Neko Case

It's that time of year when area festivals start popping up on the radar. And while we're uber excited about Outside Lands, the recently announced lineup for this year's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 9 (which goes down October 2-4) has us fiending for a little moonshine and backwoods juggin'. Featuring bluegrass plus Americana faves of past and present, the massive 3-day event is totally free. Yes, FREE. You can thank Daddy Warbucks, err, investment banker and diehard bluegrass fan Warren Hellman for that.

Kelli Rudick

They say that it’s a male dominated world, but with power females like these, we beg to differ. Check out these women dominating the stages this week (and a few men too):

Neko Case is back. If you missed her in conversation and song with Callie Khouri at Herbst Theatre back in January, now's your chance to see her live. From alt country to power pop, the songstress proves her ability to connect with an audience across musical genres time and again. Check out Spin magazine's article on her latest album, Middle Cyclones, and then preview some tracks before snagging tickets to the show.

Neko Case, 'Middle Cyclone' (Anti-)

Marina Chavez

San Francisco hits a nostalgic chord for the New Pornographers. The Mission’s Aquarius Records was all about promoting the band in their fledgling days, which led to some of their first sold-out shows at the Great American Music Hall and the Warfield. Now they’re returning to the city where they really took off to play Slow Food Rocks, the music festival component of Slow Food Nation.