Everyone Dies in Utah.

Giving you the music a day early:

Influenced by Attack Attack! and I See Stars, post-hardcore act Everyone Dies in Utah returns to Juanita’s for a headlining gig. Joining the quintet will be central Arkansas screamo band My Hands to War (which appeared with the headliners at a January show). The all-ages show starts at 9 p.m. with a an $8 cover.

Micky & The Motorcars — headed by the brother team of Micky and Gary Braun, brothers of Reckless Kelly lead singer Willy Braun — continue to roll right along with their rock-flavored, Texas country music, with a headlining visit to Sticky Fingerz. Their fourth album, 2008’s Naive, featured guest songwriting and singing from Randy Rogers, Lloyd Maines and Mickey Raphael, and the hard touring behind the album spawned the two-disc, live album Live at Billy Bob’s Texas released in November 2009. The Culpepper Mountain Band, but expect the music at 9 p.m. with tickets for the 21-and-up show $8.

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Percussion Ensemble turns to Pink Floyd again for inspiration for a benefit concert at 7 p.m. in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall of the Fine Arts Building. Admission is $10, and tickets will be available at the door. The ensemble will include album cuts from Floyd’s legendary Wish You Were Here album, including “Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Part I-V).” During the 2008-09 season, the ensemble performed Floyd’s entire The Dark Side of the Moon album. Beyond Floyd, the ensemble will perform a new arrangement by member Virgle Lyons of Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes,” along with “Mozambique” by Chris Brooks, “Blue Rhythm” by Anthony Korf and Anthony J. Cirone’s “4/4 for Four.” The performance will raise money for the ensemble’s annual tour and also raise funds for a percussion ensemble camp for high school students in June.

Thursday through Saturday, North Little Rock’s Downtown Riverside RV Park becomes home to the Smoke on the Water USA Barbecue Championship for three nights. Admission is free Thursday night with gates opening at 5 p.m. with unlimited carnival rides for $15. On Friday, the gates open at 5 p.m. with a $5 admission, and entertainment from rock band Eden Crow, classic rock cover band Crisis and ’80s hard rock cover band The Blue Meanies. Gates open at noon Saturday, and admission is $5 with samples of world-championship barbecue, tethered hot air balloon rides and a 5 p.m. barbecue awards ceremony. Live entertainment is provided from noon until 11 p.m. on the Main Stage with Crisis, party music cover band Mr. Happy, country duo LoCash Cowboys and country musician crossed with rock and hip hop Colt Ford. Classic and current rock cover band PG-13 will provide entertainment on the Bud Stage.

Here’s Everyone Dies in Utah with their tune “1, 2, 3, 4 I Declare a Dance War”:

Cold.

Giving you the music a day early:

Florida post-grunge band Cold visits Juanita’s, playing new music from their upcoming summer release Epic — their first release in almost five years and following a two-year breakup — and their modern-rock hits such as “No One” and “Stupid Girl.” Joining Cold on a co-headlining tour will be fellow Florida hard rock act Nonpoint (Whose new album Miracle is out April 27.), along with Nashville, Tenn., rock band Day of Fire and New York City rock outfit Edison. Presented by 100.3 The Edge, the all-ages show starts at 9 p.m. with tickets $20 advance and $22 day of.

Downtown Music kicks off its showcase of bands headed to Austin, Texas’ South by Southwest with a visit from Minnesota/North Dakota death metal act Battlefields, whose music is methodical and punishing. Also on the bill are Boston art rock outfit Junius and Illinois psychedelic-tinged metal band Cloud Burial with local support from two Conway bands: down-tempo metal act Crankbait and Conway death metal band Izamal. The music starts at 8 p.m. with a $6 cover.

Charlotte, N.C., and Victory Records band A Hero A Fake visit Vino’s to showcase their progressive metal with elements of hardcore with an energetic live show filled with catchy, complex music. Joining the band will be their touring partners Farewell to Freeway, a hardcore metal act who is also signed to Victory Records. Also on the bill is the Houston quintet of Before There Was Rosalyn, a Christian band who testify with a right cross of brutal music and passionate lyrics. The music roars to life at 8 p.m. with a $10 cover.

Here’s Cold with that modern-rock hit “No One”:

Two Cow Garage.

