Sound Notes Pick o’ the Week

You know who’s had a busy January? Brolester Records, that’s who. The Des Moines-based label — already home to albums from North of Grand, Superchief and Patrick’s Beard and The Rusty Razors — continues to expand its (now global) network of bands. In the past couple weeks, Brolester’s Jeremiah Tuhn has announced distribution deals with Des Moines-based One Hundred Mondays and Iowa City’s Muddy Rails, and the label has a deal in place to be the U.S. distributor for Dublin, Ireland, stoner rockers, Electric Taurus.                

House of Bricks is hosting a benefit for sound man extraordinaire Michael “Skully” Gust. Skully’s been working his way through cancer treatment, and on Jan. 26, HoB is raising money to help him out. Pitching in to the cause are This Sudden Darkness, Apathy Syndrome, Shatter, Section Hate, Dark Mirror, Hallowed Hysteria, and Thee Annunaki. The gig kicks off at 5 p.m. and is all-ages until 9 p.m. And as if “good karma” and “helping your fellow man” weren’t good enough reasons to get down there, HoB is also providing a free spaghetti dinner with every paid admission between 6 and 8 p.m. Helping people, metal and free pasta? Yes, please.                

On Thursday, Jan. 24, Vaudeville Mews presents Chicago pop rockers Moritat. Show starts at 5 p.m. and is $5 at the door. New Member Charles, Strange Matter, Home-Grown and By and By all open.                

Then, on Friday, Jan. 25, The James Biehn Trio performs at The Underground starting at 9 p.m. No cover.                

Saturday, Jan. 25 has The Travel Guide playing at Gas Lamp, along with Holy White Hounds and Josh Davis and Will Locker starting at 9 p.m. It’s $5 at the door.                

On Saturday, Jan. 26, the Central Iowa Blues Society presents the Winter Blues Fest at the downtown Marriott. This year’s lineup includes Taz Grant, Matt Woods, The Rock Island Rollers, Levi William, Jason Vivone and The Billy Bats, Crankshaft and The Gear Grinders, Nick Moss and The Flip Tops feat. Jason Ricci, Chicago Rhythm and Blues Kings, Corey Stevens and Bob Pace and After Hours Jam. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 day of show. For more info, check out www.cibs.org.                

Sound Notes Pick o’ the Week: Head over to Wooly’s on Sunday, Jan. 27, and check out Stage Fright: A Tribute to The Band. Not only is the show a tribute to one of the seminal acts in American music, but it features some of Des Moines’ best talents in the form of Seth Hedquist, James Biehn, Karen Harrison, Neil Stoffregen and Joel Gettys. Show kicks off at 3 p.m., and tickets are $10 in advance through www.Ticketfly.com, or $12 at the door.                

Also playing on Jan. 27: Hoyt Sherman Place welcomes back Nitefall on the River alums, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, for a show starting at 8 p.m. Tickets for that one run $27.50, $34.50 and $44.50, and are available at the Hoyt Sherman box office, or through www.Ticketmaster.com. Langhorn Slim also performs.                

On Wednesday, Jan. 30, catch Drake Jazz at Mars Café from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. No cover.                

El Bait Shop wraps up our coverage with shows on back-to-back nights. Get down to the bar at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 29 to check out Matthew Logan, or on Wednesday, Jan. 30 for David Zollo. Mahalo. CV