/24), a variety show featuring special guests Tapes 'n Tapes, Chris Koza, and Geoff Herbach, and lots of corny humor.

Taj Weekes is an enigma… on the one hand deeply serious and intensely passionate about his world views and on the other hand a gentle and humble man with a quick and easy smile. Born and raised on the island of St. Lucia, Weekes has a chameleon-like talent for blending into his surroundings as he keenly observes the world spinning around him, but the moment he steps on stage, locks flowing, he reveals the regal bearing of a mighty lion, his voice rising from a hoarse whisper to a throaty growl. Weekes' music defies category - an amalgam of roots style reggae with a hint of rock, soul and R&B. Essentially, Taj Weekes is a poet who sings to the rhythm of life from his own unique and complex perspective.

The Clientele formed a long time ago in the backwoods of suburban Hampshire, playing together as kids at school, rehearsing in a thatched cottage remote from any kind of music scene, but hypnotized by the magical strangeness of Galaxie 500 and Felt and the psych pop of Love and the Zombies. Singer Alasdair MacLean still recalls a pub conversation where the band collectively voted that it was OK to be influenced by Surrealist poetry but not OK to have any shouting or blues guitar solos. From that moment on, they put their stamp on a kind of eerie, distanced pure pop, stripped to its essentials and recorded quickly to 4-track analogue tape.

For fifty years, Del McCoury's music has defined authenticity for dedicated bluegrass fans, as well as for a growing number of fans among those only vaguely familiar with the genre. The most recent decade of that half-century of music making has been filled with new and ongoing triumphs. The Del McCoury Band has shown unprecedented stability, with but a single change in membership in fifteen years. Del earned membership in the cast of the legendary Grand Ole Opry in 2003, and the Band earned their first Best Bluegrass Album Grammy award two years later.

Alash are masters of Tuvan throat singing (xöömei), a remarkable technique for singing multiple pitches at the same time. What distinguishes this gifted quartet from earlier generations of Tuvan throat singers is the subtle infusion of modern influences into their traditional music. One can find complex harmonies, western instruments, and contemporary song forms in Alash’s music, but its overall sound and spirit is decidedly Tuvan.