When singer-songwriter Stacie Collins (staciecollins.com) moved to Cleveland from Los Angeles in 1996 with her bassist husband Al, who is originally from the Parma area, nobody knew she was an ass-kicking country singer — not even her. "We started discovering all the cool music spots in the city and started to get plugged into the local scene," she says. "I wasn't an artist before I moved to Cleveland." Collins eventually picked up the harp and began fronting her own country-inspired group, quickly generating a buzz around the area. She moved to Nashville in 2001, but still keeps in touch with many of her Cleveland fans. She's returning to town this week to play the Brothers Lounge at 7 p.m. on Saturday. It's a celebration for her terrific third CD, Sometimes Ya Gotta ..., a set of hard-hitting songs (produced by former Georgia Satellite Dan Baird) that straddle the line between honky tonk and rock & roll. "I just wanted it to be better than the last thing," she says. "I grew up country, but I'm a rock & roller too. I grew up listening to Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, but I also grew up listening to Van Halen and the Faces." Tickets are $5.
Nine Inch Nails (nin.com) are reissuing their 1989 debut Pretty Hate Machine next week. The remastered album includes a cover of Queen's "Get Down, Make Love," which was originally a non-album B-side. In addition to the spiffy new sound, the album receives upgraded packaging.
Author Lawrence Kirsch, who published The Light in Darkness and For You: Original Stories and Photographs by Bruce Springsteen's Legendary Fans, presents a tribute to the Boss at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Winchester. You'll hear songs from the new Darkness on the Edge of Town box set, Kirsch will sign copies of The Light in Darkness, and a Springsteen cover band will play. Tickets are $10. Go to thewinchester.net for more info.
Indie rockers All Over the Place, Dan Pickler, the Whenever Plan, Highs and Lows, Read Between the Lines, and Kellen Bearden perform at Friday's Night of Rockville benefit for Strongsville United Methodist Church. It starts at 7 p.m.; tickets are $5.
Fox 8 TV reporter Todd Meany will slap on a pair of sunglasses and do his best Elwood impersonation this weekend with the Brothers Blues Band (brothersbluesband.com), a 15-member tribute to John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd's R&B goof. "It's a two-hour recreation of all the Blues Brothers hits," he says. They play the Savannah on Saturday with "Cleveland's own Cab Calloway," E.T. King. Meany's Ace Molar Band opens the show, which starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10.
Matt Laferty — a record collector who moved to Cleveland Heights from upstate New York about a year ago — promotes his first local concert this week, when Balister play Now That's Class. The Tri-C English instructor calls the avant-jazz trio's music "aggressive ... almost punk." The band — which features Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen, Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist Fred Lonberg-Holm, and sax player Dave Rempis — plays at 9 p.m. Monday. The opening set will be performed by local free-form jazz guys Alex Henry and Nate Scheible. Find more info at myspace.com/nowthatsclass.
The Dead Federation's (myspace.com/deadfederation) Tom Dark celebrates his birthday with a punk show at 9 p.m. Saturday at the Beachland Ballroom. The Drexels, Pleasant Distraction, and the Giggity's are also on the bill. Admission is free.
Before they head into the studio to record some new tracks, noise band Fascist Insect (myspace.com/fascistinsect) will play their final show of the year at 10 p.m. Saturday at Now That's Class. Dog Lady, Andrew Coltrane, Bridesmaid, Jason Rodriguez, and Dead Peasant Insurance open. Tickets are $5.
Akron singer-songwriter Zach (zachmusic.net) teams up with the Cleveland and Akron Canton Food Banks for a benefit concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Akron's Northside. Zach's folksy side project the Bodhis will perform. Go to akronpeaceproject.org for more info.
