Top 10 concerts this week in Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice, Punta Gorda
After a relatively quiet week for concerts amid the Easter holiday, live music looks to be back in full force locally this week. Even better, there'll be a wide range of music genres, with something to satisfy just about everyone.
Two of our area's most popular genres, the blues and bluegrass, will be well-represented this week, with Billboard blues chart-topping and Blues Music Award-nominated artists in the former category, and International Bluegrass Music Association award-winning and Grammy-nominated acts in the latter. Yet there'll also be notable rock, punk, ska, R&B, country and classical concerts. Here are this week's highlights. Event details are subject to change.
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Sister Hazel
After playing Joyland in February 2020, Sister Hazel return to the Sarasota-Manatee venue at its new location off University Parkway. Formed in Gainesville, Florida, the rock band found national fame with their 1997 platinum album "...Somewhere More Familiar" and its No. 11 hit single "All for You." Sister Hazel has continued to release albums since then, most recently 2020's "Elements," which combines their previous EPs "Water," "Wind," "Fire" and "Earth" into one release. They'll be joined by Jason White at the Joyland show. 5:30 p.m. doors, 7:30 p.m. show Friday; Joyland, 8341 Lockwood Ridge Road, Sarasota; $25 advance, $30 day of; 941-210-4110; joylandsarasota.com
Wolf-Face
Also making their return to the area Friday night are St. Pete lupine punks Wolf-Face, who play Bradenton cafe and DIY venue Oscura. As their name suggests, the band is inspired by the 1985 Michael J. Fox film "Teen Wolf," dressing in costume and with several of their song titles inspired by the movie or wolves (including a convincing cover of TV on the Radio's "Wolf Like Me.") They'll be joined by other Florida indie and punk bands including Jacksonville's Friendly Fire, Sarasota's Floating Boy and Bradenton's The Losing Game (formerly known as HeavyHeavy.) 7 p.m. Friday; Oscura, 816 E. Manatee Ave., Bradenton; $10; 941-201-4950; oscura.live
BBQ & Bluegrass Hoot ‘n’ Annie
The third annual BBQ & Bluegrass Hoot 'n' Annie, which stemmed from the former Suncoast BBQ & Bluegrass Bash, returns to Venice this year with a three-course barbecue dinner prepared by pitmaster Dana Hillis and live music by Lonesome River Band. The bluegrass group is led by Sammy Shelor, a five-time International Bluegrass Music Association Banjo Player of the Year and Steve Martin Banjo Prize winner. The band's history dates back to the 1980s and continues to release music, most recently last year's album "Heyday." 5 p.m. Saturday; Fox Lea Farm, 800 N. Auburn Road, Venice; $175 individual tickets, packages also available; suncoastfoundation.com/hoot-n-annie
Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley
Two more acclaimed bluegrass musicians visit the area this week when Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley play Fogartyville. The duo released their new album "Living in a Song" earlier this year, continuing a collaboration that began with the Best Bluegrass Album Grammy-nominated "Before the Sun Goes Down." Ickes is a five-time Grammy nominee and 15-time Resophonic Guitar Player of the Year IBMA award winner, while Hensley's three IBMA Awards include Collaborative Recording of the Year for playing on Bobby Osborne's cover of Merle Haggard's "White Line Fever." 6:30 p.m. doors, 7:30 p.m. show Sunday; Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center, 525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota; $27, $22 members, $13.50 students ages 13 and up; 941-894-6469; fogartyville.org
The Toasters
One of the best-known second-wave ska bands visits the area when The Toasters plays Charlotte County Irish pub and venue Celtic Ray. The Toasters formed in New York City in the 1980s, but many '90s kids first discovered them through the Nickelodeon show "KaBlam!" that used their track "Two-Tone Army" as its theme song, with their music also appearing in the pilot episode of the cult animated series "Mission Hill." The group, still featuring its founding frontman Robert "Bucket" Hingley, will be joined by Fort Myers ska punks Bargain Bin Heroes. 8 p.m. Monday; Celtic Ray Public House, 145 E. Marion Ave., Punta Gorda; free (21-and-up); 941-916-9115; celticray.net
Motown Monday with Chester Gregory
Downtown Sarasota comedy club McCurdy's Comedy Theatre holds a Motown edition of its Music Monday concert series with Chester Gregory. Along with portraying Motown Records founder Berry Gordy in "Motown: The Musical," Gregory's other Broadway credits include "Sister Act," "Cry-Baby," "Tarzan" and "Hairspray." Gregory, who also releases music under the name C.H.E.S.S. including last year's album "Retrograde (Moon)," will perform Motown and other '60s and '70s hits backed by a live band. 7 p.m. Monday; McCurdy's Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota; $30; 941-925-3869; mccurdyscomedy.com
Joanna Connor
Bradenton restaurant and blues venue Cottonmouth Southern Soul Kitchen hosts a well-known name in the genre this week when guitarist and singer-songwriter Joanna Connor plays there. Raised in Massachusetts, Connor moved to the blues hub of Chicago in the 1980s and later signed to Blind Pig Records, releasing multiple albums on the esteemed blues label. In 2021, she released the Billboard blues album chart-topping full-length "4801 South Indiana Avenue" on Joe Bonamassa's Keeping the Blues Alive Records, and is teaming up with another blues-rock favorite — Mike Zito and his Gulf Coast Records — for a new album this year. 7 p.m. Wednesday; Cottonmouth Southern Soul Kitchen, 1114 12th St. W., Bradenton; $20 advance, $25 day of; 941-243-3735; facebook.com/cottonmouthsoul
Ashland Craft
Sarasota brewery and venue Big Top Brewing Company hosts yet another concert by a rising country star when it welcomes Ashland Craft this week. A contestant on season 13 of "The Voice" in 2017, Craft was named one of CMT’s Next Women of Country and Pandora’s Country Artists to Watch in 2021, the same year she released her debut album "Travelin' Kind." She has also collaborated with other country artists including Hardy on his song "So Close" and Brothers Osborne on the track "I Smoke Weed" (with Craft's Big Top show taking place on 4/20, appropriately enough.) 7 p.m. Thursday, April 20; Big Top Brewing Company, 975 Cattlemen Road, Sarasota; $15; 941-371-2939; bigtopbrewing.com
JIJI
Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota hosts this show at downtown Sarasota's Selby Gardens featuring guitarist and composer JIJI. Named one of 21 "Composers and performers who sound like tomorrow" by The Washington Post in 2021 and winner of the Concert Artists Guild competition in 2016, her music ranges from traditional classical to free improvisation played on acoustic and electric guitar. JIJI is also a member of the Los Angeles-based music collective Wild Up, which earned a Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance Grammy nomination for the 2019 recording of Christopher Cerrone's "The Pieces That Fall to Earth." 5:30 p.m. Thursday; Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, 1534 Mound St., Sarasota; $40; 941-306-1202; artistseriesconcerts.org
Ben Prestage
Celtic Ray's live music lineup this week also includes self-described "Deep South Swamp Music" one-man-band Ben Prestage. The musician grew up in rural Florida and later lived in Memphis, where as a street performer he started playing drums with his feet while simultaneously singing and playing other instruments, a setup he'd bring back to his home state. Prestage's repertoire of instruments he plays includes the diddley bow, which earned him a Blues Music Award nomination for Instrumentalist — Other. 7 p.m. Thursday; Celtic Ray Public House, 145 E. Marion Ave., Punta Gorda; 941-916-9115; celticray.net
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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Best live music concerts in Sarasota Bradenton Venice Punta Gorda
