Seems back in February PJ contacted the folks at the café to let them know his guitarist, Mike, would be undergoing brain surgery. PJ was hoping to put together a night to raise some money to help Mike out with the resulting medical bills, and the folks at the café were all over the idea. So next weekend “The PJ Pacifico – Benefit Show for Mike Testa” will start around 6:45 (doors will open at 6 and having been there myself, I suggest getting there ASAP if you want a seat that evening), and admission is $20 per person.

Mike has apparently recovered enough that he’s not only planning on attending the show, but he’s also going to be joining PJ’s band for the evening, as will Steve Ferentzy and Rob Suhoza. To get an idea of what PJ’s music is all about give it a listen through either of his websites, PJPacifico.com or myspace.com/PJPacifico.

*Mohegan Sun will host one of its next “Winning Authors” programs in collaboration with Spin Street this weekend. On Sunday, April 20, visitors will have an opportunity to meet and speak briefly with author and rock vocalist CHUCK NEGRON, formerly of Three Dog Night. Negron, of course, is the author of Three Dog Nightmare: The Continuing Chuck Negron Story, which chronicles his quick rise to fame in the late 1960s and early 70s with TDN, which then led to a destructive descent into a life of drugs, pain and depression. The musician also began addicted to heroin, which he talks about in his book and will certainly answer questions about on Sunday afternoon.

Negron will host an hour-long forum at Mohegan Sun’s Cabaret Theatre at 3 pm. Included will be an interactive question and answer session in which guests can ask about his professional experiences, the journey of writing his book, and his personal inspiration.

A book signing session will follow at 4 pm over in the Spring Gateway at The Shops at Mohegan Sun. Both events are free.

*Listen to the other side of the story, musically anyway, when THREE DOG NIGHT — which resumed touring in 1986, sans Negron, of course — hits Fairfield County next month. Today made up of founding members Cory Wells and Danny Hutton on lead vocals, original keyboardist Jimmy Greenspoon and guitarist Michael Allsup, plus bassist and vocalist Paul Kingery and drummer Pat Bautz, the band plays about 80 shows a year and will make one of those stops this year in at the Klein Memorial Auditorium in Bridgeport.

Sponsored by Fairfield Theatre Company, the concert will be on May 2, and tickets range form $27 to $57 for this show, with FTC members receiving a $10 discount on their tickets. Call the theater for details and reservations at 203-259-1036 or visit FairfieldTheatre.org.

*Also coming to the area, announced at the end of last week, will be HERBIE HANCOCK’s River of Possibilities Tour. Also an FTC-sponsored show to be performed over at The Klein Memorial Auditorium, this one will be on Friday, August 15.

Showtime is 8 pm and tickets were available for members on Thursday (April 17), but will be made available to the rest of us next Tuesday (April 22). Ticket prices weren’t posted online late last week and if I forget to get back there to check on that for you, visit FTC’s website over the weekend. I’m sure they’ll be posted by then.

Also going to the Klein and sponsored by FTC will be four-time Grammy winner PAT BENATAR with producer, guitarist and husband NEIL GIRALDO, who will hit Bridgeport on Sunday, August 31. Those tickets are already available, and they range from $37 to $77 ($10 discount for members).

*Just in time to celebrate my latest iPod mix – the funk mix – comes word that EARTH, WIND & FIRE will be back in Connecticut on Friday, August 1. Tickets for that show, which will be at Mohegan Sun Arena, will be going on sale Friday, April 18, at 10 am, and all are priced at $45. Friday’s sales will be through TicketMaster vendors; the Mohegan Sun box office will begin offering tickets on Saturday.

*Then on Saturday tickets will begin being available for Projekt Revolution 2008, this year to star LINKIN PARK and CHRIS CORNELL, along with The Bravery, Ashes Divide, Atreyu, 10 Years, Hawthorne Heights, Armor For Sleep and Street Drum Corps, and stopping at the Dodge Music Center in Hartford on Sunday, July 20.

Tickets are $30.75 for the lawn area and range from $56.75 to $80.75 (that latter price is for general admission pit, by the way), and will be going on sale Saturday morning at 10 through LiveNation.com and all TicketMaster vendors (and just a reminder, the box office up at the Dodge Center hasn’t yet opened for the season, so don’t make the road trip to Hartford if that’s where you’re thinking of getting your tickets for this show).

*Sandy Hook resident musician DARRYL GREGORY will open the weekend at Mocha Coffee House on Friday night. Showtime for this “multi-instrumentalist who honed his skills as a rocker and singer-songwriter in the dirty dives of NYS in the late 1990s and early part of the new century” (according to notes accompanying is calendar listing this week) is 7:30 at the coffee house, 3 Glen Road in Sandy Hook.

Darryl continues to celebrate the release of She, his collection of “story songs” that are not your typical he said-she said relationship tales. See what all of that means Friday night.

Saturday night’s music will be thanks to the talent of “Bohemian singer” JP BEAUSOLEIL, who plays a variety of traditional music including, but not limited to, Delta, Piedmont and country blues (I like the sound of this already!), mountain music, a capella work songs and ballads, early jazz and swing, and even some original music, all while playing banjo, acoustic and steel guitars (not all at the same time, of course).

Until next week I’ll be seeing you... on the road.

Questions and comments should be sent to Shannon Hicks c/o The Newtown Bee, 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown CT 06470, or shannon@thebee.com, or call the office at 426-3141. Shows listed at clubs are for ages 21 and over unless specified.

UPCOMING SHOWS

APRIL 18 — Kenny Chesney at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, LeAnn Rimes opening (also April 19); Darryl Gregory at Mocha Coffee House, Sandy Hook; The Doug Wahlberg Band at The Georgetown Saloon, Redding; KRS-One at Toad’s Place, New Haven, (all ages); Nate Wilson Group at The Acoustic Café, Bridgeport;

April 19 — Kenny Chesney at Mohegan Sun Arena, LeAnn Rimes opening; JP Beausoleil at Mocha Coffee House; Zen Tricksters at The Acoustic Café;

April 20 — Stevie Nicks at Mohegan Sun Arena; Jerry Douglas Band at Fairfield Theatre Company, Fairfield;

April 24 — Mark Hummel’s Blues Harmonica Blowout at Fairfield Theatre Company;

April 25 — Roseanne Cash at The Ridgefield Playhouse; The Girl Talk at Toad’s Place (all ages);

April 26 — PJ Pacifico at The Acoustic Café (benefit show for Mike Testa); The Christopher Robin Band at Fairfield Theatre Company;

April 27 — T-PAIN at Toad’s Place; Battle of the Ages at The Ridgefield Playhouse (competition featuring Hat City Blues Band, Fog, and six other bands; showtime 5 pm);

April 30 — Colin Hay at The Ridgefield Playhouse.