*Hot Shots II in Newtown will host the CONNECTICUT FIREFIGHTERS’ PIPE BAND on February 16. The group of 23 or so pipers and a half-dozen drummers will help Hot Shots launch its 30-Day Countdown To St Patrick’s Day.

*LUCINDA continues her music career with a rare live radio spot tonight. The Newtown native will be featured on WCSU’s student-run radio station, WXCI (91.7 FM), tonight at 8:15 pm. DJ Nancy London will be interviewing Lucinda about her music and career approach, and also adding the singer-songwriter’s singles “The Sky is Falling” and “The Ghost in the Room” to the station’s list.

The in-studio appearance and performance is expected to run about 45 minutes. You can listen to the show the old-fashioned way — push a button and turn on the ol’ stereo — or use the university’s live link at www.wscu.ctstateu.edu/wxci/homepage.html.

*THE LAURA WARFIELD TRIO, a New York-based group, is making its Connecticut debut tonight with a show at Acoustic Café in Bridgeport. Showtime is set for 8 pm and while I have yet to visit the café myself, I hear showtimes are held to very well down there.

Singer-songwriter Warfield grew up in New York City and just recently moved to Fairfield. Her music is pulled from a number of the cultures and traditions found in the Big Apple, blending folk harmonies, blues humanity, pop, “country heartache and contemporary holism,” according to her press. In addition to Ms Warfield, the trio’s members are Susan Gordon-Clark, who plays autoharp, and percussionist Christine Anderson. If you’d like to take a hear of what Friday night’s audience at Acoustic Café is in for, visit www.laurawarfield.com and check out the sound byte.

Tomorrow night will be the February installment of the monthly WPKN benefit show at the café. For those unfamiliar with this practice it’s simple: Once a month the café selects one of its shows to feature as the WPKN (89.5 FM) fundraiser, and all proceeds from the door are donated to the volunteer-run Bridgeport-based radio station.

On February 10 DENI BONET and TERENCE MARTIN will take the stage. Bonet normally plays in much larger spaces with her full band but is going to do something different this Saturday. She and her bassist/percussionist, Martin, will offer a rare performance. The two will also be accompanied by Dan Bonis on pedal steel guitar, dobro guitar and electric guitar. Cost is just $10 and showtime is 9 pm.

*FUEL continues its work on the road this month and into March now with the addition of more shows with 3 DOORS DOWN. The boys in Fuel have been on the road since last fall in support of their second Epic Records album, Something Like Human, which was certified gold just five weeks after its release.

Dates with KID ROCK and BUCKCHERRY will continue to February 23, but the next night vocalist Bret Scallions, guitarist Carl Bell, bassist Jeff Abercrombie and drummer Kevin Miller hook up with 3 DOORS DOWN for five more weeks on the road.

3 DOORS DOWN are the headliners of the upcoming road trip. These guys are celebrating not only their latest album The Better Life but also the nomination of “Kryptonite” as contender for a Grammy and the award of Best New Artist at the recent American Music Awards presentation.

Connecticut already had a Fairfield concert announced — March 17 at SHU’s William H. Pitt Center in Fairfield, where 3 Doors Down is headlining the school’s annual spring concert. Now fans can make two trips in one month to see these guys or at least get to the show of their choice that is closest to home, because Fuel is now also scheduled to be at The Webster Theatre in Hartford on Tuesday, March 13.

Tickets for the SHU show will be going on sale Monday, February 26, and will be $22 each. Doors will open at 7 pm the night of the show, and seating is general. Contact the Pitt Center’s box office at 203/396-8100; the Webster can be reached at 860/ 246-800. Oleander is also opening the SHU show.

*Who is smarter, AMY GRANT or GENE SIMMONS? SISQÒ or LARS ULRICH? Is Backstreet Boy KEVIN RICHARDSON more intelligent than ‘N Sync’s LANCE BASS?  These answers and more will be answered during next week’s special rock star edition of ABC-TV’s Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. The show will air Sunday, February 11, and again on Wednesday, February 14.

