Sev Statik CD-release party

Lark Tavern, Wednesday

Craving a Thanksgiving treat? Look no further. The Thanksgiving fairy has waved her wand: Sev Statik will release his new album, Slow Burn, tonight (Wednesday) at the Lark Tavern. After some delay due to the pressing plant being backed up, the album has arrived and it’s now ready for mass consumption. Statik has been on the 518 hiphop scene for quite some time: It’s been almost a decade since he released his self-titled EP back in 1996. More recently, he’s been involved with the hiphop collective Pitch Control Music. Pimpgear.com says that “anyone who has heard Sev Statik knows he’s a brilliant and gifted emcee and lyricist.” Joining Statik for the celebration will be Jake the Snake, Quite Nyce, FCM, Pope, Debo Jones, and DJ Money Mike. (Nov. 24, 10 PM, $3, 453 Madison Ave., Albany, 463-9779)

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Northern Lights, Friday

Before John Mayer made a killing by pairing Texas-style blues guitar with radio-and-ampitheater-friendly balladry, there was Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Louisiana native Shepherd first made his mark a decade ago with Ledbetter Heights, an album he recorded while still in high school. That album went on to sell more than a million copies, and Shepherd became the torchbearer for straightforward blues-rock throughout the latter half of the 1990s. While in the past he’s been known primarily for his fiery guitar playing, Shepherd is now stretching his vocal cords for his new release, The Place You’re In (he’s employed guest vocalists on previous albums). Turns out he has a surprisingly confident and palatable croon, even if he does sound a little too much like the guy from Puddle of Mudd. Catch the singer-guitarist in action at Northern Lights this weekend, with special guest Day Dyer. (Nov. 26, 8 PM, $20, 1208 Route 146, Clifton Park, 371-0012)

Shameless Saints,
Joe Nacco Band,
Shift

Valentine’s, Friday

By Friday night, the tryptophan should be thoroughly processed, and you should be champing at the bit for some entertainment that doesn’t involve Uncle Buddy’s racist jokes or his wife Bobbi’s dipsomania. Fortunately, the rock never sleeps, and the persistent Shameless Saints—who first formed in high school, and have gone through numerous lineups and names, only to reassemble the original roster—will be out to help you burn off the carbs. Since they are the founding members, we’d guess you can expect them to work in a vein similar to their original mission, which was a “punk-funk Stone Temple Pilots.” Also on the bill, the Joe Nacco Band and Shift. (Nov. 26, 9 PM, $5, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)

Hatebreed

Hatebreed

Saratoga Winners, Friday

High-school bullies, unite to fight! Bring your creatine shakes and dumbbells, pump up your delts and quads, practice your chugging riffs and self-improvement screams. Yes, boys and girls, that’s right—Hatebreed are back in town, just in time to knock the Thanksgiving stuffing right out of you! If you need to know how to pull yourself out of the hardcore gutters of Connecticut, how to go from a pudgy, red-cheeked, angry kid to a not-so-pudgy, stylishly angry, red-cheeked self-improvement guru just in time to become the host of the conveniently resurrected Headbangers Ball, then this is the show for you. Jamey Jasta’s self-improvement sessions tend to get a bit violent, so if you’re looking for a better body and mind, you might want to stay out of the pit. (Nov. 26, 7:30 PM, $17, Route 9, Latham, 783-1010)

Ari Hest, Keri Noble

Iron Horse, Wednesday

Singer-songwriter cutie-pies Ari Hest and Keri Noble share a double bill of adorable at the Iron Horse Music Hall next Wednesday. Hest, fresh from college and recording his debut album, Someone to Tell, is poised to align himself with fellow sensitive-guys-with-guitars John Mayer, Jack Johnson, and Jason Mraz. Noble, on the other hand, has drawn comparisons to Joni Mitchell and Fiona Apple with her soulful delivery. Both are young, pretty, and on the verge of making it big. Go catch their set, and you can say you saw ’em when. (Dec. 1, 7 PM, $13, 20 Center St., Northampton, Mass., )

Also Noted

PARANOID SOCIAL CLUB OK, now relax a little, take it all in. Your relatives are a bunch of savages, aren’t they? They’ve left you with nothing more than a carcass and enough leftovers for two turkey-and-cranberry-sauce sandwiches. Plus, you have to clean this whole mess up while they all pass out in front of the Cowboys game (considering how badly the Cowboys have been playing lately, passing out might not be such a bad idea). But once all the dishes are done and the extended family sent packing, there are a number of live-music options available for you to blow off that extra dysfunction—er, steam—and you won’t have to go too far, as this is an all-Capital Region edition of Also Noted! On Friday night, catch the strange-bedfellows event of the weekend, as Paranoid Social Club and As Fast As—both featuring ex- members of Rustic Overtones—rock Troy’s Revolution Hall (9 PM, $10, 273-2337). . . . King’s Tavern in Saratoga has a lively weekend of music planned, with a reconstituted the Wait and Five ’til Midnight on Friday; Small Axe, Fax Arcana, and Struction on Saturday (9 PM, $5, 584-9643). . . . Bishop will rock the Lark Tavern on Saturday night (10 PM, $3, 463-9779). . . . Artie’s River Street Stage hosts a Saturday-night triple bill featuring Oshe, Funksquad, and the Move—no word on whether that’s Jeff Lynne’s pre-ELO pop group or an unenlightened group of moderners, but we’re betting on the latter (9 PM, $5, 687-0064). . . . The Lark Street Bookshop will host its monthly Acoustic Artists Night on Tuesday; this month’s installment features Katie Haverly and Mitch Elrod (7 PM, free, 465-8126). . . . To cap the week on Wednesday, iEAR will present a multimedia exploration by Mary Ellen Strom and Ann Carlson titled Geyserland at RPI’s West Hall Auditorium (8 PM, $3, 276-4829).

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