Speaking via phone from his Los Angeles home, X singer-guitarist John Doe admits the concept of a "31st anniversary" tour is a bit ridiculous. "Yeah, we give each other little gifts every six months," he says with a laugh. "I really should look up in some Emily Post book to see what the appropriate gift is. It's not wood. Maybe terry cloth." On a more serious note, the veteran SoCal punk band has been hitting on all cylinders ever since its original line-up (which in addition to Doe, includes singer Exene Cervenka, guitarist Billy Zoom and drummer D.J. Bonebrake) reunited a few years back. "It seems to be a good time for us," Doe admits. "Everyone is playing well and having a better time. It seems more engaged, and Exene and I are working on some new songs." When X formed back in 1977, it had a hard time even finding a recording studio that would take it seriously. Through sheer persistence, the band was able to issue its debut single, "Los Angeles," a tune that paired Doe's vocals up against Cervenka's caterwauling voice and became an instant punk classic. Back then, Doe says the band played to 20 and 30 year olds who were disillusioned with mainstream rock radio. If there's anything redeeming about today's punk scene, it's that it's found the right crowd. "It's designed for teenage bohemian artists," Doe explains. "With Green Day and more underground bands, they're finally playing to 18 to 24 year olds. Back when we formed, teenagers were listening to Van Halen, Cheap Trick and a bunch of other shit. Not shit, but stuff that I don't like. I have the right to think it's substandard. People were not thinking for themselves. At that point, they consumed whatever the major record labels put in the stores. Independent distribution was for novelty records or vanity records. There were very few outlets but that didn't stop anybody." It didn't stop X, which issued its full-length debut, Los Angeles, on the fledgling Sire Records in 1980. "Nowadays, Green Day is one of the only good commercial punk-rock bands. But there are hundreds of underground punk-rock bands that are great, not just for their musical contributions. They're great because of the social network they foster. Five hundred people will show up at some word-of-mouth show. That's great. That's what punk rock was designed for. If there's a little danger, that's great too. You might get a black eye and you can go back and show everyone at school." The Detroit Cobras open at 8:30 p.m. at the House of Blues (308 Euclid Ave., 216.241.5555). Tickets: $23-$35. — Jeff Niesel

THURSDAY, MAY 15

Akron/Family

A ragtag group of indie rockers out of Brooklyn, New York, Akron/Family describes itself as "The Village People meets Carlos Castaneda on a Vision Quest." Not sure about the Village People part but the rest of the equation makes sense. The band's latest album, last year's Love Is Simple, features laconic vocals and dreary, rainy day melodies that would make the perfect soundtrack for anyone coming down from an acid trip. Even without any lysergic assistance, this music is really beautiful and features a wide range of instrumentation that suggests the folk-derived band's impressive music abilities. Nick Schillace and Good Morning Valentine open at 9 p.m. at the Grog Shop (2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216.321.5588). Tickets: $10. — JN

SATURDAY, MAY 17

Kid Rock

Detroit's Kid Rock has taken a roundabout course to become the arena-rock act that he now is. He issued his first album back in 1990 but his label, fearing it had another Vanilla Ice on its hands, dropped him cold. The resilient Kid Rock started a comeback, appearing at select Warped Tour dates in the late '90s and eventually landing a major- label deal for the subsequent Devil Without a Cause, a monster hit that mixed together rap and Southern rock harmonies, turning Rock into a self-described "American badass." The current tour, in support of last year's Rock N Roll Jesus, is billed as the Rock N Roll Revival Tour and finds Rock playing a revue-style show with the J. Geils Band's Peter Wolf and Run DMC's Rev Run joining to perform their own hits along with Rock and his Brown Trucker Band. Known for dressing outlandishly and hiring strippers for his stage show, Rock's live shows are nothing if not over-the-top affairs. It all starts at 8 p.m. at Quicken Loans Arena (1 Center Ct., 216.241.5555). Tickets: $35-$69.50. — JN

SUNDAY, MAY 18

Avett Brothers

Back in 2000, as a Concord, North Carolina rock band you've never heard of called Nemo was suffering its dying throes, founders Seth and Scott Avett were going with their souls instead and started leaning on more of the rural campfire music that seemed to come most natural. The Avett Brothers were born as progenitors of a new subgenre of American music called grungegrass or newgrass. Or, if you want to be playful and proper all at once like the Washington Post, you can call it "post-Civil War modern rock." Or you could just call them the Hillbilly Beatles and come closest to what this band seems to be about. Kind of. The three-piece, with Bob Crawford added at the outset on stand-up bass to form a third level in the band's playful vocal harmonics, makes city-inflected folk with country-bluegrass instrumentation, scrambled even further by a visceral punk attitude tempered by lyrics exuding most often a half-full view of life and love. Try classifying that. It'd be best to just consider Avett Brothers yet another offshoot of the anti-folk movement like Langhorne Slim or Iron and Wine, but even that seems confining. Since early 2006, a slow build-up of critical acclaim became more marked with the release of Four Thieves Gone, a lo-fi but still loud acoustic masterpiece recorded in a quiet woodsy cabin that epitomized that marriage of intensity and songcraft. After that, with the more stripped-down The Gleam and the more studio-polished Emotionalism last year, the band has garnered high praise for both its traditional foundation and the eclectic vision it uses to shake that foundation to its core. In November, it won the Americana Music Association award for Group/Duo of the Year as well as Emerging Artist of the Year. Cleveland plays a part in that slow build. Back in the Mignonette days, when the band first widened its tour circle to include the North and West, it just took gigs where it could find them. Cleveland's Barking Spider was one of the first big-city venues that would have the Avett Brothers and who kept inviting them back. This time around, the band plays the Beachland Ballroom (15711 Waterloo Rd., 216.383.1124) with Jessica Lea Mayfield and Justin Gordon opening at 8:30 p.m. Tickets: $18 advance, $20 day of show. — Dan Harkins

The Song Is You

Usually, the programs launched by local Great American Songbook champion/radio host Bill Rudman under the rubric The Song Is You center on one or another of the early-mid 20th century songwriters that Rudman's made the focus of his expertise and enthusiasm. The latest edition, titled What's in a Name?, takes a slightly different tack; it's centered on selections from the Great American Songbook that feature a particular name. Rudman's frequent collaborator, pianist Joe Hunter, hosts the program which includes background narrative and photo and video accompaniment to the music performed by Hunter and vocalists Susan Hesse and Evelyn Wright. It takes place at 3 p.m. at the Tri-C Metro campus main stage theatre (2900 Community College Dr.). Tickets: $17, senior $15. Call 216.241.6000. — Anastasia Pantsios

TUESDAY, MAY 20

Peter Case

Most famous as the guy from the Plimsouls, which had a new-wave hit in 1983 with "A Million Miles Away," Peter Case has had a solo career that's met with more critical acclaim than popular success over the last two decades. A musician's musician, he recently had his songs covered on A Case for Case, a three-disc affair that featured renditions of his songs by the likes of Joe Ely, James McMurtry, Amy Rigby, Dave Alvin and Victoria Williams. The current tour will feature Case playing solo and acoustic, something he's done throughout his career. It's also a good chance to grab a copy of As Far Away As You Can Get Without A Passport, a recent book he's written about being a street musician. The show starts at 8 p.m. at Wilbert's (812 Huron Rd. E., 216.902.4663). Tickets: $12. – JN