THURSDAY AUG. 6

• Wednesday 13

Wednesday 13, Holy Grail, Death Division
Since 1994, horrorpunk icon Wednesday 13 (nee Josh Poole) has put out nearly 30 releases with six different bands. Murderdolls, his band with Slipknot's Joey Jordison, is the one you're likely to know. There's also a country band called Bourbon Crow, a glam band named Gunfire 76, and the Murderdolls precursors Maniac Spider Trash and Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13. More than a dozen of the releases, however, are under his own name—which, to horrorpunk fans, is as good as gold. Also on the bill tonight is Holy Grail, a band that flies the flag of old-school metal (singing more than shrieking or growling), but embraces ideas from the new school (breakdowns!). Ride the Void (Prosthetic) came out in 2013, but rumor has it there's a new one due this year or next. Death Division opens. Area 51, 451 S. 400 West, 8 p.m., $13 advance, $15 day of show, Area51SLC.com

THURSDAY AUG. 6

• Yonder Mountain String Band

Yonder Mountain String Band
After releasing nothing (not counting the proverbial substance-load of live recordings available at YonderMountainStringBandLive.com) since 2009, YMSB finally dropped Black Sheep (Frog Pad) in June. It's their first LP without founding member Jeff Austin, who left the band last year due to creative differences. The new stuff isn't much of a departure, but for the fact that Austin has been replaced by two new members: mandolinist Jake Joliff (Austin's direct replacement) and fiddle player Allie Kral. Both contribute vocals, with Kral's—the band's first female member—being the most noticeable change in the band's progressive bluegrass sound. Heads up: You can get Black Sheep for $6.99 on Amazon Music until Aug. 13. The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, 9 p.m., $30 in advance, $35 day of show, DepotSLC.com

FRIDAY AUG. 7

• High on Fire

High on Fire, Pallbearer, Lucifer, Venomous Maximus
Listening to High on Fire's seventh album Luminiferous (E1), I start to miss Burt's Tiki Lounge. That's where I finally got to see HoF live—and have the hearing loss to show for it. I stood right up front between frontguy Matt Pike and a stack of speakers and thought about how my ears kinda hurt so good. Was it a dumb move? Yeah. But you know how you wear scars from skateboarding accidents with pride (and as a reminder to try not to be so stupid next time)? That's how I feel about being just a little deaf. Because High on Fire kills it live. Pike stands up there, lookin' mean, wringing crushing riff after crushing riff out of his sunburst Les Paul while the decibel meter redlines. That's what metal fans live for—ending sentences with prepositions. The Complex, 536 W. 100 South, 7 p.m., $16 in advance, $18 day of show, TheComplexSLC.com

FRIDAY AUG. 7

• Jackie Greene Band

Jackie Greene Band
After releasing an album every year or two until 2010, and hearing from critics how good he is, what's singer-songwriter Jackie Greene been doing for the last five years? Well, for one, he spent two years playing guitar with the Black Crowes until they broke up in January. Aside from that, he's been part of two supergroups. First there's Trigger Hippy with Joan Osborne and fellow Crowe, Steve Gorman. And then there's WRG, which stands for the Grateful Dead's Bob (W)eir, Black Crowes singer Chris (R)obinson and Jackie (G)reene. Back to Birth (Yep Roc) is Greene's new solo album and it finds the songsmith still has a knack for writing rootsy rock that nods to the days of AM radio. He has three shows—tonight in Park City and Saturday and Sunday downtown (Saturday is sold out). O.P. Rockwell, 628 Main, Park City, 9 p.m., $27, OPRockwell.com; The State Room, 638 S. State, 8 p.m., $26, TheStateRoomSLC.com

• Leo Kottke

Leo Kottke
You know what they should do when they reboot the Guitar Hero video game series? Put out Acoustic Guitar Hero—and get Leo Kottke to be the face of it. Because it's one thing to plug into an amp and wail at full volume. It's quite another to sit alone in front of an audience and hold them rapt while you, on your stool, tell stories and coax incredible sounds from your instrument, which doesn't look nearly as cool as Flying V or a B.C. Rich Warlock—but still sounds so, so good. Check out Kottke's 21st album, Try and Stop Me (RCA/Victor) now, so you can get a head start on five-starring "Axolotl." The Egyptian Theatre, 328 Main, (Park City), Aug. 7-8, 8 p.m.; Aug. 9, 6 p.m.; $35-55, EgyptianTheatreCompany.org

• Walk the Moon

Walk the Moon, Coin
All this '80s revival stuff is so ... totally awesome! When it's done well, anyway—and Cincinnati's Walk the Moon does it right, fer sure. You've probably heard their infectious, omnipresent hit "Shut Up and Dance," which somehow blends U2, Starship and Mr. Mister into a surprisingly palatable mix. That's the dominant sound on Talking Is Hard (their second for RCA), but there's more to the band: Sometimes they drop in screechy indie and garage-rock influences and a little soul, showing they're more than simple revivalists. Coin opens. The Complex, 536 W. 100 South, 7 p.m., $27 advance, $30 day of show, TheComplexSLC.com

SUNDAY AUG. 9

• Stooges Brass Band

Stooges Brass Band, The Suffers
OK, it was a little disappointing to learn this isn't a tribute to the punk legends The Stooges. I mean, who doesn't want to hear "Search and Destroy" or "I Wanna Be Your Dog" arranged for brass? Actually, it's not a letdown. The Stooges Brass Band plays New Orleans jazz with threads of hip-hop, R&B and soul. It's good-time music, the kind that can get even the most dance-averse to get up and wiggle—no booze required. Joining the SBB tonight are The Suffers, another band that deals in good vibes. The Texan 10-piece group plays smooth soul that ranges from bright and sunny to slow and smoky, incorporating bits of Philly, Stax and Motown. This show's gonna be hot, so even though you won't need to imbibe to get into the festivities, it's a good thing there's gonna be a lotsa beer. Richard Tyler Epperson opens. Blues, Brews & BBQs Festival at Snowbasin Resort, 3925 Snowbasin Road, Huntsville, 12:30 p.m., free, SnowBasin.com

MONDAY AUG. 10

• The Slow Poisoner

SLC Solo Fest: The Slow Poisoner
So an email pops up this morning: "I'm a one-man weirdo garage band from San Francisco called The Slow Poisoner, and I have a gig coming up in your neck of the woods!" Andrew Goldfarb had me at "weirdo," but there was more hype about him playing "catchy, offbeat songs" on just an electric guitar and a bass drum. And these songs, they're about "swamp witches, sinister flowers, strange hungers and giant worms that drive hot rods." Also, he displays his lowbrow paintings onstage, and his "wild show" also includes "dancing spiders, severed fingers and a giant head that devours him onstage." He then describes his sound as "a cross between Johnny Cash and Alice Cooper— rootsy but weird, like a hoedown on Mars." (Drool.) He's headlining the first SLC Solo Fest, an all-ages event that also includes Mañanero, Grumpy Grandma, Bill Murray (no), Ian Mooron, Adverse Effects, Eyesore, Well Okay and Wu Fei. The Underground, 833 S. Main, 7 p.m., $5, Facebook.com/pages/The-Underground/154196961288785