[FUNK] + FRI, APRIL 4

"Eldridge Gravy and the Court Supreme are as fun a funk dance party as I can imagine," says Daniel Landin, booker and Weekly Volcano reader-voted Best Music Scenester in the Best of Olympia issue. "They have mastered the craft of funk and groove, but their talent never gets in the way of the ludicrous fun they have performing. Thirteen strong on stage, Eldridge Gravy's incredible soul vocals blend with three back-up singers, pour over a four-piece horn section, and all this bakes to groove perfection with a relentless full rhythm section. Ample servings of sass and spice are delivered with every jam, and the Oly Ballroom dance floor will be a booty-shaking shrine this Friday night." Well said Landin. I, and the rest of Olympia, couldn't agree more. {NIKKI MCCOY}

ELDRIDGE GRAVY AND THE COURT SUPREME, w/DBST, 9 p.m., all ages, Olympia Ballroom, 116 Legion Way, SE, Olympia, $10-$12, 360.259.1589

[INDIE ROCK] + TUES, APRIL 8

What little information there is to be found about Seattle quartet, Be Calm Honcho, indicates an almost off-putting confidence for such a young band. Led by vocalist Shannon Harney's insinuating lilt, Be Calm Honcho create indie rock that drifts dreamily along, punctuated by stabs of surfy guitars and winsome oohs and aahs. Occasionally, Be Calm Honcho threaten to fall too close to the cutesy side of things, personality-wise (this is the kind of band that the boyfriend/girlfriend founding members essentially started the band as an extended series of flirts), but the music is sandpapery enough to dirty up the sweetness before it become too cloying. Admittedly the amount of music they have made available online is not much to go on, but I'd be interested in checking out their forthcoming LP. {REV. ADAM MCKINNEY}

BE CALM HONCHO, w/ Oh Rose!, New Slang, Judson Claiborne, 9 p.m., Le Voyeur, 404 E. Fourth Ave., Olympia, $5, 360.943.5710

[SINGER/SONGWRITER] + WED, APRIL 9

If you could ever wrap the matronly goodness of a mother's kiss, her love a tune of strength, her stories a place for the imagination to leap through the portal of everyday living and into the soundscape of music, riding the waves of Appalachian acoustics and vibrating on the end of a crescendo, then it would be in the soulful arrangements of Joanne Rand. The Northern Californian is touring her way up to Olympia, bringing a lifetime of accomplishment, including 14 CDs, to share the secrets of her soul. In a press release, Rand states, "The stories are about true life - story-songs about Greyhound bus characters I've seen, a tribute to my Grandfather born in 1890, a song about Einstein ... songs about love, marriage and teenage mutiny, legends of vanished Indian tribes and evolution, rallying anthems to get you through the day and keep the home fires burning within."  Rand has appeared with the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Bob Weir, John Hartford, and recently earned a BFA in Music Composition. {NM}

JOANNE RAND, w/Gabriel Wolfchild, 8 p.m., The Urban Onion Lounge, 116 Legion Way SE, Olympia, $5-10 sliding scale, 360.943.9242

[INDIE ROCK] + THURS, APRIL 10

What Moondog Matinee lack in innovation they make up for in execution. Though their professed influences are a staggering assembly of just about every musical touchstone of the past 50 years (Talking Heads, the Band, Nick Cave, the White Stripes, Arcade Fire, and Edith Piaf [of all people], just to name a fraction of them), it's clear that they mostly take their cues from heavy blues, approached with an admirable widescreen expansiveness. A more accurate comparison could be found in the early work of Band of Horses, with their grandiose take on Americana, and their histrionic vocals. Similar to their fellow Nevadans, the Killers, Moondog Matinee are dramatic to the point of obsession. Left-field dips into swirling psychedelia are unexpected and welcome turns from Moondog Matinee. {REV. AM}

MOONDOG MATINEE, w/ Fox and the Law, Our Burgundy, 7 p.m., Le Voyeur, 404 E. Fourth Ave., Olympia, $5, 360.943.5710