B-Side Ourselves: One single at a time, The Polyphonic Spree shows that 'you are me' (Playing Tuesday, 29th at Exit/In)

Gear-Jammin’ Daddy: If his excellent debut is any indication, honky-tonker J.P. Harris is going to know every truck stop in the country before long (Playing album release show Thursday, 24th at The 5 Spot)

Lowered Avant Garde: Canadian indie rockers Plants and Animals evolve from weird for weird's sake to appropriately idiosyncratic (Playing Tuesday, 29th at The End)

Last Dance: Queen of disco Donna Summer dead at 63

In The Spin: Jack White with Alabama Shakes at The Ryman, M83 with I Break Horses at Marathon Music Works

Plus Critics’ Picks on Korby Linker’s album release, Hurts To Laugh’s video premiere, Monophonics, AyeVee at 12th & Porter, Damien Jurado, Pierced Arrows, Joe Walsh, Elenowen’s EP release, the Nobody’s Vault but Mine events, OBN III’s and more

The Spirit of St. Vincent: Indie songstress Annie Clark tunes out the past, fine-tunes her scream (Playing Monday, 21st at Cannery Ballroom)

Smooth Moves: Trumpeter Chris Botti lends his golden tone to the Nashville Symphony Orchestra (Performing with the Nashville Symphony May 17-19 at Schermerhorn Symphony Center)

That’s Their Trademark: Nashville's bastion of vintage vinyl, The Great Escape, looks toward its future by selling the past

Between the Notes: For all his resistance to traditional tuning, veteran rock guitarist Steve Kimock makes exceptionally tuneful music (Playing Tuesday, 22nd at Exit/In)

In The Spin: Heavy Cream album release show and crawfish boil feat. Cheap Time and Fox Fun at The Zombie Shop, Lambchop w/The Altered Statesman at VFW Post 1970

Plus Critics’ Picks on the Radnor Lake benefit, Fool’s Gold, Lynn Taylor’s album release, Strange Feelings Analog Disco Spectacular, Miranda Lambert with Pistol Annies, Mayhem doing Prince’s Controversy feat. Dez Dickerson, Umbrella Tree’s album release show, No Regrets Coyote’s EP release show, Ty Segall with White Fence, The Darkness, Black Tusk, Split Lip Rayfield and more

Nostalgia Gives You Wings: With Hurry up, We're Dreaming, French electro-pop outfit M83 strikes a melancholy chord (Playing Marathon Music Works Tuesday, 15th)

His Window Still Faces South: Willie Nelson covers, rehashes and collaborates on his brand-new release (Willie Nelson's Heroes is out May 15 via Columbia Legacy; playing June 5 at Schermerhorn Symphony Center)

Up the Funks: The Wooten Brothers Band celebrates 20 years of innovative future funk (Playing 20th anniversary show Wednesday, 16th at 3rd and Lindsley)

In The Spin: Feist w/Timber Timbre at The Ryman, The Melvins w/Unsane at Exit/In

Plus Critics’ Picks on WSM’s Live Taping feat. Russell Moore and IIIrd Time Out, Heavy Cream’s Album Release Show and Crawfish Boil, Andrew Combs’ 7-inch Release, Cherub, Honey Locust’s EP Release, Lambchop and Altered Statesman, Robert Ellis, Memory House, Jack White and more

• Photo: Eric England

Mean Buzz: The Melvins' frontman Buzz Osborne speaks (Playing Friday, 4th at Exit/In)

Honky-Tonk Angels and Men in Trucks: Unpacking the audible divide between country's solo women and men (Carrie Underwood's Blown Away was released May 1; Eric Church and Brantley Gilbert play Bridgestone Arena Saturday, 5th)

All Jazzed Up: Esperanza Spalding's pop/jazz hybrid isn't perfect, but it strikes a chord (Playing Monday, 7th at Schermerhorn Symphony Center)

Murder of One: A rough walk down memory lane with Counting Crows (Playing Saturday, 5th at The Ryman)

In The Spin: Sharon Van Etten w/Flock of Dimes at Mercy Lounge, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears w/The Preservation at Mercy Lounge

Plus Critics’ Picks on Natalie Prass, Uncle Skeleton, Makeup and Vanity Set and The Protomen, Anthony Hamilton, Unsane, Royal Bangs, the GED Soul Crawfish Boil, Vandaveer, Ingrid Michaelson, The Strange Boys, Kenny Rogers and more

Back in Black: Tear the Woodpile Down is a reminder that Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives are damn good at walking the line (Tear the Woodpile Down was released April 24 via Sugar Hill Records; playing Saturday, 28th at Franklin Theatre)

Ain't Talkin' About Hate: The real Van Halen plays Nashville for the first time in 28 years

Stop Worrying and Love the Bombino: All the way from Saharan Africa, guitar wizard Bombino makes accessibly catchy music (Playing Tuesday, 1st at VFW Post 1970)

Take a Load off, Levon: Levon Helm, 1940-2012

In The Spin: Record Store Day 2012 at Grimey’s and The Groove

Plus Critics’ Picks on Portugal. The Man, Los Lobos, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, Bloodkin with Bobby Keys vs. Baroness, Brendan Benson with Young Hines and The Howling Brothers, Andrew Jackson Jihad, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Feist with Timber Timbre, Dick Dale and more

