SATURDAY, MARCH 14 2015 >>>

1. In the late '60s and into the '70s, there was a sea change in the world of country music. Rather than drawing from the glut of radio-ready folk and country that dominated the airwaves, a new class of country singers came up through the ranks, bringing with them a more progressive world-view and a more idiosyncratic sound. People like Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson would become the face of progressive country, lending a more personal sound to a genre that had grown complacent with cookie-cutter artists that were as interchangeable as they were popular. Eventually, this scene would spawn even more disparate artists and influences, creating the slippery genre known as alt-country. At the forefront of this developing genre was Joe Ely, whose immersion into the scene was through the most circuitous of routes. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's interview with Joe Ely in the Music & Culture section., then catch Ely with Ruthie Foster and Paul Thorn in the Southern Troubadours in the Round show at 7:30 p.m. in the Pantages Theater.

2. Lucky Eagle Casino and Hotel is dealing themselves in the beer festival game hosting their first annual Beer and Wine Festival from 1-5 p.m. For $25 at the door, you will receive a commemorative pint or wine glass, eight drink tickets and a straight line to Dick's Brewing Co., Hi-Fi Brewery, Mt. St. Helens Cellars and others.

3. Some people really can't wait until St. Patrick's Day to don oppressive shades of green and drown themselves in Guinness. Celebrate four days early at Doyle's Public House Pre-St. Patrick's Day Bash. The outside tent is up and beginning at 3 p.m. Nolan Garrett, Fields Under Clover, Ethan Tucker and The Staxx Brothers will fill it up.

4. Northwest Sinfonietta will present a reunion between Cuban jazz pianist Aldo López-Gavilán and his brother, Ilmar Gavilán, along with The Harlem Quartet - for the first public performance of the brothers in the U.S. - at 7:30 p.m. in the Rialto Theater. The Gavilán brothers grew up in Cuba as prodigies of a robustly musical family. Ilmar won several prestigious violin competitions before becoming a founding member of the trail-blazing Harlem Quartet, while Aldo pursued a phenomenal solo career as a Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist and composer.

5. Dark Palms music is a barbaric, pulsing, yet nuanced and nimble band based out of Olympia. The type of band that proves that modern post-punk sounds can still hold pop sensibilities - that musically you can still see what's in your rear view while looking forward. The band performs with Radio On, Josh Duhamel the Band and Dirty Malkovich at 9 p.m. in Bob's Java Jive.