Giving you the music a day early:

White Water Tavern’s night is stuffed with two Ohio bands who know how to electrify a crowd: Two Cow Garage and Patrick Sweaney. Sweaney creates bluesy roots rock straight from the Rust Belt, vintage rock ‘n’ roll swaggering and swaying under the weight of dirty guitar and Sweaney’s soulful howl. Two Cow Garage is known for their rough-hewed rock ‘n’ roll that mixes a rowdy, classic rock sound with alt country and punk, and whiskey- and cigarette-soaked vocals.

OTEP — the Los Angeles alternative metal act fronted by Otep Shamaya — is on the road again, including a visit to The Village on a tour that includes Massachusetts hardcore metal band Bury Your Dead, South Carolina death metal band Through the Eyes of the Dead and Iowa pop-flavored metal machine Destrophy. The doors open at 6 p.m. with the music starting at 6:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $16 advance and $20 at the door.

It’s been almost three years since Rolling Stone called dance-rock outfit Tigercity an artist to watch due to their formula of “Hall & Oates plus Brooklyn hipsters minus irony.” But since hipsters are everywhere now, the Brooklyn quartet that uses disco beats, ’80s synth saturated rhythms and Chic-inspired bass guitar to create their funky, indie pop has discovered an audience outside of Williamsburg, including Little Rock. A November show at Sticky Fingerz was electric, and the band returns to Sticky Fingerz for a night of dance rock. The Silent Years from Detroit and Wave Machines from Liverpool, England, are the opening acts, and expect the music at 8:30 p.m. with a $8 cover for the 21-and-up show.

Here’s a shot of Two Cow Garage in action with their tune “Humble Narrator”:

Jenny Owen Youngs.

Giving you the music a day early:

The three members of folk rock act The Spring Standards first started playing together in high school before reconvening the band in New York City a few years ago. Since then, the trio has toured relentlessly, showcasing their three-part harmonies and instrument switching while pumping out energetic rock ‘n’ roll crossed with country. For a show at Sticky Fingerz, the trio will be joined by singer/songwriter Jenny Owen Youngs, a Brooklyn-based indie pop artist known for her mixture of jaunty rock and pop-flavored folk. Youngs’ sophomore album Transmitter Failure was released last spring and moved the artist from her folk rock past into more electrified indie rock territory. The show time for the Monday gig is 9 p.m., and tickets are $6 for the 21-and-up show.

Introduced to the world through their debut, Get Born, containing the Motown-on-steroids beat of “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” and the sleazy rock of “Cold Hard B*tch,” and following it up with Shine On, Australian garage rock revivalist act Jet’s third album is the August 2009 release Shaka Rock, another collection of raw, energetic rock tracks with a punk swagger and contemporary touch. Written in worldwide locales such as Miami, Brooklyn, Sydney and Melbourne, Jet is touring the globe, including a stop at The Village. Presented by 100.3 The Edge, doors open at 7 p.m. with the music starting at 8 p.m. Rock power trio The Crash Kings is the opening act, and tickets are $18 advance and $22 at the door.

The all-female outfit Those Darlins, a Murfreesboro, Tenn., group that mixes and mingles punkish riffs with alt country rhythms, return to White Water Tavern. Joining the act will be Brock Zeman, a Canadian singer/songwriter known for his impressive storytelling and roots music.

Here’s a shot of Jenny Owen Youngs with the video to her countrified rock tune “Last Person”:

Circa Survive.

Giving you the music a day early:

Philadelphia band Circa Survive visits The Village to unleash their version of experimental music riding on the back of indie rock riffs. The band also has a new 12-track album titled Blue Sky Noise arriving April 20. Joining the band will be Pennsylvania folk rock trio Good Old War and Maryland analog synth-powered band The Christmas Lights. The show will kick off at 7:30 p.m. with the doors opening at 6:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $15 advance and $18 at the door.

88-Keys was the Long Island hip hop producer sporting the black-rimmed glasses manning the knobs on tunes and albums by acts such as Mos Def, Musiq and J-Live, but in the last year and a half, 88-Keys has stepped out from behind the board to showcase his MC and rap skills. And it’s 88-Keys who is the ringleader of The Crowd Control Tour — “four artists band together to save your city” — that includes Kidz in the Hall, Donnis and Izza Kizza. The Polo-sporting 88-Keys and tourmates will visit Revolution Music Room with the music kicking off at 8 p.m. with a $10 cover for the 18-and-up show.

