*The latest project for Newtown native MorganEve Swain, the Providence, R.I.-based band BROWN BIRD will kick of its spring tour at The Acoustic Café this weekend. The band will be there Friday, May 14, for an 8 o’clock show. Tickets are $5 and can be reserved (even at the last minute, I believe) by calling 203-335-3655.

Joining the bill will be Proud Flesh with Pat Dalton (MorganEve’s longtime friend, also from Newtown) and The John Torres Band. The café is at 2926 Fairfield Avenue, in the Black Rock section of the city. Visit AcousticCafe.com for additional info.

*THE WAY-BACK MACHINE will be playing music of the 60s and 70s at Rivalry Sports Grille, 262 Main Street in Monroe, on Saturday, May 22, starting around 9:30.

*Speaking of (nearly) hometown musicians, Middlebury’s KATIE STEVENS will no doubt receive two very big welcomes when the AMERICAN IDOL LIVE TOUR 2010 hits Connecticut twice this summer. Tickets are going on sale for both a Tuesday, July 13 show at Mohegan Sun Arena ($75 and $95) and Monday, September 13, at Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport ($49.50 and $69.50) this weekend. They’ll be available through LiveNation.com beginning Saturday, May 15, at 10 am.

*Also going on sale this weekend are tickets for ZAC BROWN BAND, with The Wood Brothers and Casey Driessen, who will be at the Comcast Theatre in Hartford on Sunday, August 15. Those tickets are $26.50 for the lawn, $40.50 reserved, and will be on sale Friday, May 14, at 10 am, also through LiveNation.com.

*Saturday morning, tickets for LIMP BIZKIT’s stop at the Comcast Theatre on Friday, July 30, will be going on sale, also at 10 and also through LiveNation.com. General admission pit tickets are available for $55.50, reserved seats are $26 and $55.50, and lawn seating is $26. Ice Cube will have an opening set.

*COUNTING CROWS will bring their highly anticipated tour Traveling Circus and Medicine Show to The MGM Grand at Foxwoods on Friday, August 13. Tickets are $50, $65 and $80, and will be on sale Friday, May 14, at 9 am.

Go online to MGMatFoxwoods.com, calling MGM Grand’s box office at 866-646-0609, visit the box office in person, or go through TicketMaster for tickets. 

*Tickets have already gone on sale for legendary singer-songwriter STEVIE NICKS’s show at the same venue. Those tickets, which range from $85 to $135 for Saturday, August 28, are available through the same outlets outlined in the preceding paragraph.

*The Connecticut based six-member group FRANK VIELE & THE MANHATTAN PROJECT has some big events coming up. The band, whose members merged from Average White Band, Stealing Jane, and The Soul Dogs, among others, has already shared stages with Gavin DeGraw, Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers, Ingrid Michaelson, George Clinton & the Parliament Funkadelic, Tower of Power, The Wailers, One Republic, Hanson, Spin Doctors, Ryan Cabrera and more.

FV&TMP is putting the final touches on its debut full-length album Neon Lights, due out July 13. The album includes nine tracks of original music and lyrics penned by the six current members: lead vocalist and guitarist Frank Viele, percussionist Mario Capodiferro, bassist and backing vocalist Rob Liptrot, lead guitarist Eddie Arjun Peters, sax man Pasquale T. Iannelli, and trumpet player Andrew Mericle.

They’re currently touring the Northeast and coming back to Connecticut to open for THE WAILERS on  Tuesday and Wednesday, June 1-2, at Fairfield Theatre Company. Showtime for that is 7:30, and tickets are  $52 general admission, $50 students & seniors and $47 FTC members. Visit FairfieldTheatre.com or call 203-259-1036 to purchase or for additional information.

If you’d like to see the band even sooner, the guys will be at Black Bear Saloon in South Norwalk this weekend, playing Saturday, May 15. Shows are also scheduled for June 19 at Anna Liffey’s in New Haven, July 18 at Sam Ash Music Store in New Haven (an early afternoon show, to be part of a Save the Music Block Party), August 8 at The Colonial Tavern in Oxford (also an early show, as part of The CT Partnership for Children Benefit), and August 21 at Daniel Street in Milford, as part of the 1st Annual Oyster Fest After Party.

*SHAKIRA’s 2010 global tour will return to North America, and will include a stop at Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday, September 17. Tickets are $80 and $110 and go on sale Friday, May 14, at 10 am, through TicketMaster. They’ll also be available at the casino’s box office 24 hours later, subject to availability.

*Also on sale Friday morning will be tickets for Grammy-winning recording artist MAROON 5 who will be at Mohegan Sun Arena on Sunday, August 1, with special guests Guster and Ry Cuming. Tickets are $45 and $65, and will be available through TicketMaster for their first 24 hours, and then also through the box office over in Uncasville beginning Saturday morning.

*SHINEDOWN, along with CHEVELLE, PUDDLE OF MUDD, SEVENDUST and 10 YEARS, will help launch the first Carnival of Madness tour this summer, which will have a stop at Mohegan Sun Arena on Wednesday, August 4. All tickets are $35 and go on sale Saturday, May 15, at 10 am, through TicketMaster. Tickets will also be available at the Mohegan Sun box office starting Sunday,  May 16th, subject to availability.

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

MAY 14 — Cowboy Junkies at The Ridgefield Playhouse, with special guest Lee Harvey Osmond; Alan Jackson at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Josh Turner and Chris Young opening; Puddle of Mudd at The Webster, Hartford, Adelitas Way, Downplay, Positive Chaos, Magnanimous and              Hatchet Harry opening; Brown Bird at The Acoustic Café, Bridgeport, Proud Flesh and The John Torres Band opening;

May 15 — Pearl Jam at the XL Center, Hartford, Band of Horses opening; Jefferson Starship at The Ridgefield Playhouse; Rhythm Authority at Hot Tamale, Seymour;

May 16 — The ELP Tribute Project at The Ridgefield Playhouse;

May 18 — Buddy Guy at Fairfield Theatre Company’s Stage One, Fairfield;

May 19 — Buddy Guy at Klein Memorial Auditorium, Bridgeport;

May 20 — The Adults at Redding Roadhouse, Redding;

May 21 — New Kids On The Block at MGM Grand at Foxwoods (sold out; second show May 22);

May 22 — New Kids On The Block at The MGM Grand at Foxwoods (sold out); The Reverend Horton Heat and Cracker at Mohegan Sun Arena; The Way-Back Machine at Rivalry Sports Grille, Monroe;

May 23 — Sugarland at the Comcast Theatre, Hartford, Jake Owen and Danny Gokey opening; Neil Young (solo acoustic) at the Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford;

May 25 — Fuel at The Webster;

May 28 — Kenny Wayne Shepherd at The Ridgefield Playhouse.