Drive-Thru Records’ Sounds of More Tour

VAlentine’s, Thursday

Here’s a package tour from the same record label that brought you Movielife, Fenix Tx, Midtown and Dashboard Confessional—and a pretty big package, at that. The Nightlife, Horse in a Box, Adelphi, Houston Calls, Self Against City and Southcott all will take the Valentine’s stage on Thursday. Though the label would prefer not to divulge too much about the departure of big shots Midtown and Dashboard Confessional from the roster (some kind of standard industry bullshit), we can be pretty sure it had nothing to do with the label heads’ tastes in music. So, catch this show before their current acts get big, jump ship and move out of the clubs into the Ticketmaster world. (May 19, 7 PM, $10, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)

Rob Beaulieu CD-release party

Revolution Hall, Friday

Rob Beaulieu has been doing his thing around and about the area for a number of years now, but only now has he gotten around to releasing his first solo CD. Sure, he was the guy behind Back to the Tracks, the 2001 release under the Raisinhead moniker, but this time around, he’s chosen to do things under his own name. Not that he’s changed his game all that much: Evoking the Sun is another fun vamp through classic rock, funk and reggae, and features a number of area luminaries—Chuck D’Aloia, Tony Perrino, and Keith Pray, to name but a few. Beaulieu and his band (including many of the album’s key players) will celebrate the release of Evoking the Sun with a show tomorrow night (Friday) at Revolution Hall. Each paid admission includes a free copy of the new CD. Raisinhead are slated to close the show with a late-night set. (May 20, 8 PM, $8, 425 River St., Troy, 273-2337)

Bill Connors Quartet

Van Dyck, Friday

Guitar maven Bill Connors is touring for the first time in 20 years. The cause for the tour? After almost two decades out of the loop, he has recorded a new album, appropriately titled Return (ESC), which was just released this spring (his first album since 1987’s Assembler). One of the founding members of Return to Forever, Connors has been laying low for the past few years, giving private lessons and continuing his technical and stylistic studies of jazz greats (this according to his Web site). Lucky for us, Connors will bring his electric guitar skills to the Van Dyck for two shows tomorrow night before he embarks on his summer European tour. (May 20, 7 and 9:30 PM, $20, 237 Union St., Schenectady, 381-1111)

Jimbo Mathus

The Grog Shoppe, Friday

Look, a performer you may never have heard of performing at a venue you may never heard of—it’s the music geek’s equivalent of a double-word score. Jimbo Mathus has been highly praised for his “searing” slide guitar work as Buddy Guy’s second guitarist (that’s him on Guy’s Grammy-winning Blues Singer), and the native Mississippian has also lent his vibe to the likes of Elvis Costello (who recorded his single “Monkey to Man” at Mathus’ studio, the Delta Recording Service). His latest, Knockdown South, is a sort of a capsule version of that kind of stylistic wandering, incorporating hiphop beats with swinging horn sections, and electric boogie with old-style honky tonk. (May 20, 9 PM, $10, 277 State St., Schenectady, 374-1995)

GZA, J-Live

Pearl Street Nightclub, Saturday

The GZA—that’s the “Genius” of the Wu-Tang Clan, as all you young disciples know—is touring behind his new release, The Legend of the Liquid Sword, and coming to Pearl Street Nightclub in Northampton on Saturday. What else do you need to know? You’re going, right? Your practice demands it. Also on the bill, UAlbany grad J-Live, Vast Aire C-Rayz Walz (who lit up the Hudson Duster about a year ago), Vordul Mega, Karniege and 4th Pyramid. (May 21, 8:30 PM, $20, 10 Pearl St., Northampton, Mass., 413-584-7771)

Lyle Lovett Acoustic Trio

Calvin Theater, Saturday; The Egg, Monday

And there was great rejoicing: He of the mile-high hairdo will make not one, but two area appearances this week. It’s been a long while since Lyle Lovett’s star was as celebrated as it was during his early-’90s days as Mister Julia Roberts, but rest assured, the man and his music are still just as eclectic, his voice—like a less Orbisonian Chris Isaak—as smooth and smoky as ever. His current tour presumably is supporting the 2003 release My Baby Don’t Tolerate, although one would be hard-pressed to find any more current information (besides the tour dates) on his Web site. We can speculate that Lovett might perform an array of tunes selected from his entire career, accompanied (quietly, perhaps?) by a bassist and drummer. Otherwise, we’re kinda stumped as to what he’s got planned. We have a feeling he’d prefer it that way. (May 21, 8 PM, $39.50-$49.50, 19 King St., Northampton, Mass., 413-584-1444; May 23, 7:30 PM, $38.50, Empire State Plaza, Albany, 473-1845)

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