Thurs. July 29

     You know his name. You've heard his music if you lived through '80s new wave. But you may be surprised by what he's doing now. Greg Hawkes, former keyboardist for the Cars, will be playing a set of acoustic ukulele music at Club Passim Thursday July 29 at 8, as part of a uke trio. Hawkes put out an album last year called "The Beatles Uke," which is just what it sounds like: Beatles songs done on ukuleles.     How did Hawkes come to this juncture - and we must say, very contented - point at age 56?
    Well … he came to the ukulele about eight years ago. And Hawkes saw the Beatles play the Baltimore Civic Center, Sept. 13, 1964. He was 11. As with a lot of kids, something joyous exploded in his head. Already taking piano and clarinet lessons, began to learn guitar. The first Beatles song he played was “She Loves You.”
     Fast forward: Nearly 46 years later, Hawkes releases a 15-track solo CD of all-instrumental Beatles covers.  “I’ve come full circle,” says Hawkes, with a laugh, in his Lincoln home.

 Sun. July 25 

 “Comin’Home to Indiana: The Music of the ishmaeLites” comes to us from out of the blue, but sounds really, really interesting. What is it? An "alternative epic' which features 22 songs tracing the forgotten history of the Tribe of Ishmael, a tri-racial nomadic population of mostly Scots-Irish, mixed with some Native Americans and escaped slaves. (We have some Scots-Irish blood in us and knew nothing of this.) Here's the story: In the 19th century, a gypsy-like tribe roamed Indiana and other states of the Midwest. Known for music and dancing – but despised by mainstream society – the so-called “Tribe of Ishmael” was ultimately broken up by authorities, and the clans disappeared. In 2009, a rock band called the ishmaeLites reclaimed that history with a new CD, “Comin’ Home to Indiana.” After a handful of shows in Cambridge, the core members of The ishmaeLites followed through on the title of that album: They moved to Indiana. Before leaving, they inspired Cambridge-based theater artist Ian MacKinnon (in photo) to revive his Artezani troupe and turn that album into a musical, the first version of which will be given three performances in Harvard Square closing Sunday July 25 at the Democracy Center. with a show at 7. Tickets: $10.

 Sun. July 25

Like everybody else in the world who's not, say, 70, I came late to the Patsy Cline party and she was long dead. I was a kid and had really yet to discover the Beatles in 1963, she died at 30. Airplane crash like the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens. Along about the early '80s, as some punks were starting to look back and create cow-punk, Patsy Cline was one of those who were rediscovered and, well, almost deified. I did my digging and could only agree. The woman had an amazing, aching voice. "Walkin' After Midnight," "I Go To Pieces," and, of course, "Crazy." She was one of the first country artists to have a pop crossover hit, one of the first country women to take hold of her career. That career lasted but eight years, but her mark was indelible. Reportedly, Cone told her friends June Carter Cash and Loretta Lynn that she felt a sense of impending doom and didn't expect to live much longer in the months leading up to her death. Cline was known for he generosity, but that accelerated as she begn giving away personal items to friends, writing out her own last will on Delta Air Lines stationery and asking close friends to care for her children if anything should happen to her. She was wary of flying, but after a Kansas City, Kansas gig, she spurned an offer to drive home to Nashville and told pal Dottie West: "Don't worry about me. When it's my time to go, it's my time." 

Well, it's Cline time again. The Stoneham Theatre is putting up "Always ... Patsy Cline," a musical created by Ted Swindley, directed by Joy Hawkins withmusic direction by Jim Rice (no, not the ex-Red Sox.) Becky Barta is Patsy. The show runs through Sun. July 25.

Sun. July 25

Take it off, take it all off. Or maybe not quite all. And maybe artfully, not like at Centerfolds, but a la Boston Babydolls. The Boston modern burlesque troupe is casting a new show called "The Wrathskellar," to be mounted Oct. 24-31 at the Y in Cambridge's Central Square. "'The Wrathskellar,'" explains co-creator, proudcer and director Mr. Scratch, "is an original work. The Boston Babydolls take on a dark cabaret.  It involves dancing, striptease, variety acts, music, and magic.  It is a departure from The Boston Babydolls normal glamourous and ebullient style, but still maintains the high production values and level of professionalism that are the hallmark of this lauded troupe. It's a multi-level show. The Boston Babydolls are playing characters. And with names like 'The Countess', 'The Lost Girl', and 'The Ne'er-do-well', you get a sense of the flavor of 'The Wrathskellar.'"

Sat. July 24

In times when superstar bands like, say, Pink Floyd don't tour much more than once an eon and other superstar bands like, say, Guns N' Roses, are barely a band at all (to say nothing of not touring - well, they are actually planning a stadium tour this summer, but really, it ain't done 'til it's done) it opens the market wide up for "tribute" bands, a term more in vogue than the somewhat disparaging "cover" band. Lord knows, there are hundreds of cover bands out there from the semi-obscure, Motorhead, to the obvious, Tool, AQerosmith. Guns N' Roses is really the ultimate band to pay tribute to, even though I doubt anyone can name the myriad embers of Guns N' Roses through the decades. We all know Axl - the remaining Gunner, the creator of that centuries-in-the-making "Chinese Democracy" CD. And most of us could recall the early days of Axl, Slash, Duff, Izzy, Sleepy, Doc and Wheezy. We know there was Buckethead along the way. We know Axl is still Axl - a obsessive-compulsive perfectionist/problem child. And we can't think a Guns N" Roses will ever really be assembled and be on the road. But we can tell you Appetite for Destruction, will be on stage at the Middle East Downstairs Friday March 27, welcoming you to their jungle.