Music

JULIANA HATFIELD The prolific home-grown singer-songwriter Hatfield is back on the local stage to celebrate the release of her new album, “There’s Always Another Girl,’’ out next Tuesday. Aug. 27, 9 p.m. Tickets: $14. Brighton Music Hall. 800-745-3000. www.ticketmaster.com

TOMMY STINSON The former member of the Replacements, sometime member of Soul Asylum, and current bass slinger for Guns N’ Roses hits the road for a brief solo jaunt before heading back to South America with Axl and the gang. It may be a Sunday night, but hopefully he’ll play his classic Bash & Pop track “Friday Night Is Killing Me.’’ Aug. 28, 8 p.m. Tickets: $12. Church. 617-236-7600. www.churchofboston.com

STYX Too much time on your hands? Go see Styx. We kid, we kid. It’s been a busy summer that has found the veteran Midwestern rockers keeping themselves on the road touring with Yes and doing full-album performances of the classic “The Grand Illusion.’’ Sunday night the genial pop-prog mavens are out on their own and stretching out on their whole catalog. Aug. 28, 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $41.25-$59.25. South Shore Music Circus. 800-745-3000. www.ticketmaster.com

SARAH RODMAN

FOLK, WORLD & COUNTRY

GREAT BIG SEA It’s no surprise that a band named Great Big Sea plays sea shanties, but these Newfoundlanders also draw on, and amp up, the full panoply of their native province’s musical traditions. A couple of album titles - “Rant and Roar,’’ the live document “Road Rage’’ - give some idea of what to expect in concert. Aug. 26, 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $30. Boarding House Park, 40 French St., Lowell. 978-970-5200. www.lowellsummermusic.org

JAVELINA FESTIVAL This three-day festival bills itself as offering “roots country, bluegrass, roots folk, and alt-country styles.’’ In other words, don’t expect Rascal Flatts to show up. Instead, you can see Highway Ghosts, Larry Flint, Girls Guns and Glory, and other local acts, along with imports such as Jack Grace and Hot Club of Cowtown, in a rustic outdoor setting. Aug. 26-28, various showtimes. Tickets: $15-$30 (single day), $65 (weekend pass). Francis Farm, 27 Francis Farm Road, Rehoboth. 617-794-2252. www.thejavelinafestival.com

RICHARD BUCKNER In making his latest release, “Our Blood,’’ Buckner encountered a staggering series of obstacles, including theft, equipment failures, and even a murder investigation. Maybe Buckner will talk about those troubles Sunday, or maybe he’ll just play the remarkable songs that resulted in spite of them. Labelmate David Kilgour co-headlines. Aug. 28, 9 p.m. Tickets: $15. Brighton Music Hall. 800-745-3000. www.ticketmaster.com

MANU CHAO He’s a polyglot - singing in French, Portuguese, English, Spanish, Arabic, sometimes in the same song - and a poly-stylist, too, incorporating elements of reggae and rock, chanson and salsa, punk and polka (OK, no polka) into his music, along with a commitment to revolutionary politics. He has a reputation for legendary live shows and plays the first stop of his new US tour in Boston. Aug. 31, 8 p.m. Tickets: $35. House of Blues. 800-745-3000. www.livenation.com

STUART MUNRO

JAZZ, BLUES & CABARET

TRIO TUTTA Three talented and internationally diverse jazzwomen - American pianist Pamela Hines, Israeli bassist Tal Shalom-Kobi, and Japanese drummer Miki Matsuki - will focus on the music and history of female jazz composers, including Lil Hardin, Marian McPartland, and Carla Bley. Aug. 25, 8:30 p.m. Tickets: $7. Ryles, 212 Hampshire St., Cambridge. 617-876-9330. www.rylesjazz.com

WALTER BEASLEY Boston’s own smooth-jazz saxophone star is also an appealing singer and leads a fine band that can lay down a smoking live groove. Aug. 26-27, 8 & 10 p.m. Tickets: $38. Regattabar. 617-562-4111, www.scullersjazz.com

THE NORTH RIVER BLUES FESTIVAL Two days of blues! Saturday: Magic Slim & the Teardrops, Basic Black & the Cadillac Horns, Larry McCray, Eran Troy Danner, the Porch Rockers, and Diane Blue. Sunday: Walter Trout, Ana Popovic, Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers, Sugar Ray and the Bluetones, and the Delta Generators. Aug. 27-28, noon to 8 p.m. Tickets: $10 (includes admission to the entire fair). The Marshfield Fair, 140 Main St. (Route 3A), Marshfield. 781-834-6629. www.marshfieldfair.org

GRACE KELLY AND PHIL WOODS The youngest musician ever to be named Downbeat Magazine’s “Alto Saxophonist Rising Star,’’ Brookline’s 18-year-old Grace Kelly will perform with her mentor Phil Woods, among the finest alto saxophonists to emerge in the wake of Charlie “Bird’’ Parker. Aug. 28, 2 and 5 p.m. Tickets: $23-$49. Shalin Liu Performance Center, 37 Main St., Rockport. 978-546-7391. www.rockportmusic.org

KEVIN LOWENTHAL

CLASSICAL

TANGLEWOOD Tomorrow the BSO performs a complete concert version of Gershwin’s opera (much in the news of late), conducted by the British conductor Bramwell Tovey. Bass-baritone Alfred Walker and soprano Laquita Mitchell sing the title roles. Saturday, both soloist and conductor duties are turned over to Itzhak Perlman, who leads the BSO in Beethoven’s First and Fifth Symphonies and also plays the composer’s two Romances for violin and orchestra. On Sunday afternoon, Lorin Maazel conducts the traditional season-closing performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Lenox. 617-266-1200, www.tanglewood.org

BOSTON CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY Local chamber music offerings grow sparse in summer but BCMS aims to fill the gap on Saturday nights in August. This weekend, Steven Copes (violin), Maiya Papach (viola), Ronald Thomas (cello), and Benjamin Hochman (piano) offer works by Tsontakis, Brahms, and Fauré. 8 p.m., Aug. 27, $33. Longy School of Music, 617-349-0086 or www.bostonchambermusic.org

BOSTON LANDMARKS ORCHESTRA On Wednesday, music director Christopher Wilkins hands the baton to conductor Jonathan McPhee for an all-Tchaikovsky program featuring dancers from Boston Ballet. 7 p.m., Aug. 31, Hatch Shell at the Esplanade. 617-987-2000, www.landmarksorchestra.org

JEREMY EICHLER