Thursday, April 30, Guster @ Marquette University, 7:30 p.m. Following the jam-band business model even though they don’t much care for jamming, Guster has gradually built their following by encouraging tape trading and touring colleges like the one that spawned them 18 years ago, Tufts University. They've become...

Possibly the most appealing quality about lo-fi folk hero M. Ward-namely that unrelenting pleasantness-could also prove the biggest deal-breaker for new listeners: As Kate Winslet reprimands Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of theSpotless Mind, "I don't need 'nice.'" And so begins Hold Time, Ward's sixth...

M. Ward is familiar. He may, in fact, be the familiar-ist musician of this century. His music is plucked from the furthest reaches of your long-term memory, from songs you can't quite remember, from bands whose names get lost on the tip of your tongue. He swivels from Johnny Cash to Chuck Berry to Roy Orbison, and channels Buddy Holly just as well in his own work as he does in a cover of Holly's "Rave On...

Thursday, April 23, Indigo Girls @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m. Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have come a long way since their 1987 debut Strange Fire yielded the hit “Closer to Fine.” The Indigo Girls have remained one of the most popular folk-rock duos over the last two decades, releasing 11 studio albums, including...

Those who won't be able to catch Wilco at either one of their ultra-sold out concerts at the Pabst Theater tomorrow or Wednesday will have a chance see to the band in a different capacity tonight at Miller Park, where they'll be throwing the first pitch at the Brewers' 7:05 p.m. game against the Cincinnati Reds. Jeff Tweedy will toss the ceremonial pitch, but the whole band should be there with hi...

Thursday, April 9, Brandi Carlile @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m. Like so many of her adult-contemporary peers who owe much of their name recognition to appearances on the “Grey’s Anatomy” soundtrack, Brandi Carlile plays melancholic but melodious folk-pop. She distinguishes herself, though, with an unusually...

Thursday, March 26, Brian Regan @ The Riverside Theater, 7:30 p.m. For a comedian, a Patton Oswalt endorsement is like having Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski tell you he likes the way you play basketball— it means you’re pretty good at what you do. Brian Regan’s observational comedy lives up to the praise Oswalt...

Thursday, March 12, A Braves New World @ Discovery World, 7 p.m. Just in time for the spring baseball season, this month sees the release of William Povletich’s Milwaukee Braves: Heroes and Heartbreak, a book that examines the economic and cultural impact of Milwaukee’s first Major League Baseball team...

It had been a few months since Andreas Delfs was last on the podium at Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. As he nears the end of his long tenure as music director, he has enduring affection and good will from the audience, obvious in the smiles and applause that greeted him. Beyond musical accomplishments, Delfs has been a good public...