WEDNESDAY: The 9, a newish singer/songwriter series, takes over the Metro Gallery with Justin Trawick, Michael Huckleberry, Jenny Leigh Freeman, Jason Ager, Victoria Vox, Adam Scott-Wakefield, Kevin Heider, Garrett Anderson, and Tomas Pagan-Motta of the Petticoat Tea Room. DJs King Gilbert and Megan helm the Won’t Get Fooled Again omni-rock party late-night at the Ottobar.

THURSDAY: Octaves bring their post-hardcore/metalcore/artcore napalm to the Ottobar with Wren Llyod, Girlfight, and more; upstairs, the Kowli Nights techno-plus dance-or-listen party returns. Texas dude-metal band Oh, Sleeper plays Sonar with Skip the Foreplay. Miranda Lambert, a modern country star of the rare actually pretty good variety, performs at 1st Mariner Arena with Chris Young and Jerrod Niemann. Diego Garcia, erstwhile frontman of early-aughts big-indie band Elefant, plays the 8X10. Baltimore whiskey-country outfit June Star celebrates a record release at the Windup Space with Fancy Face. Baltimore’s the Manly Deeds make their monthly old-time outing at Joe Squared Station North. Don’t miss: Baltimore’s premier crate-digger ethnomusicologist Ian Nagoski (an erstwhile City Paper contributor) presents selections from his collection ranging in source from Louisiana to the Balkans to the Carpathians at 2640 Space.

FRIDAY: Harvard brings its proggy out-rock to the Ottobar with Vinny Vegas and Monteclair; upstairs, Antonio Harper and James Nasty’s Physical Education weekly brings the beat back. The second edition of the Xscape club/dubstep/hip-hop dance party takes over the Talking Head with DJ Cliffstarr. Crowded Streets covers the Dave Matthews Band at Rams Head Live. SuperSharpShooter, a sax/guitar/drums trio advertised as the “world’s heaviest jam band,” takes aim at the Sidebar with Attic Dancers, Orchester Praževica, and the Barrage Band Orchestra. Grammy-nominated lutenist Ronn McFarlane performs at An die Musik.

SATURDAY: Los Angeles black-metal band Abigail Williams gets the Talking Head hanged with Torture Therapy, Butcher’s Hill, and more. VibeSquaD gets “crunkadelic” at Sonar with BioDiesel, Bassdread, and Segway. Washington, D.C., soul-fusion songwriter Amij performs at Rams Head Live with VC7. Philly grind-plus-rock band Gash lays into the Sidebar with Human Waste, Haldol, and yet even more heaviness. The Dave Janesh Trio does unexpected things with jazz and an accordion at An die Musik. Dub Nation celebrates three years at Baltimore Soundstage with Vaski, Terravita, and more. J Pope and the Funk Friday head up the second episode of the 10th-anniversary season of the Charm City Kitty Club at the Creative Alliance. The Dialogue, “a band that has helped spearhead Baltimore’s indie-rock scene,” performs at the Golden West Cafe with Have Mercy. Don’t miss: In collaboration with the Contemporary Museum, the Soft House presents an all-night event of music for drifting/sleeping—“bring a sleeping bag”—with Andrew Bernstein, Grayson Brown, Andrew Burt, the Bow-Legged Gorilla, Renee and Miles Clark, Run DMT, Meg Rorison, Owen Gaertner, and a whole night’s worth more. The Ottobar hosts a benefit for hardcore scene figure Yury Sanchez with a good smattering of local ear cavers, including Next Step Up, Ballistic, Sal Bando, Stout, and lots more. The Sterling Sisters make perfectly alien folk music at the Windup Space with Lurch and Holler doing Homer’s Odyssey, Omoo Omoo, and Jon Lipscomb.

SUNDAY: Baltimore garage trio Sal Bando, celebrating a record release, delivers its second Ottobar show of the weekend with support from Squaaks and Monster Museum. Matt Nathanson, a rock songwriter apparently quite well known on television, plays Rams Head Live. City Paper contributor Geoffrey Himes’ regular singer/songwriter series Roots Cafe returns to An die Musik with Red Sammy’s Adam Trice and Tony Denikos. Don’t miss: Dutch free-jazz heavy Han Bennink performs at the Windup Space in various collaborations with free-improv fiddle player Mary Oliver and suitably luminescent Baltimoreans Lafayette Gilchrist, Michael Formanek, and John Dierker.

MONDAY: Guess not.

TUESDAY: Weatherbox, a “fifth wave emo band with second wave emo band tendencies,” plays the Talking Head with Montpellier, Drunk Monk, and Holy Tongues. Italian goth-metal band Lacuna Coil performs at Rams Head Live. The Out of Your Head Collective returns to the Windup Space for your weekly (or bi- or tri-weekly) free-improv fix. The Dig with Landis Expandis and DJ Napspace has you covered for good hardwood and funky breaks at Joe Squared Station North.

WEDNESDAY: You Me at Six, a young British major-label pop-punk band, plays the Ottobar. Early-days alt-metal band Machine Head burns red at Rams Head Live. Don’t miss: 1000 Fathoms, a new radio show created by City Paper Calendar Editor Erin Gleeson, throws a bash at the Windup Space with Height With Friends, Mickey Free, Alan Resnick, and a live, puppet-based rendition of Dina Kelberman’s Important Comics.

IN THE WINGS: Early-days punk/metal crossover great Corrosion of Conformity comes to Sonar March 2 with Torche, Valient Thorr, and A Storm of Light. (For more information visit sonarbaltimore.com or call [410] 783-7888.) Latter-day big-indie band Cults come to the Ottobar March 3. (For more information visit theottobar.com or call [410] 662-0069.) Jam band object of affection Umphrey’s McGee comes to Rams Head Live Feb. 12. (For more information visit ramsheadlive.com or call [410] 244-1131.) And ’90s electronica powerhouse the Crystal Method comes to Baltimore Soundstage Feb. 23. (For more information visit baltimoresoundstage.com.)

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