EDIT: Wrote this from a Wednesday point of view and posted a day early! Fixed now.

Wednesday, Jaggery performs at Johnny D's in Davis Square, with the weird Army of Broken Toys. I hear Molly Zenobia will be a guest during Jaggery's set. 8:30pm, $10, 21+

Thursday, Kevin So has a CD release concert at Club Passim in Harvard Square, for his first acoustic folk album in years. Paul Erlich opens. 8pm, $15, all ages

Friday, it's Fluttr Effect's Spy Night at the Lizard Lounge (next to the Cambridge Common restaurant on Mass Ave, halfway between Porter and Harvard). An evening of (under) cover songs and spy music featuring the Covert Operation Chamber Orchestra! Starring Molly Zenobia as Golfinger, Mali Sastri as Pussy Golore, Brendan Higgins as M, Gonzalo Plaza as Oddjob and Goli as the Fembots! Come dressed as your favorite spy, double agent, ambassador, assassin or femme fatale! 8:30pm, $10, 21+

Any good music you know of on the weekend or next week?

Boubacar Diabate with Samba Lolo is performing at Johnny D's tonight. The Johnny D's blurb:

"West African guitarist, singer, songwriter, and storyteller, Boubacar Diabate, along with his group, Samba Lolo, has combined traditional rhythms with modern influences to create his own style of contemporary Malian Griot music. Singing in Bambara, the ensemble creates a performance that spans the full spectrum of Traditional to Contemporary Malian music from West Africa. These songs of a common shared experience of love, life and humanity, give all an opportunity to hear the age-old West African tradition of Griot, storytelling through song."

Johnny D's, 17 Holland Street, Somerville, MA
across from the Holland St exit of the Davis Square T stop (red line)
21+, $10, show begins at 9:45pm

Who wants to go?

Until 6pm (for the next 15 minutes), you can buy tickets online for tonight's Concert for Kerry with Russell Wolff, Rachael Sage, and others, at Johnny D's. If you buy online, it's $10, if you pay at the door, it's $15.

Rachael Sage is playing two benefits in the area this week. Tonight, at Club Passim, a benefit for Womens' Lunch Place; tomorrow, at Johnny D's, a Concert for Kerry.

A benefit for Womens' Lunch Place
 with Katie Barbato, Gregory Douglass, Rachael Sage, Melissa Ferrick, and Syd
Wednesday, June 2, 8:00pm
Club Passim, 47 Palmer Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge

Concert for Kerry
 with Dawn Landes, Owen Plant, Rachael Sage, Russell Wolff, Medina Sod
Thursday, June 3, 8:30pm
Johnny D's, 17 Holland Street, Davis Square, Somerville

Russell Wolff is an interesting character that more people should hear. He's got a punk-storytelling kind of singer-songwriter style.

The Hot Club of Cowtown, from Austin, Texas, comes to Boston every year or so, and they usually play at Johnny D's. I've seen them there a few times and their performances have all been fun. They're an acoustic trio, guitar, fiddle, and upright bass. They play Western Swing music, which has always been part jazz, but in their case, a very specifc jazz influence: Stephane Grapelli & Django Reinhardt's Hot Club of France, from the 40s and 50s. The blend works really well.

Wednesday, May 26th, 8:30pm
Johnny D's, 17 Holland Street, Davis Square, Somerville
617-776-2004
21+, $12

Johnny D's is across the street from the Holland Street exit of the Davis Square stop on the red line - which is right next to the Somerville Theatre. They have seating if you get there in time, or make a reservation, and they have pretty good dinner food.

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Other upcoming shows at Johnny D's worth noting:

• Friday, May 28th - Boston Horns (funk)
  
• Wednesday, June 2 - Dana Kletter (folk)
  
• Thursday, June 3 - Concert for Kerry (fundraiser)
  
• Friday, June 4 - Laika & The Cosmonauts (surf rock from Finland)
  
• Thursday, June 10 - Slaid Cleaves (roots-blues-folk-story)

Tonight, Boston Pop Undeground show at the Paradise lounge on Commonwealth Ave in Allston, with Mike Viola, Blue, and Paula Kelly. 18+, $8, doors at 8:00pm.

Thursday, May 20th, is the Dark Sky show I posted about, with Lucretia's Daggers, FLUTTR, and One of Us, at the Sky Bar, Somerville.

Christine Lavin has two shows in the area coming up: Friday, May 21st, in Grafton MA, and Saturday, May 22nd, at the New Song Coffeehouse in Bedford, MA.
[ Edit: The Bagboys are playing at The Burren in Davis Square on Saturday at 5pm - a party for retiring Plough & Stars bartender Barry. ]

Sunday, May 23rd, Wholesale Klezmer Band at Club Passim. All ages, 8:00pm, $15. Then on Monday night, May 24th, is that Falcon Ridge preview tour, also at Passim.

The Hot Club of Cowtown is coming to Johhny D's in Davis Square on Wednesday, May 26th. A blend of western swing and Django Reinhardt / Stephane Grappelli style jazz!