Here’s a shot of Circa Survive with the video to their tune “Act Appalled”:

North Mississippi Allstars.

Giving you the music a day early:

With The Black Crowes’ next scheduled gig at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, band guitarist Luther Dickinson is rejoining brother Cody Dickinson and Chris Chew, and returning to the fold for a few dates with the North Mississippi Allstars, including a show at Revolution Music Room. The opening act will be the modern, blues-heavy Southern rock side project of Cody Dickinson and Chew, Hill Country Revue, kicking off the music at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 for the 18-and-up gig. Expect a full serving of North Mississippi hill country blues sliced and diced with Southern rock for a night of gritty, funky, hard-charging music.

Downtown Music is celebrating its eighth anniversary, birthday, milestone, etc. Call it what you will, the night promises to shake windows up and down Capitol Avenue with a lineup of heavy rock and metal from Rwake, Vore, Hull and Snake Sustaine. The music starts at 8 p.m. with a $6 cover.

Pomegranates and Jookabox are both slowly snaking their way to South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, including a Friday night gig in Athens, Ga., before swinging northwest for a Saturday night in Little Rock. To celebrate the long, long, long drive Jookabox — Indianapolis native David “Moose” Adamson’s rather eclectic yet synthesized musical collection of hymnals, punk, deep house and hip hop — and Pomegranates — a Cincinnati art pop group with happy-go-lucky rhythms — are holding court at Juanita’s. The all-ages show begins at 9 p.m. with a $7 cover. The two touring bands will be joined by local indie rocking favorites Big Boots and Whale Fire. The pairing of the two Arkansas bands promises “special guests, band intermingling, raucous original songs as well as some oddball covers sprinkled in the mix, and a healthy dose of Arkansas moxie,” according to Big Boots, aka Trevor Ware, Mason Mauldin and Michael Motley.

Former Mulehead guitarist and guitarist for Kyoto Boom’s post-punk rock, Dave Raymond has spent the last four years writing and recording Familiar Sting, his debut album on Max Recordings, and an album filled with real-life experiences and rocking tunes with help from a band that includes Geoff Curran on drums, Burt Taggart on guitar and Josh Bentley on bass. Dave Raymond and Present Company will hold a record release show at White Water Tavern for Familiar Sting.

Here’s the North Mississippi Allstars live, doing the late-night talk show thing with “Shake”:

The O.D. Part 2.

Giving you the music a day early:

The snow is gone and the postponed The O.D. Part 2 is back on, this time at Sticky Fingerz. Expect a night of real rap as the best in local hip hop is showcased, with sets from EarFear (607 and Bobby), Big Drew, Cat Daddy, Mista Mayhemm, Rah HoWard, Epiphany, Shea Marie and Mike Streezy. Beyond the self-described “dope artists on deck,” DJ Greyhound will be on the turntables. The event kicks off at 9 p.m. with a $10 cover for the 21-and-up show. Dress accordingly.

Juanita’s becomes the center of the female folk singer/songwriter universe — Arkansas edition — when Paige Allbritton, Amanda Rook and Cindy Woolf visit. Allbritton is a 23-year-old Little Rock artist whose strummed tunes such as “Hurt On Purpose” reveal an old soul. (She also covers Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up.”); Rook is a local acoustic rocker; and Woolf is an Ozark folk rocker born in Arkansas but living now in southwest Missouri. An Afterthought regular, Woolf now mixes in pop choruses and twangy country when singing in her angelic voice about love, traveling and trains. The 18-and-up night of music starts at 9 p.m. with a $7 cover.

The Randy Rogers Band disappeared from the touring circuit in late November and early December, visiting Nashville, Tenn., to record another album of Texas-stamped and approved country rock. But since the first of the year, the five piece has been back on the road, whittling down their usual slate of 200 plus shows a year, including their first visit of the year to the Revolution Music Room. Expect a rowdy good time filled with electric guitars, fiddle and yee-haws. The music will start at 9 p.m. with a to-be-announced opening act kicking off the night. Tickets are $15 for the 21-and-up show.

