Ohio garage-rockers The Griefs sometimes sound like The Kinks and sometimes like The Who. Tonight they channel it at The Basement for the first show on their tour outside of the Buckeye State. And look, they're just regular-lookin' dudes! Nothin' to hate here.

Check out "Whenever You're Around" for a taste.

Add another transplant to the list. Supposedly, Chicago artist David Vandervelde (who recently lived in Brooklyn) is moving/has already moved to Nashville (just for the summer?). It's no coincidence that he has a local connection—Richie Kirkpatrick from Ghostfinger played bass with Vandervelde on tour last year. Check out Vandervelde's glittery glam-tinged tune "Nothin, No," off his Moonstation House Band record.

You can see Ghostfinger and David Vandervelde play Friday, 16th at Exit/In. Be sure and show 'em that Nashville hospitality.

Friday night The Cannery gave us all a little more bang for our buck than usual, offering up three of Nashville’s hardest working rock bands on a triple-headlining bill. Determined to get things off to an early start, the show was advertised as starting at 9 p.m. so we were sure to get there on time for once.

From the song "Turning Japanese" to the band Half Japanese to the band Japancakes, it's clear Japan occupies a really curious space in the American imagination. Maybe it's because the TV shows are so awesome. Is there a band called Japanties yet? Japancreas? I'm thinking of naming my next band A Man, a Plan a Canal: Japanama. But then it wouldn't be a palindrome anymore.

Anyway, NYC's Japanther is playing Sunday night at the Springwater. They'll be joined by The Pharmacy (speaking of owing XTC) and Wizardz. Maybe "Jeff Orrall" will be at the show, assholes. I hear that there are members of Jeff Orrall in Wizardz. Ian from Japanther answered five particular questions.

Not just Lil Jon. It's old news that TVT Records filed bankruptcy, but recently their list of unsecured creditors has surfaced, and guess who they owe money to? Like, everybody. If you've got the patience for 119 pages of oustanding debt, have at it. Of note is that, even as my eyes blurred scanning the file, I noticed at least one Nashville company to whom TVT owes money—about $500 (of the some $25 million altogether). Sorry dude. Bet the check's totally in the mail.

OK, here’s the story as I know it: AutoVaughn independently released their 2006 album Space, busted their collective ass for a year and got signed to a monolithic international entertainment conglomerate. Then they went into the studio with Brian Virtue, who has worked on tons of projects from Jane's Addiction to the Kiss Alive! box set to the X-Files OST (nerdgasm, whoa!), and they co-produced a six song EP of headphone-ready, echo-drenched guitar pop.

And then their monolithic international entertainment conglomerate drops ‘em like an Indian baby off a tall building. Which is—in my humble opinion—totally fucking retarded.

Stewart performs stand-up this Friday night at The Ryman, and for this week's paper, Jack Silverman conducted an interview with the reluctant anchorman, which includes questions like this:

Scene: Does having Colbert come on after you, since he is obvious parody, allow you to be a little more serious? Or is he more of the Dr. Phil to your Oprah?

Stewart: I guess he's more of a Judge Joe Brown to my [Marilyn] Milian. I don't know...our shows are of the same genetic material. I think they both exist on their own, but hopefully together they complete a nice picture [laughs]. You know what's sad? You're clearly far more thoughtful about this than I am. I'm like, “Geez, you know, I never thought of that.” I've been sitting up here playing Minesweeper.

Asylum Seekers: Singer-songwriters John Hiatt and Mary Gauthier help raise money for Sudanese refugees living in Nashville. (Lost Boys Celebration: A Benefit for the Lost Boys Foundation of Nashville featuring John Hiatt and Mary Gauthier playing Wednesday, 14th at The Belcourt.)

Adult Material: On his latest, Hayes Carll mines his younger, freer days with sharp, roadhouse-friendly songs. (Playing Thursday, 8th at The Belcourt.)