For the Record: In its fifth installment, Record Store Day once again sees a host of local releases and performances (Taking place at The Great Escape, Grimey's, The Groove, Ernest Tubb Records and Third Man Records Saturday, 21st)

Come Together: Brendan Benson has a new album, a new label and a new circle to celebrate, and Young Hines plays a big part (What Kind of World out April 21 via Readymade; Hines and Benson playing Saturday, 28th at Mercy Lounge)

Gwar and Peace: Rise, bohabs, for the Scumdogs of the Universe return to Nashville (Playing Monday, 23rd at Marathon Music Works)

In The Spin: Mom and Dad/Echo Group release feat. Scale Model at The High Watt, Road to Bonnaroo Round Three at Mercy Lounge

Plus Critics’ Picks on Iris Dement, Rites of Spring, Cheap Time’s album release, The Punch Brothers, The Cadillac Black’s album release, Bear in Heaven, the First Annual Reunion 8 off 8th, Deer Tick and Turbo Fruits, Dirty Ghosts, the Music City Underground release show and more

Everybody’s Crying Mercy: The Phil Madeira-curated Mercyland: Hymns for the Rest of Us explores a pluralistic take on gospel (Mercyland: Hymns for the Rest of Us is out April 24 via Mercyland Records)

‘Boro Code: Murfreesboro bicycle fest Tour de Fun showcases the college town's finest rock 'n' roll (Saturday, 14th in Murfreesboro)

Band on the Run: More than two decades in, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones are masters at keeping it forward-looking (Playing Saturday, 14th at The Ryman)

In The Spin: Memetic Society Showcase Feat. Fly Golden Eagle, Faux Ferocious, Justin and the Cosmics and Majestico at The Basement

Plus Critics’ Picks on VITEK’s album release, Shpongle, D. Striker’s RR Party, Night Beats, Jonny Corndawg, Road to Bonnaroo Round Three and more

• The Weeks

The Heart of Haggard: Merle Haggard is still taking a lot of pride in what he is (Playing Wednesday, 11th at The Ryman)

Luke, I Am Your Blogger: Luke Roberts' understated folk flew under my radar, but deserves my attention (Playing with Pontiak and The Ascent of Everest Friday, 6th at The End)

Crescent City Legends: The historic Preservation Hall Jazz Band reaches 50 years and keeps on rolling (Playing with The Del McCoury Band Monday, 9th at Schermerhorn Symphony Center)

In The Spin: Quintron and Miss Pussycat at Third Man Records, Jesco White with Roger Alan Wade, Pick up the Snake, Beitthemeans and Slim Chance and the Can't Hardly Playboys at Exit/In

Plus Critics’ Picks on Young Hines, Bill Lloyd, Electric Six, Steve Wariner, Delta Spirit, the Memetic Society showcase, White Mystery and The Coathangers, Abigail Washburn, The Ettes and Diarrhea Planet, Van Hunt, White Denim, We’re All for the Hall and more

Two Short: Two-sentence reviews on new albums from Bruce Springsteen, The Shins, Lyle Lovett, Hospitality, Spiritualized and more

Merry Scene of Scots: We Were Promised Jetpacks look to carve their own niche in the New World (Playing Thursday, 29th at Exit/In)

Artless Believers: Earnest youngsters The Vespers maintain an artless serenity on their latest release (Playing album release show Tuesday, 3rd at Trevecca University; playing Music City Roots Wednesday, 4th at Loveless Barn)

Cage Match: Vortex Percussion Ensemble and former members of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company celebrate the work of influential avant-garde composer John Cage (Vortex Percussion Ensemble Celebrates John Cage and Merce Sunday, 1st at Ingram Hall)

The Diplo of Romanticism: As Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini makes clear, variations are the remixes of classical music (Nashville Symphony March 29-31 at Schermerhorn Symphony Center)

In The Spin: Mind Spiders w/Cy Barkley and the Way Outsiders, OGG and D. Watusi at The End, Road to Bonnaroo Round Two at Mercy Lounge

Plus Critics’ Picks on DJ Wick-It, Scissormen’s album/DVD release show, Shoot the Mountain’s farewell show, The McCrary Sisters, Mount Carmel with Hellbender and Tijuana Goat Ride, the Shine benefit for Kim Collins, Jesco White and more

Rock of Ages: Justin Townes Earle is writing like a man who's outlived Kurt and Hank (Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now is out March 27 via Bloodshot Records)

Pachyderms of Endearment: Elephant Revival's eclecticism reaches well beyond their rootsy roots (Playing Monday, 26th at 3rd & Lindsley)

Swift Justice: Rob Swift and the other guys behind the turntables revolutionized hip-hop, even if they don't get their due credit (Playing The Boom Bap Saturday, 24th at The 5 Spot)

In The Spin: The Spin does South by Southwest

Plus Critics’ Picks on David Olney’s record release, Kathy Mattea, The Head and the Heart, Dom Kennedy, Road to Bonnaroo Round Two, Guitar Wolf, Tin Pan South, Big Fella’s Birthday Party and more