Two shows a little further out that I hope to find time to post more about: Tuesday, June 1st, the Dresden Dolls are doing an acoustic set at the Middle East opening for the Legendary Pink Dots! And Wednesday, June 2nd, Dana Kletter has a show at Johnny D's.

Robyn Hitchcock is coming to Johnny D's in Davis Square, Somerville, tomorrow night! He's that wacky punky guitarist rocker/songwriter from England with a cult following, who sang:

Viva viva viva viva viva Sea-Tac
They've got the best computers and coffee and smack

Coming and going it has to be Boeing
The best form of defence is blow them up
In a regular cup

Have an espresso. You will?  Oh I guess so
I feel my heart is gonna start to jump
'Cause it's wired to a pump

... or listen to this clip from Uncorrected Personality Traits.
Read a review/profile of Robyn Hitchcock: http://www.terrascope.org/robyn.html

I adore his music and I've never seen him live. I get the impression that he's both engaging and amusing live, and that the show will go by much too quickly. I also think I snagged one of the last few table reservations for dinner. Standing room tickets sell only at the door on the night of the show, but I suspect those will sell out too. Wanna sit? Come join me - send me email or comment here.

Johnny D's is at 17 Holland Street in Somerville, directly across the street from the Holland Street exit of the Davis Square stop on the red line. their phone number is 617-776-2004. It is unfortunately 21+. The show is at 9pm but my dinner reservation is for 7pm because that was the only way to reserve a table.

I really should have found the time to trumpet Don White here, before his appearance at Passim several hours ago, but I've been gallivanting about San Francisco all day. Instead, I'll tell you that Dan Bern will be at Passim this Tuesday evening, for two shows, 7pm and 10pm. Anne Heaton is opening for him at both shows. She's actually even more of a draw for me than Dan Bern. A singer/songwriter from NYC who plays the keyboard, lots of fun, go see the show if you haven't seen her before.

Robyn Hitchcock will be at Johnny D's in Davis Square, Somerville, on October 30th. I think that's gonna sell out. I hope there are still tickets available when I get back to Boston!

I'm still on my road trip, writing from Denver. Molly Zenobia did two new songs at last night's show here. Today, Jeff Wasilko writes:

A great Seattle band called "Two Loons for Tea" are playing at Johnny D's tonight. Their music is a wonderful combination of jazz, pop, trip hop, electronica, atmospheric guitar, and great raspy/rich vocals.

http://www.twoloons.com/ has more info...

The show's at Johnny D's, and was supposed to start at 9pm, but the guy at Johnny D's said they'd be holding up the start of the show for the Red Sox game. So, come down and watch the Sox beat the Yankees and then see some great music to celebrate!

Johnny D's is in Davis Square, Somerville, across Holland Street from the red line stop and the Somerville Theatre. A lot of their shows are 21+ so call them to check if it matters. 617-776-2004

The Johnny D's calendar has this to say about tonight's band: Two Loons for Tea is an energetic dreampop duo from Seattle (Sarah Scott and Jonathan Kochmer) that has built a considerable following on the other coast- this will be their first time in town. Their live shows are known for their lively, sensual and powerful mixing of many genres- jazz, rock, trance. In their band back home are Kevin KIllen (Peter Gabriel, U2), Terry Gunn (King Crimson), Brad Houser (Edie Brickell)!

Fruit, from Australia, is playing at Johnny D's in Davis Square, Somerville, tonight. 8:30pm, 21+, $8.
There's no opener, so I think they're playing two sets. If 8:30 is too early, come at 10 or even 11 and you can still see them.

I'd have posted about this a few days ago if it weren't for Falcon Ridge, and I've been way behind on online stuff recently and didn't have time to write much. So instead I asked ceelove to write something about Fruit, since she's the one who first introduced me to them. She sent me what she'd already written a while ago...

One of my favorite bands, Fruit, is playing Johnny D's on Tuesday the 29th. Fruit kicks ass from here to Australia, from whence they hail. It's a five-person band; the three leads are the same, the bassist & drummer sometimes change.

And those three leads, you ask? Susie, Mel, and Sam. They're all female, all singer-songwriters-guitarists and damn good at their craft; their harmonies are somethin' else, their energy is phenomenal... And then
there's Mel, who is just blisteringly good. Mel is arguably the single most talented musician I have ever seen, and believe me, I've seen a lot. She can play anything she touches; I wouldn't put it past her to develop telekinetic powers so as to have that much more scope and freedom. I've heard her on trumpet, flute, flugelhorn, clarinet, harmonica, guitar, sax, and the "clumpet," a trumpet body with a clarinet mouthpiece fitted to it (which makes a sound resembling a didgeridoo), and I believe she can play a few others when she gets bored with those. She can sing like the heavenly host channeling a rock opera.

The first time I saw them, it was on a whim - based on nothing but the blurb from Johnny D's, about four years ago. No one else had heard of them either. Andy and I were about one-fifth of the audience there, yet Fruit rocked our socks off, playing for the joy of it. Within a minute of them taking the stage, we were on a cell phone, calling everyone we knew, telling them to come.