Roadtrips

Formerly mainstays on Matador, indie heroes Silkworm have resurfaced with a new album, Blueblood, on Touch & Go, where their rockist tendencies will perhaps be better appreciated. Tracks like "Redeye" (which, strangely enough, sounds vaguely like the Cult and Cheap Trick filtered through Steve Albini) and "Empty Elevator Shaft" wouldn't be bad segues into the twisted meat-and-potatoes rock of former Mule leader P.W. Long. And the rhythm section's Zeppelin-via-Pavement jones gets a workout on the opener, "EFF," a great unrequited-love tale that begins with the 30-year-old-learning-to-rock-shamelessly mission statement: "Soul, soul, who stole the soul? A blushing kid, but you're never too old." Then again, a little later on "Said It Too Late," a girl tells the singer she likes him 'cause he's got some soul, and he tells her, "That's just some blues I learned from the English dudes." Catch Silkworm at the Middle East (617-864-EAST) on September 10 with Dianogah, Victory at Sea, and Rose of Sharon, and at the Century Lounge (401-751-2255) in Providence on September 12 with Dianogah, Pines of Rome, and Seagrave.

Grammy-nominated country gal Gillian Welch -- whose songs have been covered by the likes of Emmylou Harris and Trisha Yearwood -- opens up the Multistage concert calendar at the Somerville Theatre (617-931-2787) on September 12; on September 10 she's at the Iron Horse (413-584-0610) in Northampton (see our story on page 15). If you stick around, the late show at the Iron Horse that same night is a bill featuring Steve Westfield -- the Neil Young of western Massachusetts, who was idolized by the high-school-aged J Mascis and Lou Barlow -- along with Barlow's sister's band, Hospital.

Mai Cramer's hosted the acclaimed Blues After Hours on WGBH for 20 years, and to celebrate she's hosting a live broadcast from the House of Blues (617-491-BLUE) in Cambridge on September 11 with Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson and Byther Smith. You can also catch Luther throwing down at the Wachusett Mountain Blues Festival (978-464-2300) in Princeton on September 19, along with New Orleans's Bryan Lee and the Jump Street Five. The festival continues on September 20 with local swing heavies Bellevue Cadillac. Bluesman Alvin Youngblood Hart -- who's won acclaim for his playing in the unadulterated acoustic hill-country and Delta traditions -- makes a stop at St. John's Methodist Church (617-924-3795) in Watertown on September 11, then headlines the Framingham Blues Festival (978-897-4663) at Bowditch Field in Framingham on September 12.d September 6 (with the club's house band, the Incredible Casuals).