By Michael Swanger michael@dmcityview.com

Electric Junction kicks off a free Court Avenue street party on Friday to celebrate the Drake Relays with a performance that starts at 7 p.m.

Scene notes: The return of a street party, a hootenanny and a Bastard

The Soul Searchers won the second Des Moines preliminary round of the 2008 Iowa Blues Challenge last week at Blues on Grand. They will compete against the Avey Brothers and Smokin’ Mojo Kings in the finals on May 17 at 9 p.m. at the Hotel Fort Des Moines. Admission is $10. … Crooner Michael Buble plays Wells Fargo Arena on Friday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $46-$76. … Court Avenue bars and eateries will celebrate the return of the Drake Relays with a free street party featuring musical performances by Towncrier (10 p.m.) and Electric Junction (7 p.m.) on Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight.

Organizers will start tapping a free “Relay” keg at 7 p.m. [rainout location: Court Avenue Restaurant and Brewing Co.] A pub-crawl from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the Court District will also be held. It includes concerts by DJ Retro P (Liar’s Club), Mr. Baber’s Neighbors (Johnny’s Hall of Fame), DJ Blow Out (Royal Mile), Mooseknuckle (Hessen Haus), Truth Be Told (El Bait Shop), Savage Aural Hotbed (Vaudeville Mews), DJ Brazzkuncklezz (The Lift), Tony Bohnenkamp (A.K. O’Connor’s) and Pocket Full of Nickels (Buzzard Billy’s). … Also celebrating the Drake Relays, local rapper Horizon will perform Saturday at 10 p.m. at the Vaudeville Mews. Admission is $8. … The Pink Elephant Parade, a mix of rock music and freak show scheduled to be held Friday and Saturday at the Viking Theatre at Grand View College, has been cancelled.

The Des Moines Area Community College Spring Concert will be held Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Building 6 Auditorium on DMACC’s Ankeny campus. The college’s concert and chamber choirs, as well as volunteer ensembles, will perform for free. A reception will follow the concert. … Mark Stuart from the Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash returns this weekend to Des Moines to play three singer-songwriter gigs at each AK O’Connor’s location with his buddies Randy Burk and Jared Hall for his “Iowa Love Tour.” On Friday, the trio plays at the West Des Moines A.K.’s at 9 p.m. Saturday they’re downtown at Third and Court Avenue at 9 p.m. And Sunday, they play the Beaverdale location at 8 p.m. … Local rapper $trick9 is once again hosting his eclectic annual Spring Hootenanny on Saturday, only this time the show moves to Living History Farms. $trick9 & The Truth share the bill with Mr. Baber’s Neighbors and Brother Trucker. Doors open at 5 p.m. and admission is $10. Organizers are asking fans to bring a dish to share for the event’s potluck, though that’s not the only interactive part of the show. Other activities include hayrack rides, the annual beard growing competition and the Farmer’s Daughter Contest. The winner of the beard contest gets to take home a giant bag of facial hair from the losers, while the women are encouraged to wear their favorite milkmaid outfit to compete for a fancy rhinestone hat/tiara. Visit http://www.yostrick9.com or http://www.myspace.com/springhootenanny.

Folk-rock singer-guitarist Eric Himan plays the Ritual Café on Saturday at 8 p.m. He’s on tour plugging his new album, “Resonate,” and has been the darling of the LGBT media of late with features in Out, Genre and Instinct. He’s also topped Sirius Radio’s OutQ chart and has had the top video for six weeks on MTV Logo’s request show. … Rappers Tech N9ne, Paul Wall and Ill Bill play the Val Air Ballroom on Sunday at 7 p.m. Tickets are $17.50 in advance and $22.50 at the door. … EOTO, featuring String Cheese Incident members Michael Travis and Jason Hann, plays the Vaudeville Mews on Monday at 10 p.m. Admission is $10. … The Medic Droid and A Cursive Memory are co-headlining a national tour that plays an all-ages show at the House of Bricks on Monday at 5 p.m. Single File and Finding the Warren open. Admission is $8. … Drowning Pool headlines the “Know Your Enemy Tour” that plays May 3 at Vieux Carre in West Des Moines. Egypt Central, Revelation Theory, Another Black Day and Destrophy join the bill. Tickets are $15 through IowaTix.com. … Promising blues singer-guitarist Sean Costello, who played Blues on Grand a number of times and graced this column a few years ago when he made his Des Moines debut, died April 15 — one day before his 29th birthday — at a hotel room in his hometown of Atlanta, Ga. An official cause of death has not been determined. Costello was a multi-talented artist and torchbearer for traditional blues, whose live shows and albums demonstrated a maturity and deeper understanding of the genre than most of his young peers. His latest album, “We Can Get Together,” is another triumph in his tragically brief, but impressive recording career. Costello was scheduled to play Blues on Grand on May 7 and headline the second night of the Simply the Blues Festival in Fort Madison on May 10. Jason Ricci and New Blood will fill in at Fort Madison.

Twenty-two-year-old California pop singer Colbie Caillat, daughter of music producer Ken Caillat, plays the Val Air Ballroom on May 13. Tickets are $22.50. … Young Johnston-based alt-rockers The Dig Angees recently finished recording a new CD. No word on a CD release show, yet. … The Des Moines Symphony released the schedule for its 2008-09 series, which includes guest artists like singer Amy Grant and violinist Sarah Chang, and celebrates the 20th anniversary of music director and conductor Maestro Joseph Giunta. The schedule includes “Yankee Doodle Pops” July 3, “Opening Night Gala” with Amy Grant Sept. 20, “Music of the Maestro” Oct. 25-26, “Bugs Bunny on Broadway” (George Daugherty conducting) Nov. 15-16, Cirque de La Symphonie New Year’s Eve Pops Dec. 31, “Unmasked Melodies” (pianist Andreas Haefliger) Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2009, “Symphony-Palooza” Project March 7-8, 2009, “Captivating Chang” (Sarah Chang, violin) April 4-5, 2009 and “Russian Reunion” (Arnaldo Cohen, piano) May 2-3, 2009. All performances will be held at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines. Visit http://www.dmsymphony.org for details about tickets. … Jason Stonerook, a political science professor at Luther College, examines the cultural link between rock music and political action in his new book, “Rock ‘N’ Politics: A State of the Union Address,” published by iUniverse. The book is a mix of political commentary, music criticism and narrative non-fiction and includes chapters devoted to artists like Bruce Springsteen, U2, the Strokes and OutKast. … Sign of the times: Apple Inc.’s iTunes is the first seller of digital downloads to dethrone Wal-Mart as the nation’s top seller of music. During the months of January and February, Apple sold more albums that any other music retailer in the country — including Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target — according to NPD Group, a market research firm. The group, however, counted every 12 singles sold as one album, and experts say that Apple got a boost during those months from customers who cashed in their iTunes gift cards. CV

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