(Amy Grant? The Backstreet Boys? —Who defined these people as rock stars, the same ladies and gentlemen who gave JETHRO TULL their misguided Grammy a few years ago?)

*Finally this week: English author Maurice Baring (1874-1945) once said “Whoever one is, and wherever one is, one is always in the wrong if one is rude.”

If Monday morning’s report from Associated Press (an agency with an excellent reputation not only for immediate reporting but also accuracy) is correct, JIMMY BUFFETT found himself ejected from his baseline seat and taking up port in one of the cheaper seats during Sunday’s New York Knicks vs Miami Heat game for using profanity.

NBA referee Joe Forte had the singer removed from his original seat for “[using] words he knows he shouldn’t have used,” Mr Forte said about the King Parrothead. Apparently Buffett was sitting next to a little boy and a woman and the referee felt the singer-songwriter had gone too far in his sideline routine.

As a fan of Jimmy Buffett who drives a car with a license plate that declares as such to the world, my thinking on this is… If Buffett can’t control himself in the presence of children, good for Joe Forte! Buffett is a man who knows how to be clever and creative with words. He doesn’t need to be obscene to get his point across.

Until next week, I’ll be seeing you, dang it!... on the road.

Questions and comments should be sent to Shannon Hicks, c/o Bee Publishing Co., 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown 06470, or shannon@thebee.com; or call The Bee office at 426-3141.

Shows listed on the calendar at club locations are for ages 21 and over unless specified.

UPCOMING CONCERTS

FEBRUARY 9 — Turn Styles at Hot Shots II, Newtown; Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals at UConn’s Jorgensen Auditorium, Storrs, Jack Johnson opening; Amy Kateri at Laszlo’s Arts Café, Monroe, Far Cry Fly opening; Peanut Jones at Tuxedo Junction, Danbury; Simple Jim at Toad’s Place, New Haven, Ink, Eclectic Nobodys and Saffron opening;

February 10 — Just Visiting at Hot Shots II; Everlast at The Webster Theatre, Hartford, Dexter and Free Bishop opening (all ages); Adva at Laszlo’s Arts Café, Industrial opening; Screaming Broccoli at Tuxedo Junction; Three Dog Night at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den, Uncasville; Terence Martin at Acoustic Café, Bridgeport (monthly WPKN benefit show);

February 15 — Black-Eyed Peas & Talib Kweli at Toad’s Place (all ages);

February 16 — CT Firefighters’ Pipe Band at Hot Shots II (kick-off event for 30-Day Countdown to St Patrick’s Day); After Dark III featuring Rane, The Thang and Picasso’s Jelly at The Webster Theater (all ages); Emery at Laszlo’s Arts Café, Ed Bang opening; Fuse 5, Core, Stickpin and Old Marsh at The Webster Underground, Hartford; The Zoo at Tuxedo Junction; Electric Fish at Acoustic Café;

February 17 — The Wallbangers at Tuxedo Junction; 13th Hour and Somniis at The Webster Underground;

February 18 — High School dance party at Tuxedo Junction (18 & under only, no alcohol served); Prince Paul at Toad’s Place (all ages), MC Paul Barman and Dalek opening;

February 21 — CSA Songwriters’ Showcase at Acoustic Café, Bridgeport, featuring Lucinda;

February 22 — Electric Mayhem dance party at Laszlo’s Arts Café;

February 23 — The Nerds at Tuxedo Junction; Sol Dog at The Avenue Café, Black Rock; Darik & The Funbags at Toad’s Place, Hype, Last Call and Bodrock opening; Milk at Acoustic Café, Christine Havarilla opening;

February 24 — Mighty Mighty Bosstones at Toad’s Place (all ages, early show); Edipus at Laszlo’s Arts Café, Intensify and Simalcast opening; The Benjamins at Tuxedo Junction; Deep Banana Blackout at The Webster Theatre (all ages).