Weekend Picks: Know Good Beer Festival, Windhand, Hunter Hayes, Justin Kauflin, Taking Back Sunday, Good Old War, Purity Ring, Donna The Buffalo

I'll have my Lockn' Festival wrap-up next week. But there is a lot going on this weekend so let's dive in.

Country-pop singer Hunter Hayes is at Innsbrook. Gates open at 5, show starts at 6 with opener Striking Matches. Tix are $25 (GA Lawn), $50 (Gold Circle Reserved), and $65 (Gold Circle Reserved). You might dig Hunter if you like Dierks Bentley, Jason Mraz, or Sugarland. Here's his latest hit, "21":

Over at The National Thursday, alternative/indie/emo/punk/pop band Taking Back Sunday. Doors open at 6:30, show starts at 7:30 with openers Citizen and Modern Chemistry. Be sure to get there early to see critically acclaimed Citizen. Tix are $27.50 in advance, $30 day of show. You might dig Taking Back Sunday if you like Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Green Day, Nirvana, Weezer or The Cure. Here's Taking Back Sunday at the 2015 Alternative Press Music Awards playing with the Contemporary Youth Orchestra:

Thursday night at Sound of Music Recording Studios, trance rhythmic band Lobo Marino headline a open the show at the new location for Sound of Music at 1710 Altamont Ave. The order on the Facebook page for the event and the order on the poster don't exactly jive but just show up and see who is playing when. It's only $7 to get in. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9. Also on the bill are HEADLESSMANTIS, Recluse Raccoon, Kreamy 'Lectric Santa (out of Oakland, CA), and Spooky Cool. Here's Lobo Marino's "I Hear the Ocean, Lift Up the Mountain":



Another in-studio performance Friday night, this time at In Your Ear Studios with the jazz of the Justin Kauflin Trio. Doors open at 6:30, show starts at 7:30, tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Justin was signed by legendary producer, composer and musician Quincy Jones for management. HIs latest album, "Dedication", was produced by Quincy. Justin is a musical prodigy who began performing at age 6, lost his sight at age 11, and started performing jazz professionally at 15. The video below is from Havana Nights Jazz Club in VA Beach, where he performed regularly as the house pianist starting in 2011.



Philly band Good Old War is at The Broadberry on Friday. They play fun folky pop that can sometimes hide some darker lyrics or themes (kind of like the video below). Tix are $15. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with openers Pete Hill (also out of Philly) and Mason Brothers. Here's their latest video, "Tell Me What You Want From Me":



Richmond stoner/sludge/doom metal band Windhand headlines a show at Strange Matter Friday. Doors open at 9, it's $10 to get in and Citadel and Druglord open. Windhand's new album, "Grief's Infernal Flower" comes out that day so expect to hear a lot from that at the show. You can check the new album out on NPR's First Listen HERE. Here's "Crypt Key" from that album:



The Know Good Beer & Music Festival comes to Brown's Island on Saturday from 2 PM - 9 PM. $40 gets you admission and unlimited 4, 8 or 12 oz. tastings (your choice) of over 60 beers. You can also get a $20 admission which gets you in and you can then buy 16 oz. beers, if you want. Music is provided by Blitzen Trapper, Kopecky, Those Darlins, and Sleepwalkers. Here's the title track from Blitzen Trapper's new album, "All Across This Land":

Futuristic electronic/indie/alternative/pop band, Purity Ring, are at The National Sunday night. Tix are $22 in advance, $25 at the door, doors open at 6:30 and the show start at 7:30 with HANA. Here's Purity Ring's "Bodyache" from their latest album, "Another Eternity":

Americana jam band Donna the Buffalo is at Tin Pan Sunday night. Hard to believe that I first saw Donna The Buffalo back in the early 90's! The show starts at 7, no opener, tix are $45 in advance, $50 at the door. The band recently got to play at The Ramble, Levon Helm's famous studio in Woodstock, NY. Here's "I Love My Tribe":



American icon Willie Nelson is at Innsbrook Wednesday night. Gates open at 5, show starts at 6. It says guest: Levon so I don't know if that's the opener or a guest of the band. It looks like it's going to be packed so you might want to get there early regardless. All the reserved seats are sold out. GA lawn is still available for $25 in advance, $30 at the gate. Willie is performing at the 30th annual Farm Aid concert this Saturday with John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds, Imagine Dragons, Jack Johnson, Kacey Musgraves, Old Crow Medicine Show, Jamey Johnson, Mavis Staples, Lukas Nelson and more. It appears there will be a webcast of the show beginning at 3:30 Eastern Time on the Farm Aid site. Here's a playlist of Willie's performance at Farm Aid 2014:



I'll leave you with Fishbone's performance at Lockn' this year. If you look closely, you may just see me bopping in the red baseball hat, next to the guy with the white cowboy hat.

Have a great weekend!


Tony Jordan