Top 8 concert picks this week in Sarasota, Bradenton, Palmetto, Englewood, Port Charlotte
This week in local live music kicks off with two notable names in sacred steel, The Lee Boys and Roosevelt Collier, playing separate shows in Sarasota and Charlotte counties. We'll be visited by other touring out-of-town acts in blues, punk and more, including a Christmas concert by a Grammy-nominated musician that's part of the lengthy lineup of local winter holiday events onstage (and off-stage.)
There'll be noteworthy shows featuring some of the many talented musicians who call Sarasota-Manatee home too, at events including a local brewery tap takeover and a tribute to an iconic singer-songwriter. Here are this week's highlights. Event details are subject to change.
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The Lee Boys with Melody Trucks
After playing Sarasota County restaurant and blues spot Englewoods on Dearborn, the Miami-based group The Lee Boys, with special guest Melody Trucks, is next set to visit Sarasota brewery/venue Big Top Brewing Company. Featuring brothers Alvin, Derrick and Keith Lee along with their nephews, the group plays in the sacred steel tradition, originating from church services featuring steel guitar for a sound that blends gospel with a hard-driving, blues-based beat. Percussionist/vocalist Melody Trucks also hails from a musical family, as the daughter of late Allman Brothers Band founding member Butch Trucks and cousin of Derek Trucks. 7 p.m. Friday; Big Top Brewing Company, 975 Cattlemen Road, Sarasota; free; 941-371-2939; bigtopbrewing.com
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Roosevelt Collier
Renowned pedal steel guitarist Roosevelt Collier, whose uncles and cousins play in The Lee Boys, will perform his own area show Friday in Charlotte County, part of a string of end-of-year Florida dates that also includes North Beach Music Festival in Miami. The South Florida-raised Collier has performed with acts including Karl Denson's Tiny Universe and country singer/rapper Jelly Roll, playing Grand Ole Opry with the latter in October. Collier's solo work, meanwhile, includes his 2018 full-length "Exit 16," releasing an "Exit 16: Revisited" featuring bonus tracks earlier this year. K-Luv and the United Funk Foundation open. 6 p.m. Friday; Bert's Back Porch at The Twisted Fork, 2208 El Jobean Road, Port Charlotte; free general admission, $27 and up VIP; 941-235-3675; twistedfork.net
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Selwyn Birchwood
After recently performing at Englewoods on Dearborn, guitarist and singer-songwriter Selwyn Birchwood is set to visit another one of Sarasota-Manatee's top blues venues, Bradenton's Cottonmouth, this week. Birchwood was this year's Song of the Year Blues Music Award winner for "I'd Climb Mountains" off his Billboard blues album chart-topping 2021 full-length "Living in a Burning House," his latest for renowned blues label Alligator Records. He previously won a Best New Artist Debut Blues Music Award for his first album with Alligator, 2014's "Don't Call No Ambulance." 7:30 p.m. Saturday; Cottonmouth Southern Soul Kitchen, 1114 12th St. W., Bradenton; $20; 941-243-3735; facebook.com/cottonmouthsoul
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The Burke Brothers Trio
Palmetto's Waypoint Bar & Grill will offer some of the best in local brews and tunes when it hosts a tap takeover by Sun King Brewing (which now has a Sarasota location) and live music from the Burke Brothers Trio. The trio features multiple members of Bradenton Americana band Have Gun, Will Travel, including singer and chief songwriter Matt Burke, bassist Danny Burke and guitarist Scott Anderson. The group ranks among Sarasota-Manatee's most successful musical acts, earning attention from outlets such as NPR and No Depression and having their music appear on the TV shows "The Good Wife" and "The Ranch." 5 p.m. Saturday; Waypoint Bar & Grill, 11000 U.S. Highway 41 N., Palmetto; 941-212-6600; waypoint27north.com
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Some Kind of Nightmare
Bradenton's Oscura, which has held shows by a variety of indie and punk acts since reopening in a larger new location earlier this year, will host a concert featuring a nationally touring band in the latter genre. San Diego punk trio Some Kind of Nightmare, which formed in 2006 and has released a steady stream of albums since then — most recently, 2020's "Transplant Pulse" — visit the venue while on a lengthy U.S. winter tour. Thee Butcher Cabal from St. Petersburg and RATH & the Wise Guys from Holiday will also perform. 5 p.m. doors, 6 p.m. show Sunday; Oscura, 816 Manatee Ave. E., Bradenton; free; 941-201-4950; facebook.com/oscuralive
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The Joni Project
Sarasota's Fogartyville hosts this tribute to legendary singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, led by a locally based musician who shares the same first name. The Joni Project features Joni Adno of Sarasota dance band Big Night Out singing lead vocals and playing guitar and piano, joined by Joe Brunoon bass, Bob Miner on saxophone, Art Siegel on drums and Dr. Jon Godfrey on guitar. The show will recreate songs from Mitchell’s most prolific periods in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, when she released classic albums such as "Blue" and "Court and Spark." 6 p.m. doors, 7 p.m. show Sunday; Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center, 525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota; $18, $15 members, $9 students ages 13 and up; 941-894-6469; fogartyville.org
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Liz Mandeville
Chicago blues singer-songwriter and guitarist Liz Mandeville plays back-to-back Sarasota and Manatee County shows at Englewoods on Dearborn and Cottonmouth. Inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame in 2013, alongside names such as Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy, Mandeville has featured other renowned Chicago blues musicians like Billy Branch and the late Willie "Big Eyes" Smith and Eddie Shaw on her albums. 6 p.m. Wednesday; Englewoods on Dearborn, 362 W. Dearborn St., Englewood; $7; 941-475-7501; englewoodsondearborn.com; 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 22; Cottonmouth Southern Soul Kitchen, 1114 12th St. W., Bradenton; $15; 941-243-3735; facebook.com/cottonmouthsoul
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Jim Brickman
The list of winter holiday shows at Van Wezel continues with Grammy-nominated songwriter and pianist Jim Brickman, returning to the venue on his A Very Merry Christmas tour. Though Brickman performs more than just Christmas music — one of his two Grammy nominations was in the Best New Age Album category for 2008's "Faith" — he's released several albums themed around the holiday, including 2003's Best Pop Instrumental Album Grammy-nominated "Peace." The show will have Brickman performing holiday favorites as well as his own original songs such as "The Gift" and "Sending You a Little Christmas." 7:30 p.m. Thursday; Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; $32-$57; 941-263-6799; vanwezel.org
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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Best live music concerts in Sarasota, Bradenton, Port Charlotte area
