I can’t help but think of the B-52’s when I hear the Sweetback Sisters. No, I don’t mean that they make you want to hear “Rock Lobster.” Although the Sisters’ two primary singers, Zara Bode and Emily Miller, do like to dress alike onstage, they remind me a lot of the way Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson sing together in that their voices and singing styles complement each other well, and they always sound like they’re having a good time singing together.  The enthusiasm of the singers makes the infectiousness of The Sweetback Sisters’ sound a foregone conclusion.

They’re going to be at the Thunderbird Café (http://www.thunderbirdcafe.net ) in Lawrenceville on Sunday, August 8th.  The Thunderbird is renowned both for its acoustics and for the unusually eclectic variety of artists who perform there.  As the Thunderbird’s powers that be proudly say about themselves:

I saw Built to Spill several years ago at The Metro in Chicago. They were on the road promoting their then-new album, 'You In Reverse,' which I was thoroughly obsessed with, especially the song “Liar.” To the disdain of many fans and last minute ticket buyers, the show ended up being sold-out. Built to Spill founder Doug Martsch grabbed his acoustic guitar and played an impromptu set on the sidewalk for those without tickets. In my mind, it pretty much solidified him as the coolest dude in indie rock.

After a decade of doing the same thing, one could think it would get monotonous. That’s not the case for Dashboard Confessional founder Chris Carrabba.

“Music is all things to me,” Carrabba says. “It’s a respite from real life, but it’s also a place contemplate and begin to understand what you’re going through. Music can clarify how things are affecting you.”

Carrabba and Dashboard Confessional will be bringing that passion to Diesel on July 26, a show that was just added less than a month ago.

What’s your reality? For the guys in The Spill Canvas and their Pittsburgh fans, it’s a concert at Mr. Small’s July 21. 

Fresh off the release of their latest EP, 'Realities,' The Spill Canvas is hitting the east coast for a two month tour.

I could sit here, trying to tell you about James McMurtry, hoping to get you to go see him Wednesday night at Club Café, and do nothing but quote his lyrics.  He reminds me of reading Tom Robbins, in that I used to write down quotations form his books while reading them.  (I really have to reread Tom Robbins—that was a long time ago.

I could just put up a bunch of YouTube videos, too, and let you him speak for himself, because I consider McMurtry, for lack of a better word, a bard—an artist whose words gain more power with his voice singing them.