Roadtrips

edited by Matt Ashare

Back in the late '50s, when Dick Clark owned a lotta little pieces of the music business, Ronnie Dawson got signed to Clark's record label and -- presto! -- wound up on American Bandstand. Then the payola scandal hit and Clark was forced to divest most of his conflict-of-interest music-biz holdings. Dawson was left out in the cold, where he lapsed into the margins until his old singles were rediscovered by English rockabilly revivalists. Now he's back Just Rockin' and Rollin', as his latest Upstart album has it, and you can see for yourself why the likes of Southern Culture on the Skids and the Reverend Horton Heat really dig this cat, when he plays the Elvis Room (603-436-9189) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on August 13, the Plantation Club Drafthouse (508-752-4666) in Worcester on August 14, Mama Kin (617-536-2100) in Boston on August 15 (with Angry Johnny & the Killbillies), and Raoul's Music Hall (207-773-6886) in Portland, Maine, on August 16.

It's another strange week at Great Woods (508-339-2333), beginning Friday with speed-metal titans Megadeth still managing to do the arena thing, and bringing along one of the world's most unlikely punk-rock comeback acts, the Misfits. The next night Bob Dylan's in town -- on Elvis Death Day, it wouldn't be a bad time to break out "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" -- with Ani Difranco and BR5-49. Then there's a couple of days of hip-hop/rock crossover, with 311 and De La Soul on the 20th, and the Wu-Tang Clan and the Public Enemy/Slayer-obsessed Atari Teenage Riot tagging along with Rage Against the Machine on the 21st.

Blues mama Koko Taylor does the indoor thing with her Blues Machine at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on August 15 with Geri Verdi and the Villains opening, then moves to the DeCordova Museum (617-876-4275) in Lincoln, Massachusetts on August 17 as part of the World Music series. Buckwheat Zydeco are next on the DeCordova's dance card, on August 24, but you can also catch 'em at the Iron Horse Music Hall (413-584-0610) in Northampton, Massachusetts on August 17.