Peer as Folk: Robby Hecht’s full-length debut proves he’s found his kind of people in Nashville. (CD release show Thursday, 8th at Mercy Lounge.)

Sad Soul: Altered Statesman play white soul with a bohemian edge. (Playing Thursday, 8th at Family Wash.)

To celebrate the day dedicated to our birth-givers, Scenecast Episode 131 has a real mother for you, with Rooney, De Novo Dahl, The Moaners, Mr. Gnome, The Bravery, The Sword, DeVotchKa, Basia Bulat, Rachael Sage, John Prine, Sierra Hull and sounds from the Ice Cold hip-hop night at The Rutledge.

In The Spin: The Privates, Lou Reed, M.I.A.

Our Critics' Picks: The Moaners, DeVotchKa, Basia Bulat, The Sword, John Prine & more.

1a. The Belcourt is an excellent place for a show like this—one that benefits from an attentive crowd—and the sound was superior.

2. Opener Ingrid Michaelson proved that it is possible to win over a Nashville crowd. Her wisecracking and wonderful rangy voice—put to especially good use on a showstopping cover of Radiohead's "Creep"—earned her a standing ovation at the end of her set.

3. People looked like other people. Play the look-alike game after the jump.

Actress Leisha Haley is best known for her role as the perky Alice Pieszecki on lady soap The L Word, where she cheerfully tracks the sexcapades of friends in their tightly knit Los Angeles lesbian community for The Chart. But before acting she played in The Murmurs, and Uh Huh Her, her new electro-pop band with former Mellowdrone bassist/keyboardist Camila Grey, is named after PJ Harvey’s highest-charting album of the same name. Their first full-length, Common Reaction, is a batch of sultry, ethereal pop that rests somewhere between Ladytron’s synthy surges (“Not a Love Song”) and Annie Lenox’s mournful moans (“Everyone”). Coincidentally, it’s the kind of sexy, atmospheric music that would fit perfectly on The L Word’s soundtrack. 9 p.m. at Exit/In —TRACY MOORE

OK, so who hasn't watched a commercial, caught a bit of the jingle and thought you could do better? In this town, I imagine it happens every five minutes. Of course, Murfreesboro has already given the world Matt Mahaffey, who in turn gave the world the unforgettable Expedia jingle. You gotta admit it has a brilliant, catchy simplicity. And just think of the cha-ching.

Anyhoo, CBS has bought a series called "Jingles" that gives folks a chance to "wow Fortune 500 companies with your talent" by coming up with product jingles. And they're casting in Nashville at the end of the month! And you can do it with your friends! Come on, sell out.

Info after the jump.

Playing May 6 and 7 at The Belcourt Theatre

1. "The Temptation of Adam"

I really like Josh Ritter. I love love love this song. I wrote about it here, and I told him about it here (though I'm pretty sure I used the word "obsessed"). It is both easy and difficult to decipher just what has etched this little tune into my heart.

One the easy side, it's a wonderful story: A man lives in a nuclear bunker with a woman who is way out of his league. Eventually, because of his songs and the fact that, in some ways, he is literally the only man on earth, she succumbs to his charms and they live in brief bliss 300 feet below the surface. But he knows he can't hold onto her. He knows that their "love would live a half-life on the surface." So, he thinks about pushing the "great big button" and launching WWIII to hang onto his woman. Hence the temptation.

When The Spin arrived at City Hall at 8:30 p.m., Canadian lab-rockers Holy Fuck had already taken the stage with their bloopy, glitchy dance beats featuring bass, drums and two knob-twiddlers. There were a few vocoder-distorted lyrics, but mostly hunched-over, jammy grooves that blended into one big kaleidoscopic melty jam.

It's Cinco de Mayo today, and tonight at Mercy Lounge it's Pico de Mayo, which is I guess what happens when Pico vs. Island Trees and bands they know celebrate their victory over French pop? Don't make me explain it.