Samantha Crain.

Giving you the music a day early:

Oklahoma musician Samantha Crain released her second full-length album You (Understood) back in the summer of 2010. The album rightly earned praise from the critics. Why? Because it was 13 tracks of Crain’s unique singing style — angelic and vulnerable but with an emotional jab — and her shuffling Americana sound. And recently, Crain has been working with musician John Vanderslice on a follow-up album, and back in January released a 7-inch single from those sessions featuring the tune “A Simple Jungle.” Crain comes to White Water Tavern. Also on the bill are Broncho with their Oklahoma-bred punkish garage rock sound, and Big Silver and The Easys member and fabulous local singer/songwriter Isaac Alexander with the music starting at 9 p.m. with a $7 cover.

Jazz and hip-hop — two great American art forms. Rodney Block and the Real Music Lovers, and 607 — two of Arkansas’ best, in jazz and hip-hop, respectively. So that’s what one can expect when heading to Twelve Modern Lounge for Jazz vs. Hip-Hop IV featuring Rodney Block and the Real Music Lovers, and 607. The Real Music Lovers are Sam Carroll on keyboards, Michael Chandler on drums and Oliver “OT” Thomas on bass, and the two acts will collaborate, fuzing jazz and hip-hop, while also performing solo, which means 607 will draw from his solo stuff and his music with brother Bobby in earFear. The night starts at 9 p.m., and tickets are $10 for general admission and $15 for reserved seating.

Mountain Sprout is one of those bands making a name for itself through its live shows and for good reason. The four guys from the Arkansas band describe their band as a “highly energetic hillbilly music machine, spitting original tunes and blowing minds with witty lyrics and face-melting musicianship.” Live, the band is on fire, spitting out white-hot slices of music that’s probably best titled insurgent Americana with equal parts bluegrass, psychobilly and hillbilly. So it’s that sound that Mountain Sprout will bring to Stickyz. Kicking off the music is FreeVerse with their free-spirited, rock ‘n’ roll jams that incorporate funk and jazz. The music starts at 9 p.m. with a $6 cover for the 18-and-up show.

Here’s how Neurosis describes their post-metal sound: “For the last 26 years, Neurosis have tapped into the elusive wellspring where resonance and dissonance collude, circling emotional poles where nothing is withheld, where the psyche screams for answers to Earth’s ancient mysteries.” Okay, but Neurosis is really just music. Scott Kelly is the vocalist and guitarist of the California band, and he sometimes likes playing some countryish folk music. And it’s that country folk sound that a solo, acoustic Kelly brings to Downtown Music. Joining Kelly will be Eugene Robinson, the lead singer of experimental band Oxbow. The doors open at 8:30 p.m. with the music starting soon afterward. Cover is $10. And since it’s an all-acoustic show, what better way to kick it off than with an appearance by Little Rock-bred rock thunder outfit Iron Tongue, playing acoustically, of course.

Here’s Samantha Crain with her “We Are the Same”:

We Are the Same