*THE DOUG WAHLBERG BAND has a great gig coming up this weekend. The band will be participating in the 4th Annual Artists for Peace Concert, set to take place at the Crystal Theatre Performing Arts Center (in the former Ben Franklin School), at Bayview and Hillside Avenues in South Norwalk, this Saturday night.

Performances of music, dance and spoken word will begin at 8 pm on April 12, and the concert will benefit Homes for the Brave, an organization in Bridgeport that works to end homelessness among our veterans. It is being presented by BernierDance and Peace Action of CT.

  The concert will include performances by musicians Doug Wahlberg and Rebecca Hart; dance aftists Janis Brenner and BernierDance; and actors David Beck, Kristina Erickson, Tiffany Esteb, Marcus Ray Estrada and Brian Tracy. A highlight of the benefit will be readings from Maxine Hong Kingston’s Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace, a compilation of prose and poetry

compiled after the editor spent 15 years working with more than 500 soldiers from World War II, Vietnam and Iraq through workshops.

Ticket sales will go toward things like fresh bed linens, calling cards, textbooks and even transportation for these heroes.

Tickets can be purchased in advance through SmartTix.com and will also be available at the door. Prices start at $15, which covers the cost of bed linens for one veteran, and run to $100, which would buy a bicycle. Tickets can also be reserved by calling 203-855-1118.

*Next weekend THE DOUG WAHLBERG BAND will be back at Georgetown Saloon in Redding. Showtime is 9 pm.

*Speaking of local bands who are working this weekend, HAT CITY BLUES BAND will be making its only appearance at Redding Roadhouse on Saturday, April 12. The guys will be pulling double-duty that night: In addition to making music they will also be selling (tax-deductible) tickets for the Battle of the Ages, a competition coming up on Sunday, April 27, at The Ridgefield Playhouse.

Hat City Blues is one of eight bands accepted to compete in the Battle, which will feature bands made up of members at least 30 years old. The winning band will earn the right to be the opening act for an upcoming national act at the Playhouse.

I know that a band calling itself Fog, made up of friends Phil Mische, Skip Rooney, Chris Pike and Chris Haines, who have performed together in different combinations over the years, will make its debut in the competition. I can’t locate the names of the other six bands who will be participating, but will let you know who they are when I locate that information prior to this event.

Tickets in advance are $20 for adults and $15 for students; those who wait until the night of the competition will pay $25 and $20, respectively.

The event is a fundraiser for the non-profit Ridgefield Music Arts Center. There will be celebrity judges (although audience feedback will play a large role in the judging, I’m told), and a silent auction will also be included in the musical competition, which will begin at 5 and run until about 9 pm.

*STONE TEMPLE PILOTS – stop me if you’ve already heard this one – will be back on the road this summer for the first time in eight years, and will include Connecticut on this tour. Tickets will be going on sale Friday morning (April 11) for the May 26 concert, and prices are $45 and $55 apiece. Tickets will be sold through TicketMaster vendors on Friday, and then also available through Mohegan Sun’s box office starting Saturday if they don’t sell out on Friday.

*Rock & Roll Hall of Famer ROD STEWART is hitting the road this summer for a massive North American tour… with massive ticket prices to match. Tickets for the stop at Mohegan Sun Arena on Tuesday, August 12, run from $95 and $125 to $150. Per person. Per seat.

Tickets for this show are also going on sale Friday morning at 10 am through TicketMaster vendors, and will also be available beginning Saturday, April 12, at Mohegan Sun’s box office if the show doesn’t sell out on Friday.

*Tickets for another veteran performance, this time a band, will be going on sale Saturday morning. YES will return to Mohegan Sun Arena on Tuesday, July 22, and tickets for that show will be available for $55 and $75 beginning April 12 at 10 am. Same set-up: First day sales will all be done through TicketMaster vendors, and then the casino’s box office will also be available to sell tickets on Sunday if the show doesn’t sell out.

*A reminder this week about this weekend’s upcoming Women of Song IV, a benefit for The Center for Women and Families to take place at Fairfield Theatre Company on Saturday, April 12.

The event will begin at 6:30 with an hour planned for a silent auction, refreshments, and live music by Porter. Auction items include guitars, tickets, gift certificates, books, chocolate, wine and more. A limited edition red iPod Nano will also be raffled.

The highlight of the evening will be the music, of course, which this year will be performed by Ellen Lalicata, Ellen Sackman and Boonie Lee Panda; plus Liz McNicholl & The Crick Stones, Fuzz and Carrie’s Caravan of Thieves, and The Melissa Mulligan Band. The concert will be emceed by Suzanne Vick, who will also be singing, and will feature a grand finale with 11 singers and a six-piece band.

 Tickets are $23 and reservations are strongly suggested.

The theater is at 70 Sanford Street, off the Post Road, near Archie Moore’s and the train station.

My friend and fellow associate editor John Voket is a friend of Melissa Mulligan who, he says, has been a major force behind the standing-room-only event for three years running and has put together for this weekend “the best line-up ever!”

*Fairfield Theatre Company will open the weekend with a pair of shows by NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE on April 11 (7 and 10 pm). This month’s calendar continues with performances by THE JERRY DOUGLAS BAND on April 20; MARK HUMMEL’S BLUES HARMONICA BLOWOUT, April 24; and THE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN BAND, April 26.

Next month’s highlights include THREE DOG NIGHT on May 2; trad Irish musicians LIZ CARROLL & JOHN DOYLE, May 3; THE ENGLISH BEAT, May 22; and a return by TAB BENOIT on May 30 that I may actually get down to this time around.

*Finally this week, tickets for a MAROON 5-COUNTING CROWS co-headlining show at Dodge Music Center on August 15 also go on sale this morning (April 11). Special guest Sara Bareilles is also on the bill.

Lawn tickets for the Hartford show are $29.50, which reserved pavilion seats run from $45 to $75 and even $150 apiece.

Tickets will be available through LiveNation.com and all TicketMaster vendors. The Dodge Music Center’s box office is not yet open for the season.

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 11 — Jefferson Starship at The Ridgefield Playhouse, Ridgefield; Badfish at Toad’s Place, New Haven (all ages); The Nields at The Acoustic Café, Bridgeport, Stewart Lewis opening; Richard Marx at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den, Uncasville (also April 12);

April 12 — Avril Lavigne at Mohegan Sun Arena, Boys Like Girls opening; Women of Song at Fairfield Theatre Company, Fairfield, featuring Melissa Mulligan Band, Fuzz and Carrie from Rolla, Liz McNicholl, Bonnie Lee Panda, Ellen Lalicata, Suzanne Vick, and Ellen Sackman (benefit for The Center for Women and Children); Roamer at The Acoustic Café; Richard Marx at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den; Hat City Blues Band at Redding Roadhouse;

April 13 — Collective Soul at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den;

April 17 — Steve Forbert at The Acoustic Café;

April 18 — Kenny Chesney at Mohegan Sun Arena, LeAnn Rimes opening (also April 19); The Doug Wahlberg Band at The Georgetown Saloon, Redding; KRS-One at Toad’s Place (all ages); Nate Wilson Group at The Acoustic Café;

April 19 — Kenny Chesney at Mohegan Sun Arena, LeAnn Rimes opening; Zen Tricksters at The Acoustic Café;

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

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, New Haven; 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.