Isamu Jordan

Weighing in at 100-plus bands, and with a wingspan spreading over six days on three stages, Pig Out in the Park 2012 is absolutely obese with music. And as always, it’s all free.

When it came to starting a local band that specializes in reggae covers of Elton John hits, the name forced the concept. Elton Jah was just too irresistible.

Flashback to early 2008, a band of underdogs from Salt Lake City is unexpectedly on the rise. They’ve toured internationally and shared big stages with big names. 

After Heartless Bastards’ 2009 album, bandleader Erika Wennerstrom pressed the reset button. She reconnected with family through a series of solo road trips, rejiggered her band’s roster to reinvent its sound, returned to her relentless touring schedule and, two days home from tour, retreated back into the studio.

While The Thoughts isn’t the most Google-friendly band name, the Seattle indie-chamber folk trio manages to stand out in a region known for producing oodles of indie-chamber folk groups. The Thoughts is made up of singer-songwriter/ guitarist Ian Williams; violinist/harpist/ukulele player/arranger/art director Katie Mosehauer; and drummer Jon Horwath.

The stage at Interplayers Theatre typically goes dark for the summer season. But tonight it will be lit up for a musical production of a different sort, one that shines the spotlight on local singer-songwriters and acoustic musicians.

To quote the wise words of Loverboy, “Everybody’s workin’ for the weekend.” But sometimes you gotta get your groove on and you can’t wait until the end of the week.

Pegasus Dream, Summer in Siberia and David Plell & the Ultra Peach live worlds apart, in terms of musical style and genre. Aside from their Spokane roots, about all these three bands have in common is sharing space in the peripheral corner of obscure music that can’t be easily described. Most attempts involve stringing together a series of subgenres in prefixes like post-, pre-, prog-, and experimental.

Here’s the tally from a recent weekend rockathon for Coeur d’Alene band Flying Mammals: Days: 2

After the sun goes down and the courts clear, an athletic competition of a different sort takes place on the dance floor. And no matter where you go to get your groove on, the clubs are bound to be bouncing during Hoopfest weekend. Here’s a look at some of your best shots for club hoppin’ when you’re done hoopin’:

When John Blakesley finally recorded some of the first songs he’d written, his first studio experience grew into a collaborative hoedown. His band, Hey Is For Horses, was joined in the studio by a few musician friends who helped Blakesley birth a batch of songs he has been performing as a soloist for years.

Whether you have an appetite for deranged hip-hop experimentalism or purist indie-rock, The A Club has a couple of midweek offerings that are sure to sate your taste. Busdriver

A tidal wave of area bands hits right smack in the middle of downtown Spokane tonight in the form of a block party that involves 38 bands spread across six venues. What makes this different from any other Friday night at the bars? You can pay a joint cover of $10 to come and go as you please among the participating venues. This roster of bands represents a snapshot of some of the finest bands in the Spokane and Idaho scenes at the moment in a variety of genres, including metal, hip-hop, folk, experimental, electronic, and country.

Everyone knows what LMFAO means. It means it’s time to party.

The True Spokes are coming back to town for the first time. The band formerly known as Flowmotion has changed its name and augmented its sophisticated jazz-rock that has been a sensational presence in the region for years.

The all-female tribute to AC/DC, punk-rock veterans, the rap “Mail Man” of hip-hop, and half of the drummer duo from the Grateful Dead – that’s what is on the docket for live music this week to The Knitting Factory Concert House, 919 W. Sprague Ave. Tickets for all Knitting Factory shows are available at www.ticketfly.com.

If you’re of a certain age, what irresistibly comes to mind when you hear the phrase “Zed’s dead,” is the classic line uttered by Bruce Willis in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film, “Pulp Fiction.” But if you’re from a younger generation, and plugged into the dubstep movement, Zeds Dead evokes heavy beats and genre-busting experiments, compliments of the Canadian electronic music duo, DC and Hooks.

Two West Coast rap kingpins have separate shows coming to town in the form of DJ Quik and Andre Nikatina. Both soloists are multi-instrumentalists, DJs, MCs, and producers, and both have spearheaded formidable careers from the ground up in one of hip-hop’s most hostile undergrounds.

Local band Nude had a literal sound off experience at the highly hyped Seattle band competition of the same name. During the first song of the final round of this year’s Sound Off battle last month – in front of 600-plus people at the Experience Music Project’s Sky Church – Nate Mead’s guitar amp blew out.

When Rusted Root got its start, founding frontman Michael Glabicki had just dropped out of his first semester of college, forever changed by a trip to a war-torn Nicaragua. He wanted to bring home some of the culture and creativity he witnessed in the midst of revolution and Rusted Root was the way to do it.

A tag team of singer-songwriter favorites as well as an indie hip-hop heavyweight duo are among the week’s live music highlights around town. Matt Nathanson with Tyrone Wells