Country Thunder, the annual country music festival that takes place in Florence, Ariz., each spring (there's a companion festival, also called Country Thunder, each summer in Twin Lakes, Wisc.), has announced its lineup for the 2013 edition, which runs from Thursday, April 11, through Sunday, April 14.

This year's headliners include Lady Antebellum, Toby Keith, Lee Brice, Eric Church and Tracy Lawrence.

Check out a full schedule here, and lots more details including ticket and camping info here.

When it came to reproductive rights, it was one hell of an election year. So, let's celebrate the woman vote with a video from Brooklyn blues-punk band Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers: “Nocturnal Emissions.”

Enjoy, Foster Friess. If you don't like it, put an aspirin between your...

Hey, why not go see The Sea and Cake tonight at Club Congress? Here's what Spin has to say about them:

Much like their namesake, Chicago post-rock quartet the Sea and Cake have created music that combines a subtle sweetness with an impossibly cool beachside vibe, thanks to a mix of electronic sounds, Krautrock styles, and strong post-jazz influences. After the jigsaw puzzle austerity of last year's Everybody, the Sea and Cake return this week with their eighth studio album, the propulsive Car Alarm. Inspired partly by the birth of vocalist/guitarist Sam Prekop's first son, Car Alarm effervesces with bursts of energy while harking back to the silky-smooth pop of 2000's Oui.

Ticket details here.

Despite being a dude who likes dudes, I did NOT get the part of the gay gene involving musicals.

While there are exceptions—good Broadway shows and compelling narratives can win me over—I generally just shake my head at musicals.

Walking down the street during a sad moment and blurting into a warble about one's feelings? No. No thank you.

I also don't care much for karaoke. Again, while there are exceptions, there seems to be an inverse correlation between singing talent and a desire to sing karaoke in public. No. No thank you.

Therefore, I find the series of "Movieokie" events that the good folks down at Fluxx Productions have been putting on to be kind of frightening. The video below explains a bit, but you get the gist of the event from the name: Yes, it's an event in which people can sing along to movies—generally, musicals.

Um ... I just threw up a little.

Therefore, I will NOT be at Fluxx Studio and Gallery, 414 E. Ninth St., for the next Movieokie event at 8 p.m., Friday, Nov. 16. Admission is $5, and prizes are involved.

If this is your sort of thing, go. Have fun. God bless you. Just leave me out of it.

We've talked a bit about local legend Billy Sedlmayr's forthcoming solo debut previously in a piece by Eric Swedlund last month.

Well, it's getting to be crunch time for his Kickstarter project, folks.

The project is less than halfway to its goal of $10,000, with 7 days left before it closes. If you've got an itch to help out a great musician of the Sonoran, here's your chance. Check out the videos above and below for a taste of what Billy is all about.

• Joe Pagac

Joe Pagac is a local artist best known for his revolving murals on the side of the Rialto Theatre. He also raises chickens, sews his own parachute pants and spends his free time designing as-of-yet unsuccessful perpetual motion machines.

What was the first concert you ever saw?

Wyclef Jean at Centennial Hall during his Carnival days. There were only, like, 40 people at the show, so it was kind of underwhelming. He insisted on staying onstage until the cops dragged him off, which they eventually did.

What are you listening to these days?

Around the house, I listen to a lot of exotica and lounge music, like Martin Denny, Quiet Village. When I’m out working, I listen to an upbeat mix of bands like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, the Magic Numbers, Scissor Sisters, Coconut Records and MGMT.

What was the first album you owned?

Weird Al, Even Worse, was the first album I remember buying. That piece of wax spun on the record player until I knew every word.

What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone seem to love, but you just don’t get?

The saxophone. The recent resurgence bothers me to no end.

What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?

Gogol Bordello put on the best show I have ever been to. The energy that they throw toward the crowd gives you goose bumps the entire time. I would love to see them live again.

Musically speaking, what is your favorite guilty pleasure?

I still listen to a good share of pop music, and I can sing along to all the new Justin Bieber stuff.

What song would you like to have played at your funeral?

“The Rainbow Connection” by Kermit the Frog.

What band or artist changed your life, and how?

Sisqó’s “Thong Song” got me through some hard times.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?

