If you find yourself out in the provinces on the biggest party night of the year, you have some options for celebrating the halfway point of the naughts. In Providence, get your dancing shoes ready because local avant-electro-dance duo Mahi Mahi will again be ringing in the New Year at AS220 (401-831-9327) as part of the city’s Bright Night celebration, a more-appropriately-named answer to Boston’s First Night, which takes place annually on the last night of the year. Opening the show will be local "one-man disco" San Serac. For all you snow bunnies spending the holidays hitting the slopes up in Vermont, you can get your Long-Island-white-girl-rap fix as Northern State appear at the Snow Barn at Mount Snow (802-464-4191) in West Dover. For those further north in the Green Mountain State, the Jazz Mandolin Project are at Higher Ground (802-654-8888) in South Burlington. There’s some good news for Phish phans still bumming about the band’s break-up: drummer Jon Fishman will be play with the Project. Turkey Bouillon Mafia open, with Chrome Cowboys and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals in the venue's Showcase Lounge. It appears as though NRBQ, possibly the longest-running bar band in history, have decided to take a break from doing their annual New Year’s Eve show at the Iron Horse (413-584-0610) in Northampton. Well, that’s not quite the case, as Baby Macaroni, a ’Q side project featuring Joey and Johnny Spampinato, Tom Ardolino, and special guests including original lead singer Frankie Gadler and the Sun Ra horns, are at the Horse to pick up the slack this year. Elsewhere in Northampton, local roots-rock sextet the Drunk Stuntmen are pulling double duty, appearing in the afternoon at St. John Cantius Church (413-584-1510) as part of the town’s First Night party, and then at the Calvin Theater (413-584-1444) after the ball drops; the Ray Mason Band and the Stone Coyotes open the latter. Plus, New York reggae heroes John Brown’s Body do their thing at Pearl Street (413-584-7771). Fresh off their two-night stand at Harpers Ferry (617-254-9743) in Allston, which concludes tonight (December 30), Strangefolk will be doing three — yes, three — sets at the State Theatre (207-780-8265) in Portland. And Max Creek is at Toad’s Place in New Haven (203-624-8623).