"My Sharona" 's all cued up - here's the mic!

Enjoy that classic sound, then see who's redefining Bluegrass! Whatever's in the Wichita water, it got Split Lip Rayfield hammering out some of the most nuts Bluegrass you've never seen: banjo, mandolin and an upright bass salvaged out of a '65 Ford gas tank. Split Lip Rayfield signed in 1998 to Chicago's insurgent country authority Bloodshot Records and haven't looked back since. CMJ New Music Report correctly notes they're "a band of badasses with the avowed intent of kicking the oldtime sound in the posterior till it shouts out a brand new tune." Opening the show we'll have Mt. Pleasant String Band... Tune up the mandolin, banjo and acoustic guitar, 'cause this Bluegrass quintet is one of the most captivating and riveting around, performing old-time covers and originals alike.

It doesn't get much more authentic than The Williams Family Band! They're our Artist In Residence throughout March (so you can catch 'em in Juney's Lounge every Wednesday this month for free!). It's that classic early American acoustic folk and Bluegrass revived from field recordings of The Weavers, The Carter Family, and Pete Seeger, and with direct ties to regions of Ireland, Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Ohio and Kentucky. It's a trio with honest-to-goodness family tradition: generations spanning more than 70 years and featuring former members of Celtic band Ceol Mhor, Blue Rock Boys, Le Technopussies, and Captain Destiny & The Motormedics. Rich harmonies and authentic instrumentation back traditional favorites and originals alike.

Visiting from the hills of Chillicothe, Lewis Brothers offer a contemporary take on folk and bluegrass - what they call "fun, supercharged folk rock." Featuring three honest-to-goodness brothers, and alumni of Big Scioto and Schooley Station!

This frantic, Sweaty Soul rave-up gets berserk when Charles Walker's at the helm; Memphis, Motor City and N'Awlins come together for a Funk party led by Soul screamer Charles Walker, a veteran of America's influential mid-'60s Soul/Funk scene (with platters recorded for both Chess and Decca). Walker may be the star, but his expansive backup band is jam-packed with the cream of Nashville's "Deep Funk" scene. Supporting act Patrick Sweany is quickly becoming a well respected songwriter himself, picking out Folk Blues for a new generation and last seen 'round these parts opening for James McMurtry.

"A perfect hybrid of Neurosis and the Smiths, striking a stunning balance of brutality and beauty. Spellbinding and heartbreaking, gripping from the first note to the last," sez Rolling Stone of headlining and black-clad quartet Junius. Obscenely loud, irreconcilably heavy, and relentlessly mind-melting, this is one hell of a triple-bill that also features Dayton's reigning ambient metal kings Mouth Of The Architect (last seen around here opening for Jucifer in the Ballroom). Local heavy doom-sayers Beneath Oblivion write their own tombstone quite well: "Take what you love about Buzzov-en, Grief, Cianide, Sunn O))), Sleep and Eyehategod and consume them in a black fire of wretchedness and loss." Together, these three bands present an entirely unique and incomparable aural assault.

These pickers - with names like Rusty, Sly-Dog, Sleeveless and Shoot Yeah - come to us from Franklin, TN, and string up their barnyard take on the traditional American songbook.

Electro-spazz dance-rock carnivores Eat Sugar combine synth hooks with percussive thunder claps and modern, new wave anxious stutters to turn the world on its ear; they're on a string of shows that will take them to Brooklyn, New Yawk just days before headlining this homecoming date. Wear your space goggles: Lab Partners are Dayton's true inventors of flight, with shoegazing miasmas and psychedelic echoes a la Warlocks and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (and featuring former 'Nati drummer Kevin Vaughn). Brooklyn's Aviation Orange are imported to open the show with new wave pop that recently cracked the Top 25 over at MTVmusic.com.

Art pop with folk tendencies, Strangetunge recall the jangle of late '80s indie rock and early Guided By Voices, Bo Diddley channeled by Suicide and Tim Buckley reinterpreted by The Cars. Local "dark lounge" quartet Kompression offer graceful, minor-key piano ballads with strong female vocals, though a full band adds up to a big sound. Local scene forbears and mainstays POKE have kept a low profile since relocating to Verona, KY, so we're glad they can return from the woods with novel pop adventures and folk-rock storytelling. It's a great night to catch a few scene vets and pop masters at work!

Over the past few years, traveling troubadour Pokey LaFarge has perfected that classic St. Louis "Riverboat Soul" sound - Delta blues waltzing with the sprightly step of St. Louis swing and the down-home familiarity of jugband jazz - and he's become no less than an international sensation in the process. Though inspired by Louis Armstrong, Jimmie Rodgers and Bob Wills, Pokey and his band offer a fresh, contemporary energy while breathing life into those classic progressions.

Bazan came to most folks' attention as the driving force behind the reflective indie outfit Pedro the Lion (and, later, as a member of Unwed Sailor). He's continued to progress as a solo artist with various backup musicians since '96 - the same year he toured Europe as part of The Undertow Orchestra with Vic Chesnutt, Mark Eitzel and Will Johnson (yikes!). Bazan's won tons of critial acclaim for his songwriting gifts, and he'll be here supporting his latest release, Curse Your Branches. A formidable musical force in their own right, Headlights return to the Southgate House as Bazan's tour support with resplendent electro-backed indie pop not too far from Velocity Girl, Sybris or Helium.

NYC's Dead Heart Bloom is sorta like an acoustic Spiritualized, ultra-modern blues from a reverb tank soaked in Donovan's dreamy, carefree psychedelic folk. Dead Heart Bloom's meandering lyrics and plaintive strums go great with Moneytrees River, an established local rock-songwriter outfit that recalls Ryan Adams' more aggressive rock 'n roll fits. Opening the show are The Shy Spots, a local trio with slinky, danceable garage rock a la The Strokes.