Scissor Sisters, Night Work, or Darude, Before the Storm.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

I already brought it up once ... so kick back to a little bit of what my girlfriend refers to as my "vacation music." I give you Martin Denny's “Quiet Village.” If the exotic rhythms don't take you away from your drab daily grind for 3.5 minutes, the shrieking monkeys certainly will.

• Hey, look at all these things I don't know how to make sound good!

Now, this isn't as music-related as it is awesome, but it's related to using your computer to jam out rhythms and melodies, so we'll roll with it.

This is Jam With Chrome, just one of many Chrome Experiments, which are described here—and excerpted below so you can get straight to the jammin':

Experiments is a showcase for creative web experiments, the vast majority of which are built with the latest open technologies, including HTML5, Canvas, SVG, and WebGL. All of them were made and submitted by talented artists and programmers from around the world.

We hope the projects on this site provide inspiration for anyone interested in experimenting creatively with the web. And we hope they show how the web has become faster, more fun, and more open — the same spirit in which we built Google Chrome.

Seriously, this is fun. I spent about five to ten minutes putting shame to my surname and genetic lineage by proving that I don't have great rhythm (something which a few videos that exist somewhere could prove, I imagine), but I had a great time doing it.

Give it a few minutes of your life. You'll enjoy it. And, if I'm understanding it right, it looks as if you can invite friends to join the same session and "play" instruments with you, thereby multiplying the enjoyment. Everyone wins!

Anakim will be playing at Club Congress in a free show that went largely unannounced. It isn't on Congress' website or Facebook page. Anakim placed third in the 2012 Tammies awards for metal and I have enjoyed the few times I have seen them. I will have more on Anakim when I finish my review on the 2012 Terrorfest that was held at the Rock a few weekends ago. You can preview and download their EP here.

Interestingly enough, I learned bassist and singer, Ed Slocum, also operates Tattoo Artistry, Best Of Tucson®'s runner up for Best Tattoo Parlor and makes some pretty neat custom tattoo foot pedals:

Kvasura will be playing their first show ever and AM.ARE.IS will be playing as well. This free show begins at 9:00 p.m. at Club Congress, 311 Congress St. and is 21+.

• John Doe

There’s been a bit of a musical ruckus going on in Bisbee of late. It’s happening at the Bisbee Royale, a new music venue that opened a few months back in a historic 1918 building that once housed a Baptist church.

Me, I’m fast becoming enough of a curmudgeon that I prefer not to drive more than 15 miles for any concert, much less one that may require me to sleep in a bed other than my own.

However, we know full well that many writers, artists and musicians regularly traverse the 100 or so miles between Tucson and Bisbee, and many might well like to head down to the hip former copper-mining town for a concert by singer-songwriter John Doe at 8 p.m. Thursday night, Nov. 8. Tickets cost $20.

Doe came to fame as a member of the still-going-strong Los Angeles punk-rock band X, but since 1990 also has established himself as an alt-country solo act, one of our pre-eminent pop-folk-rock singer-songwriters. This gig is a rare solo show that he actually requested himself after a previous Bisbee gig.

“The Royale is made for people like John, a strong voice, one single person who allows the venue to really shine,” said filmmaker and author Bill Carter, who booked and is promoting the concert. Carter also is a casual music booker, bringing some of his friends to Bisbee in recent years, such as Howe Gelb, Marianne Dissard, Calexico and Jason Lytle of Grandaddy fame.

Carter, whose latest book is the acclaimed Boom, Bust, Boom: A Story About Copper, the Metal that Runs the World, also has booked singer-songwriter Tom Russell for a Feb. 16 gig at the Bisbee Royale.

He reserves the highest praise for his friends Sloane and Danielle Bouchever, the proprietors of the Bisbee Royale. “They’ve committed an amazing amount of effort toward remodeling this beautiful old building. It’s an incredible venue, and not a venue you'd ever imagine seeing in that town.”

The last big show at the Bisbee Royale was a Halloween-night concert by Tucson favorites Sergio Mendoza y la Orkestra and Salvador Duran. The 250-capacity venue was packed.

To get to Bisbee, take Interstate 10 east to exit 303 at Benson, and take Highway 80 south about 50 miles. You can find the Bisbee Royale in the heart of town at 94 Main Street. Call 520-432-6750 for more information, or visit www.bisbeeroyale.com.