MUSICAL GOODNESS COMING AT YOU IN PRINT & ONLINE >>>

It's Thursday, which in the Weekly Volcano's world is almost as good as Friday. In some ways, in fact, IT'S BETTER.

You see, another Weekly Volcano hit streets today - meaning we made another deadline and the show rolls on. Our stress level automatically decreases until sometime Sunday morning, when it all starts over again ...

But before we get to any of that, here's a sneak peak at the musical goodness coming at you in print and online in this week's Volcano.

FRANZ NICOLAY

Last year, Nicolay announced he would be leaving wordy arena-rock heroes, the Hold Steady, in order to pursue a solo career, citing a feeling that he had done all he could in that band. Listening to his solo debut, Master General, and its follow-up, Luck and Courage, there are certain moments where you could see a song fitting in perfectly with the Hold Steady's cannibalistic rock ethos, such as Major General‘s opener and standout, the Dead Kennedys-worshiping "Jeff Penalty." Saturday, Nicolay plays O'Malley's in Tacoma. - Rev Adam McKinney

D'ROCC

Probably the most fun thing to do this week would be for you to attend D‘Rocc's video shoot. D'Rocc is one of the main up-and-comers in our hip-hop scene and he's had some big videos in the past. The video being shot this week is open to the public - meaning you can come be immortalized in the scene forever. The shoot is actually more like an event; there'll be performances by Tak Patron, Lok Skywalker and Second Family (more about these artists in future columns). The event is Saturday, April 2, at 8 p.m. at the Firwood Rock Lounge and it packs a $10 cover. This venue is new and has already had some large hip-hop shows. - Josh Rizeberg

GUN OUTFIT

Multi-tiered, incidental song-name humor aside, there's nothing funny about Gun Outfit's music-they're a melodically-gifted, rightfully-acclaimed band with a flair for melding the clean guitars and drawling vocals of post-punk and '90s slacker rock with the aching, whiskey-soaked world-weariness of country music classics. They bring this signature sound to a stacked show Thursday at all-ages hub the Northern. - Jason Baxter

REEF BENEFIT SHOW

Just before 6 a.m. on Feb. 24, King Solomon's Reef in downtown Olympia caught fire. Again. Emergency vehicles and a news helicopter responded immediately - a stark contrast to the quiet, snowy morning.

"It was disbelief and panic at first," says Lindy McIntyre, co-owner of the Reef. "I remember wanting to get there faster but it was so icy out, it felt like a dream where you couldn't get where you were going." - Nikki Talotta

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