TUES 1/11: Chowder, Bluegrass, Rock

Dang, dang, dang. This could've-should've been up last night, but I feel good about tonight, friends.

Remember: The snow is coming in the morning. Get your party on tonight, and say the blizzard is keep you home tomorrow.

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TUES 1/11

Open to Close
"Chowda Day"
at all Legal Sea Foods locations
$1 Cup of Chowder w/ entree purchase

Get it? $1 on 1/11/11...

Not exactly a cheap thrill considering that even most lunch entrees are over $10.

If you might be going to Legal Sea Foods anyway, you might as well go the extra buck and get the chowder.

TUES 1/11

8pm
Bluegrass Pickin' Party
at Cantab Lounge, 738 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$7 suggested donation

Feat: Hey Mama & Tecumseh Strings (10pm), Dixie Butterhounds (8:30pm)

I know I listed bluegrass last week, but there is another sorta-Hey Mama performance tonight.

When I saw Hey Mama play last year at Precinct, they were joined by a bunch of players dubbed the "Tecumseh Strings" for an acoustic first set of country and bluegrass. It was really fantastic, and I give it a big thumbs up whoever may be a part of Tecumseh Strings tonight.

If you're a picker, you're invited to join the open party before and after the featured bands. When the hat comes around, you really put some money whether you're playing or listening.

TUES 1/11

9pm
Mmoss, The IOA, Heather Maloney Band, Royal Blood
at Middle East - Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10 / 18+

Whoa, this is the kind of gig that would make me go out on a Tuesday. I might just do it, if I bear down and complete the possibly blizzard-doomed Wednesday post.

What is especially sick about this gig is that The IOA has swelled into a 14-member funky, afro-rock monstrosity led by this guy (who spent time in Burma/Myanmar as a monk) with percussion, horns, back-up vocalists -- and Audrey Ryan! Anything Audrey Ryan does is worth listening to, and she's playing 2 of her songs and a cover with them.

At one point, I recall Mmoss being a similarly large psychedelic collective, but it seems they've pared down to a quartet while still making beautifully trippy tunes that wouldn't be out of place during the Summer of Love.

The bill includes some clear, lovely folk-rock from the Heather Maloney Band and endearing messy, rootsy rock from Royal Blood.

TUES 1/11

9:30pm
Zip Tie Handcuffs, Madelyn's Extras, The Ricecakes
at O'Brien's, 3 Harvard St, Allston
$7

Every Tuesday in January is not just a cold friggin' day, it's also means weekly shows anchored by a gang of punky youths known as Zip Tie Handcuffs.

This week happens to be 'Covers Night', so they're going to play Green Day's "Dookie" in its entirety. I don't recall hearing ZTH before, but they've got a good energy that sounds like "Dookie" and many irreverent predecessors have been influences.

I imagine you may hear some covers from Madelyn's Extras since they seem to be a new project with members from various bands that doesn't seem to have a web page of their own.

Roz Raskin and the Ricecakes are starting to be a big deal in a tiny state by winning "Best Local Act" in the Providence Phoenix last year. The keyboard-based trio has a peppy sound that's hard to pin down yet easy to enjoy.