In the early 1990s a genre of music started to form that drew from country, folk and indie rock. Amorphous, several labels were thrown at it: progressive country, alt.country, No Depression, Redneck Underground, Insurgent Country and—probably the most widely accepted—Americana. While Nashville suits were perfecting the transformation of Country (with a capital “C”) into a glitzy, arena-sized spectacle, complete with pyrotechnics and smashing guitars, smaller venues opened their doors to this fringe element. Independent labels started popping up to provide a home to these acts, and in many parts of the country Americana radio helped spread the word. Soon, young would-be rockers were sitting around campfires singing Uncle Tupelo (Wilco, Son Volt) songs. The Bottle Rockets, from St. Louis, Missouri, were there at the beginning, carving out their own niche within this loose genre—creating something often called rural-rock. Their music is about as straight-ahead as it gets. Gritty and cleverly honest, the band makes a very rare stop in Buffalo in support of its current release Zoysia (Bloodshot), which was produced by Jeff Powell (Alex Chilton, Afghan Whigs) at legendary Ardent Studios in Memphis. This is the kind of show that, in a year, every hipster will say they were at—but the place only holds a couple hundred, and at this price, hipsters can actually afford to go. So get there early and stay late. Opening will be great local Americana band Flatbed followed by Otis Gibbs—bib overall troubador with an anarchist bent.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Samuel Beckett’s birth and the 25th anniversary of the 1981 world premiere of his play Rockaby in Buffalo. On Friday, Buffalo will celebrate Beckett’s career and connections to our city with an evening of film, music, discussion and theater at the Albright Knox Art Gallery sponsored by riverrun, Cinegael Buffalo, the Humanities Institute of SUNY Buffalo, the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library and the Irish Classical Theatre Company. In addition to Rockaby, Beckett’s Buffalo connections include friends/collaborators Raymond Federman, novelist and professor of English at UB; Chris O’Neill, late founder of Buffalo’s Irish Classical Theatre Company; and Morton Feldman, composer and former chairman of the Music Department at UB. The evening will conclude with a 9pm performance of Rockaby by Josephine Hogan of the Irish Classical Theatre Company, in the role of the shrouded old woman trapped in a chair who rocks herself to death. The role was originally played by Billie Whitelaw, the definitive interpreter of Beckett’s work, who once perfomed the part on the stage of what is today the Town Ballroom. The program also features John Reilly’s documentary film Waiting for Beckett (6pm); a talk by UB’s Dr. Damien Keane, titled “Catalogue, Index, Transcription: 1936-1946: Beckett’s Paperwork for the French Resistance” (7:45pm); and a panel discussion, “Beckett: Modernism to Minimalism,” with Reilly, Keane and UB’s Laurence Shine, moderated by Patrick Martin, director of Cinegael Buffalo.

Since the formation of the band in the late 1990s, Califone has confounded listeners and critics alike with its disturbing yet beautiful hybrid of folk, blues, pop and electronic soundscapes. Formed by frontman Tim Rutili out of the remnants of his former band, the late lamented Red Red Meat, Califone trandscends traditional folk and blues structures and transforms them into something new entirely. The group’s previous recording, Heron King Blues (Thrill Jockey), was an almost completely improvised work that recalled the more experimental sides of bands such as Pere Ubu and Public Image Ltd. The latest, Roots and Crowns, goes further into folk territory while retaining the pioneering spirit of its predecessor. The songs are woven together by improvised percussion and found sounds, all while singer/songwriter Rutili invokes an aching feeling of loss and longing. As amazing as these records are, this is a sound that is best experienced up close. Aided by two drummers and various multi-imstrumetalists, Califone is becoming known as one of the best live acts of this decade, having stolen the show countless times now. Opening acts are UK acoustic folk artist Peter and the Wolf and Tracy Morrow and the Magi Chippie.

Classical music fans are in for a rare treat this weekend as the Freudig Singers of Western New York accompany the Chautauqua Chamber Singers as well as the Jamestown Choral Society in presenting a memorable program of compositions by Roland E. Martin, UB music professor and director of the Freudig Singers. The event features two main works, Requiem da Camera and A Hymn for St. Cecilia, as well as several smaller pieces, including the area premiere of “The Voice of the Rain,” a poem the composer has loved for many years. The composer’s love of poetry shows throughout the program, most notably in the Requiem, which includes text taken from Emily Dickinson, A.E. Housman, Robert Herrick and Christina Rossetti. The Requiem is one of the composer’s favorites among his more than 70 works. At the end of the night, the audience is invited to discuss the program with Martin and to observe a Freudig Singers rehearsal. (The program will be repeated at 4pm on Sunday, November 5 at Zion Covenant Church in Jamestown.)