Illinois indie rockers The Forecast’s latest, self-titled album is out, and the quartet is on the road to support the album’s collection of robust, muscular rhythms crossed with pop hooks and tunes about love with lyrics such as “I’m stealing your kisses back from you.” The Forecast visits Vino’s, headlining a show that includes local support from acoustic rock group Townsend and northwest Arkansas rock band A Good Fight, and Murfreesboro, Tenn., pop punkers Since Forever and indie rockers The Narrative, a Brooklyn trio on their way to South by Southwest. The music will kick off at 8 p.m. with a $10 cover.

Central Arkansas blues outfit Unseen Eye has completed their debut album, Too Bad, for Kijam Records and are holding a CD release party at Cornerstone Pub. Presented by the Arkansas River Blues Society presents, the music starts at 8 p.m. with a $5 cover for the 21-and-up event.

Here’s a terribly shaky, crowd-shot version of the Randy Rogers Band’s tune “Interstate,” a new song that will appear on their summer release Burning the Day:

Cedric Burnside and Lightnin' Malcolm.

Giving you the music a day early:

Less than a month after John Sinclair visited White Water Tavern along with North Mississippi hill country blues master R.L. Burnside’s son Duwayne Burnside, R.L. Burnside’s grandson Cedric Burnside returns to the dive with his brother by another mother in tow, as the juke joint duo of Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm play. The pair combine the rhythmic shake of country blues with the electrified boogie of hill blues, shaking it on down with hypnotic, hip-shaking North Mississippi hill country blues fueled by polyrhythmic beats by Burnside on the drums (and vocals), and raw, droning guitar with Malcolm grinding on the fretboard. Expect a 9 p.m. start time with a $10 cover.

The filmmakers responsible for the production of the local zombie film Voodoo Cowboys The Film are holding a benefit show titled Bad Mojo Showdown at Juanita’s, simply promising a “a bazaar night for a bizarre tomorrow.” Included in the night is music from five Arkansas bands: Fayetteville’s Vessels of Wrath, who sprinkle their heavy metal with techno, world music, opera and industrial, and Little Rock acts Iron Tongue, whose grunge-y heavy metal is in the vein of Soundgarden and Black Sabbath, and Ace Spade and the Whores of Babylon, a trio fronted by Ace Spade known for their blood-splattered horrorbilly. The night starts at 9 p.m. with cover $7. Also on the bill are The See and Hector Faceplant.

Metalcore act Attack Attack! is planning on releasing their sophomore release Shazam! on Rise Records in May, an album guaranteed to showcase their aggressive mixture of howling hardcore rhythms and electronica. Currently, the band is in the midst of their Artery Across The Nation Tour, including a stop at The Village, along with Denver electro/screamo duo Breathe Carolina, Michigan hardcore act I See Stars, and English metalcore bands Asking Alexandria and Bury Tomorrow. The doors open at 6 p.m. with the music starting at 7 p.m. with general admission tickets $13 advance and $15 at the door.

Here’s Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm in action with “Goin’ Down South” by Mr. R.L. Burnside himself:

The Sleeping.

Giving you the music a day early:

Following a national tour where they supported post-hardcore act Scary Kids Scaring Kids on the Arizona band’s farewell tour, Long Island alternative rockers The Sleeping are headlining their own shows, including a stop at Vino’s. The quintet, known for their roaring, post-hardcore flavored tunes such as “Don’t Hold Back” and “Bomb the World,” will be joined at Vino’s by Christian hardcore metal acts The Gun Show of Ohio and Die To Yourself of Oklahoma City, who are touring themselves, and Arkadelphia alternative rock band Little Monsters. The music starts at 8 p.m. with a $7 cover.

Here’s The Sleeping with their tune “Loud and Clear”:

Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu.

Giving you the music a day early:

Since 2002’s Knife Play, Oakland, Calif.-based singer/songwriter Jamie Stewart’s art rock outfit Xiu Xiu has delivered some of the indie world’s most challenging music: uneasy, intense experimental tunes skipping across a kaleidoscope of musical genres. The band’s seventh album Dear God, I Hate Myself, was released in late February on Kill Rock Stars, and is a 12-track recording of complex music, and the band’s first since the departure of multi-instrumentalist Caralee McElory. Xiu Xiu visits Sticky Fingerz with Noveller (the avant-garde solo project of Brooklyn-based sound artist and filmmaker Sarah Lipstate) and San Antonio rock band Girl in a Coma. The music starts at 9 p.m. with a $10 cover for the 21-and-up show.

Here’s Xiu Xiu with the video to their tune “I Do What I Want, When I Want”: