Canadian country traditionalists the Rizdales make a return visit to the Sportsmen’s Tavern on Friday (Nov. 2) to throw a party celebrating their new CD Radio Country. The quintet features the killer harmonies of the husband-wife team of Tara and Tom Dunphy, who naturally deliver catchy duets like “Here I Go” and “High Heeled Homewrecker,” a couple of great new tunes that continue mapping out the territory of the honky-tonk heart. While racking up praise from hardcore country icon Dale Watson, the band has also been busy backing up Wanda Jackson on her recent swing through Canada. The show starts at 9:30pm, and admission is free.

If you’ve had the pleasure of dropping by the Sportsmen’s Tavern on any Saturday afternoon for the “Soul Jazz Matinees” over the past year, you’ve been digging the cool sounds of the Ronnie Davis Combo featuring the man himself on the sassy Hammond organ. If you haven’t checked it out yet, don’t miss this Saturday’s action (Nov. 3). The band hosts a CD release party at the club from 3-6pm, in celebration of Soul Jazz Midnite, a collection of originals that sounds like an unearthed gem from an old Booker T & the MGs recording session. But no, this nugget was laid down right next door to the bar in Sessions recording studio just this year. Prepare to be transported by this vintage style, a precursor to funk and acid jazz.

The Joanna Connor Band returns to Nietszche’s on Saturday (Nov. 3), to play her customary two sets for the price of one. A complete package on her own with a searing electric guitar and strong bluesy vocals, Connor is joined by a band of seasoned musicians who can cover a range of modern blues. Connor’s original compositions are influenced by jazz, funk, rock, delta blues and world beat, her guitar skills and soulful voice making her a frequent attraction at blues nightspots around the country. Recently, she’s developed a following overseas, in Europe, South America and Japan. Ann Philippone will open the show at 8pm, and Connor will play a first set at 9pm and another at 11:30pm.

Jazz pianist George Caldwell, having relocated from New York City to Buffalo, plays his first gig as a local at Bobby McGee’s on Tuesday (Nov. 6) at 8:30pm. An alumnus of both the Duke Ellington and Count Basie orchestras, Caldwell has made a name for himself throughout the jazz circuit as a hip, swinging piano man. While his orchestral contribution has brought crowds to their feet all over the country, his gift to young students has garnered him a number of awards, including the Jazz in Education Award for a curriculum he designed using the blues idiom to teach music theory. Joining Caldwell is local jazz favorite Dan Hull, who has a weekly Tuesday night gig at Bobby McGee’s, with special guests John Hasselback (saxophone) and Sabu Adeyola (bass).

The Last Goodnight’s major-label debut, Poison Kiss (Virgin Records), has set the bar remarkably high, even for a hot new band. The twelve songs on the album chart an emotional and musical journey, lyrically strident yet delicate and set to a piano-driven, guitar heavy sound base. Most of the band members met in high school in Connecticut, and together they’ve grown into what looks to be big time success—meaning a lot of national airplay and one of the biggest hits in the country right now, the Poison Kiss track “Pictures of You.” The Last Goodnight hits the Tralf Music Hall on Wednesday (November 7) with support from Elliot Yamin. The show starts at 8pm.

Thrash metal shock rockers GWAR are coming to destroy the Town Ballroom this week in a faux blood-and-guts/gore frenzy that is bound to leave both the Ballroom and the audience covered in goo. The imitation fluids used are harmless enough (they are reportedly made from a seaweed extract called carrageenan, a substance used in those frosty McDonald’s “Shakes”), and the lyrics and skits are firmly tongue-in-cheek. Still, this show is not for the easily shocked nor the daintily dressed. Expect a thorough exploration of whatever’s most taboo, obscene and politically incorrect at the moment, as GWAR takes its cues from current cultural obsessions and twists them in ways that border on the unthinkable. Paris, Brit and Lindsey are likely in for a sound thrashing. The grotesquely costumed ensemble comes on Wednesday (Nov. 7), a bit late for Halloween but close enough you can still wear your costume. The show starts at 8pm, with Horse the Band and the End.