MUSICAL GOODNESS IN PRINT & ONLINE >>>

Sure, there were plenty of distractions this week. There was the Fourth of July holiday, which made Monday and a good chunk of Tuesday a wash when it comes to productivity. There was the construction crew redoing the roof at Weekly Volcano world headquarters, pounding away, and forcing editor Matt Driscoll to relocate his desk to the break room. And there was the complete lack of air-conditioning throughout the building thanks to said roof construction. It's been hell.

Yes, the odds were stacked against us. But- unsurprisingly - the Weekly Volcano once again delivered in the clutch with a music section jam packed with goodness.

Here's a sneak peek at the sonic awesomeness in store.

LUTHIERS GONE WILD

Lutherie, for the uninitiated, is the craft of guitar-building, as well as the making of other stringed instruments such as violins and lutes. One who takes part in lutherie is known as a luthier. The Guild of American Luthiers holds a convention at Pacific Lutheran University every three years - and if you think I'm not going to get confused typing all of those "luth-" words, you've got another thing coming.

What began as a kind of a lark in 1972 - at the prompting of a classified ad - has grown into the largest community of luthiers in the world, at an astonishing 3,600 members across 40 countries. - Rev. Adam McKinney

FRED DIEZEL & MORE SOUTH SOUND HIP-HOP

Another artist to look out for is Fred Diezil, making national noise thanks to winning a songwriting contest for the coveted national Coast 2 Coast Mixtape series. Ya can check out his winning song, titled "Winter's My Summer," on iTunes or Amazon. Remember Skee-Lo, the "I wish I was a little bit taller" guy? Well, Diezil's opening for him July 17 at The Backstage Bar and Grill in Tacoma. - Josh Rizeberg

JIMMI DAVIES TALKS RESIDENT KINGS

When he's not pounding copper into functional art, vacationing on secret Mexican getaways or blaring sax on stage with local legends the Dirty Birds, Jimmi Davies is working it out with his latest band, Resident Kings. Lucky for us, he had some time to talk about this brand-spanking-new Olympia supergroup. - Nikki Talotta

VIII DAYS CLEAN

Besides the obvious rock, which jives nicely with the KISW set, Tacoma's VIII Days Clean sells itself on its members' troubled past - vocalist guitarist Ron Walvatne, drummer Jeff Welch, bassist Cody Johnson and guitarist Gary Cooper have all battled drug addiction in their lives, and have built this band - at least in part - to wage a sonic war of sorts against their former way of life. Friday, VIII Days Clean celebrates the release of Parasite, the band's fourth album, with an all-ages throwdown at Louie G's in Fife. - Matt Driscoll

PLUS: Better Living Through Music - DB & the Struggle, You Are Plural, The Lovely Bad Things

PLUS: Concert Alert

PLUS: Live Local Music Listings for the South Sound

PLUS: Wicked Nonsense Like This