LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

Amocat Cafe Tacoma - Triangle District. Amocat Live! featuring the Amocat House Band. All Ages. 7 pm.

Backstage Bar & Grill Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Fieldly. 9 pm. $10.

Forza Coffee Fircrest. Larry Luvaul. All Ages. 6 pm. NC.

Harmon Tap Room Tacoma - Stadium District. Jeanlizabeth Band, Cottonwood Cutups, Yevtushenko. 9 pm.

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Curtis Salgado. 8 pm. $15.

• For those looking for blues in our area need look no further than Friday's show at Jazzbones, when Portland-based Curtis Salgado takes the stage. As far as Northwest blues legends go, they don't get much bigger than Salgado, who served as the inspiration for John Belushi's creation of the Blues Brothers, and spent time early in his career fronting Robert Cray's band - including holding down the main vocal duties on Cray's debut album. Salgado has the blues swagger, the vocal chops and the harmonica magic to put him on a level few musicians' reach. It's the reason he's been able to maintain a long career in the music industry, the reason why he's up for four 2012 Blues Music Awards to be awarded this May in Memphis and the reason fans all over T-town are once again overcome with excitement at the prospect of seeing Salgado on stage. Born in Everett and birthed on blues-worn stages up and down the West Coast, Salgado is the type of musician you don't get a chance to see on a Friday in Tacoma. - Bobble Tiki
  

Le Voyeur Café and Lounge Olympia - Downtown. Metameric, The Absent Light, Tatarus. 9 pm.

The Loch's Tacoma - Downtown. Yak Nasty's birthday party featuring King Scrub, Abom, Motamouth Jones, Second Family and Illizm, 10 pm. $10.

Louie G's Pizzeria Fife. The Hardcount, Big Wheel Stunt Show, Ranchero. All Ages. 5 pm.

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma - Dome District. Red Jacket Mine, Trees and Timber, the Variety Hour. 9 pm.

• By the time "Amy," the lead-off track on Red Jacket Mine's latest album, reaches the totally over-the-top organ breakdown, I'm completely sold on whatever Red Jacket Mine is doing. That organ solo hearkens back to the ballsy pop-mindedness of old guards like Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe. At a time when punk was reestablishing simplicity and authenticity in music, people like Costello and Jackson were doubling down on the old ways - hitting them harder and more precisely than what was expected. Red Jacket Mine continues that tradition. Instead of running from pop music, the band's way of standing out is to do it better and tighter than its peers. The rest of the band's album is filled with equally outstanding and effortless-sounding moments. Every brilliant addition of a honky-tonk piano or crisply hand-clapping refrain just reeks of professionalism. - Rev. Adam McKinney
  

Northern Olympia - Downtown. Broken Water, LAKE, Karl Blau. All-Ages. 7 pm. $5-$10.

• At the opening for the art installation, "It's Alright To Cry," there will be performances from three Olympia mainstays who have nothing but killed it for a long time: Broken Water, LAKE and Karl Blau. I can't impress upon you enough just what a powerhouse lineup this is. In particular, it's a thrill to see Karl Blau on the bill. A perennial innovator for more than 15 years, Blau has remained unpredictable for his entire career, incorporating elements of just about every genre - world music, drone, folk, hip hop and just out-and-out weirdness. You never know what you'll get with Blau, both on record and in a live setting. In the past couple years, he's done less and less live performances, so you shouldn't miss the opportunity to catch him on this outstanding bill. - Rev. AM
  

Rock the Dock Pub & Grill Tacoma - Downtown. Robbie Walden. 9 pm.

The Royal Lounge Olympia - Downtown. Brent Amaker & The Rodeo, The Dirty Birds. 9 pm.

• Comedic country/western punk musicians Brent Amaker and The Rodeo are galloping into Olympia this Friday to turn The Royal Lounge into a corral of fun-lovin' rockers with the help of local  bad boys, The Dirty Birds. Amaker and crew have just been signed to Fin Records and will be releasing their fourth full-length record, Year of the Dragon, June 4. - NM
  

Uncle Sam's American Bar & Grill Spanaway. Crazy Texas Gypsies. 9 pm.

Urban Grace Church Tacoma - Downtown. The Warehouse Presents: A Candle Lit Show with Damien Jurado, Jake Hemming and Amelia Saakian. All Ages. 7:30-11 pm. $10-$15.

• Friday, at Urban Grace Church in Tacoma, The Warehouse kicks off its 2013 Candle Lit series with the super dynamic and super talented Damien Jurado with guests Jake Hemming and Amelia Saakian. "Damien Jurado is quite possibly one of the best singer/songwriters many of us get the pleasure of experiencing," says Doug Stoeckicht, marketing director at The Warehouse. "His music moves us personally and we believe it's worth sharing with those who are connected to The Warehouse. Also, to have an artist such as Damien make himself accessible to us, and this event, is an amazing privilege we couldn't pass up. People are in for a treat." Music combined with atmosphere is one of the many aesthetics that The Warehouse aims for. The Candle Lit series is another way to highlight the unique visions of these Tacoma creatives. Read Nikki McCoy's full feature on the Candle Lit series in the Weekly Volcano's Music section.

Washington Center for the Performing Arts Olympia - Downtown. Ki'Ho Alu Foundation Slack Key Guitar Festival, with LT Smooth, Stephen Inglis, Bobby Moderow, Walter Keale, Paul Togioka. All Ages. 7:30 pm. $10-$27.

LINK: More live music tonight in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area