Voted Best Open Mic by the readers of CityBeat! Mike Oberst (of local Bluegrass champs the Tillers) is your host tonight. He'll set up the microphones and there's a piano, too! All styles are welcome and newcomers are especially encouraged. Get yer guitar and drink with us!

Because no one can sing The White Stripes' "Fell In Love With A Girl" quite like you can.

It doesn't get much more authentic than The Williams Family Band! They're our Artist In Residence throughout March (so you can catch 'em in Juney's Lounge every Wednesday this month for free!). It's that classic early American acoustic folk and Bluegrass revived from field recordings of The Weavers, The Carter Family, and Pete Seeger, and with direct ties to regions of Ireland, Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Ohio and Kentucky. It's a trio with honest-to-goodness family tradition: generations spanning more than 70 years and featuring former members of Celtic band Ceol Mhor, Blue Rock Boys, Le Technopussies, and Captain Destiny & The Motormedics. Rich harmonies and authentic instrumentation back traditional favorites and originals alike.

Tune up the mandolin, banjo and acoustic guitar - this Bluegrass quintet is one of the most captivating and riveting around, performing old-time covers and originals alike. The whole Southern Ohio / NKY region's leading the way for a Bluegrass resurgence lately, and there's no better place to see it than Juney's Lounge! You can catch Mt. Pleasant String Band in our Lounge every third Thursday of the month, and remember - never a cover in Juney's Lounge!

Western balladeers with contemporary indie folk appeal, Mack West are one of the region's best Country acts. Mike at CityBeat sez their "dusky, atmospheric" sound has more in common with "Ennio Morricone and ... Calexico (than it does with) Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson," alluding to an atmospheric sound that knows where its roots have been planted. The brooding and earnest outfit features Zach Mechlem, Greg Slone, Will Campbell, Steve Wethington and Annette Christianson.

The Southgate House presents a musical tribute to the late Phil Blank, who passed away on January 15, 2010 due to complications with his battle with cancer. The admission proceeds will go to the Play It Forward Foundation, an organization that provides support for musicians in need.

Phil Blank was a Cincy Blues Society Lifetime Achievement Award Winner and a mainstay in the Cincinnati music scene who represented potent Chicago and West Coast-style blues with his groups Slamhammer, White Heat and various incarnations of the Phil Blank Blues Band. He will be honored by many of his fellow bandmates and associates throughout the years by recreating the legendary Phil Blank Blues Band show taken directly from Phil’s set lists.

Phil believed that blues is a true art form. His masterful harmonica playing, plus his electric and slide guitar styles, riveting vocals and personal arrangements of blues standards and original tunes created an exciting and unique experience for his audiences.

Voted Best Open Mic by the readers of CityBeat! Wild folkie Wm. Catfish plugs in the microphone and hands it over to you - all styles welcome and newcomers are especially encouraged to join our open mic family! Get yer guitar and drink with us!

Good idea, signing up to sing "Dancing Queen." Good idea.

It doesn't get much more authentic than The Williams Family Band! They're our Artist In Residence throughout March (so you can catch 'em in Juney's Lounge every Wednesday this month for free!). It's that classic early American acoustic folk and Bluegrass revived from field recordings of The Weavers, The Carter Family, and Pete Seeger, and with direct ties to regions of Ireland, Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Ohio and Kentucky. It's a trio with honest-to-goodness family tradition: generations spanning more than 70 years and featuring former members of Celtic band Ceol Mhor, Blue Rock Boys, Le Technopussies, and Captain Destiny & The Motormedics. Rich harmonies and authentic instrumentation back traditional favorites and originals alike.

Ekoostik Hookah has taken its progressive-psychedelic jam rock on the road for more than 20 years, quickly becoming one of the genre's most popular national acts and, without a doubt, one of the best groups in the region. The jam-band stars weave radical rhythm and guitar lines with maddening enthusiasm, turning our Ballroom upside down with roots-based sonic explorations. Jon Justice warms things up with some of the most accomplished and funky guitar-drawn blues that can be found.

Welcome back one of our new favorites! The Spikedrivers combine bluegrass tradition, insurgent young country enthusiasm and the stubborn wisdom learned from wizened outlaws... modern country with rough edges and a familiar feel, all the way from Columbus, Ohio.

The Southern charms of Gringo Star have been through our neck of the woods before, enriched with doses of '50s and '60s Billy Childish-resurrected garage pop primers. Paste magazine sez it's "a tapestry of jangly guitar and multi-part vocal harmonies, and ranges from psychedelia to garage rock to surf pop."

Ricky Nye is just about the biggest boogie-woogie piano maestro these parts have ever seen, and when he's not hosting the annual Blues & Boogie Piano Summit, he's calling up friends to sit in with him for intimate gigs in our Lounge.

Misty from the Newbees gets the microphones all set up, and the piano's waiting for you, too - all styles welcome and newcomers are especially encouraged to join our open mic family. Get your guitar and drink with us!

Sure, we'll get up to sing "Sweet Child O' Mine," right after you do "Paradise City." You first.

It doesn't get much more authentic than The Williams Family Band! They're our Artist In Residence throughout March (so you can catch 'em in Juney's Lounge every Wednesday this month for free!). It's that classic early American acoustic folk and Bluegrass revived from field recordings of The Weavers, The Carter Family, and Pete Seeger, and with direct ties to regions of Ireland, Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Ohio and Kentucky. It's a trio with honest-to-goodness family tradition: generations spanning more than 70 years and featuring former members of Celtic band Ceol Mhor, Blue Rock Boys, Le Technopussies, and Captain Destiny & The Motormedics. Rich harmonies and authentic instrumentation back traditional favorites and originals alike.