The Asylum Street Spankers have come a long way from the dusty strips of Guadalupe Street—commonly referred to as Asylum Street—in Austin, Texas. That’s where the duo of Christina Marrs and Guy Forsyth passed the time busking, until 11 years ago when they met a colorful character named Wammo. The unlikely trio formed up the Spankers, and since then the band has been a hard-to-pin-down, revolving door of talented musicians of every stripe, rocking on whatever’s handy, be it steel guitar, harmonica, washboard, banjo, mandolin, “punk” fiddle, musical saw, piano, standup bass or a simple acoustic guitar. The Spankers aren’t easy to characterize without rattling off a mouthful of genres, made up and otherwise—punk rock vaudeville, hick-hop, gypsy swing, ragtime, jump jazz, beat blues and toe-tapping revival. In the end, the Asylum Street Spankers are a one-of-a-kind troupe of talented musicians who create a sound that is truly their own. Naturally such a band has a bit of a chip on its shoulder, and with typical Texas bravado, they call themselves “God’s favorite band.” If that’s true, God has pretty good taste. Come see the Spankers this Sunday night at the Lafayette Tap Room, as they tour in support of their second DVD, Re-assembly, which documents the band’s 10-year anniversary show at Austin’s Texas Union Theater.

The 2006 Niagara Motorcycle Rally will take place July 6-9 at Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls, USA. The event will feature live music, a tattoo contest, the Miss Niagara Rally pageant, a wet t-shirt competition, the Banana Olympics, a custom bike contest, a swap meet, a 10am bike blessing at the Town of Niagara Park—and if that’s not enough to make you want to let out a Rebel Yell, you’ll have two chances to catch “the Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy” himself, David Allan Coe, at the Roaring Thunder Saloon at 9pm Saturday and 7:30pm Sunday. The quintessential country music “Outlaw”—he was in fact a member of the motorcycle club of the same name—Coe spent a good deal of his youth and young adulthood behind bars. Rumored to have spent time on death row for killing a fellow inmate who propositioned him for oral sex—it’s unclear in what capacity—you could say Coe has never been a “have a nice day” kind of guy. A Rolling Stone interviewer famously questioned the veracity of the murder story and Coe responded with a song entitled “I’d Like to Kick the Shit Out of You.” His catalog includes many profane songs that were put on X-rated discs sold only at shows and on the Web. This material has attracted as many fans as it has repulsed. And yet he has written many great songs, including the Johnny Paycheck smash “Take This Job and Shove It,” and he supplied the following immortal lines to the Steve Goodman classic “You Never Even Called Me by My Name”: “I was drunk the day my Ma got out of prison/ and I went to pick her up in the rain/ but before I could get to the station in my pick-up truck/ she got runned over by a damned old train”—thus completing the perfect country & western song.

Named after an obscure SCTV sketch, Don Caballero are, for better or for worse, known as the progenitors of the so-called “math rock” scene. With the absence of a vocalist, Don Caballero has, for the past 15 years, revolved around the intense and off-kilter drumming of Damon Che. Che, who is known as probably the greatest drummer of the last 25 years, is responsible for some of the most difficult, yet rewarding, instrumental music in quite some time. Incorporating elements of metal, funk and jazz, Don Caballero is difficult to classify and hard to pin down. Beginning in 1992, Che and his cohorts recorded with Steve Albini (Shellac, Big Black) and released records on the influential Touch and Go label before disbanding in 2001. However, soon after, Che hooked up with new musicians to form a new version of the band and, after a few solid years of touring, the band signed to the hip Relapse Records to record this year’s World Class Listening Problem. Don Caballero returns to Mohawk Place for the first time in many years this friday to play what will most likely be a much remebered performance. Also performing are the Stinking Lizaveta, Knife Crazy and Bare Flames.

Few things are more entertaining than a talented, self-deprecating performer, and Winnipeg’s the Weakerthans have got both qualities down pat. The name alone is an admission of an inferiority complex. It’s actually taken from a movie, the film adaptation of Marguerite Duras’ The Lover, but it also stands as a deliciously sarcastic homage to the way us Americans tend to think of our neighbors to the north. And the wonderful wise-assery doesn’t end there; it’s a major player in the songs of lead singer/guitarist John K. Samson, who is one of the best lyricists in rock these days. “In the Dollar Store the clerk is closing up, and counting Loonies, trying not to say ‘I hate Winnipeg,’” sings Samson on the song “One Great City!” from 2003’s lovely Reconstruction Site. This alternately sad and hilarious ode to a dying city might make some Buffalonians squirm a little, but never fear. The Weakerthans’ mix of post-punk guitar, gentle alt-country nuggets and remarkable storytelling is straight-up fun. This is the most bizarrely eloquent band to come out of Canada since the Rheostatics, and by going to see them perform, you’re doing yourself a solid. The New Amsterdams, led by ex-Get Up Kid Matthew Pryor, will tag along as the opening act; apparently they’re a little less emo-tional, and a little prettier, than Pryor’s previous band. Raising the Fawn will also perform.