I couldn’t pick just one show for this week’s Show of the Week, so I went out on a rebellious limb and picked two!

Right off the top before we get to those shows, you should know that Stephen Stills at the Kent Stage on Friday night is completely sold out (EDIT: Good news – a second show at 10:30pm that same night is on sale now).  You might also be interested to know about the newly announced Kris Kristofferson show happening at the Kent Stage on June 9th – I’m already working to grow out a sweet Kristofferson beard for the show!

Which brings us to this week’s Show(s) of the Week, which actually have nothing to do at all with sweet Kristofferson beards.  Assembly of Dust are headed to town for a show that will surprisingly enough, allegedly be their first Northeast Ohio appearance.  I’ll share more details regarding that show in a second.

In the interest of time, you should know first about Chris Duarte’s pending Cleveland show, happening tomorrow night (Monday) at The Winchester.  Ever since I heard the slinky sounds of “Cleopatra” (from the most excellently titled Tailspin Headwhack), I’ve been meaning to get out and watch Duarte do his thing.  Duarte has been sharing out his bluesy guitar driven funk for a number of years, beginning with his debut release, Chris Duarte & The Bad Boys in 1987.

Chris Duarte has been at The Winchester for four previous shows since 2006, including his most recent appearance there in 2007 with his current traveling band Bluestone.  Duarte and Bluestone are out in support of his current release Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, All Things Blue, which as you might have guessed from the title, is a bit of a retrospective of sorts.  The album is an interesting limited edition release featuring tracks from 396, Vantage Point, and Blue Velocity, with an unreleased studio track and four live tracks rounding things out.

There’s also a cool limited edition DVD live collection available:

This brand new 2-hour dvd is a blistering compilation of live concert performances spanning Chris Duarte’s career from 1989 to 2009. His searing guitar mastery has sunburned ears of audiences the world over and it is on full burn here with red-hot songs such as “Drivin’ South”, “Catch The Next Line”, “Tailspin Headwhack”, “Screenwriter’s Blues”, “Watch Out” and much more (with surprises along the way). STARING AT THE SUN is also a testament to the dedicated tapers and roadtrippers around the world who have recorded the Chris Duarte Group over the years.

Tickets for the Duarte gig are $15, and the show will start at 9pm on Monday night.  Visit The Winchester website for more details.

Assembly of Dust is one of those band names that I associate with the jam band scene, and it floors me to think that AOD haven’t been to Cleveland even one time since their formation in 2002.

AOD released Some Assembly Required last year on Rock Ridge Music, their second studio album release, and it’s a doozy of a record!  Featuring scads of special guests, AOD managed to rope in an impressive list of talent, including Bela Fleck, Mike Gordon of Phish, Richie Havens, Jerry Douglas and Martin Sexton, among others.

Some Assembly Required garnered a nice review from The New York Times, who call the album one that “suggests a jam-band convocation, thick with good vibes and expendable energies. “Some Assembly Required” puts forth one of the more lucid songwriting efforts to emerge in the long wake of the Grateful Dead, and its all-star parade rarely feels like a stunt.”

AOD will be in Cleveland on Saturday night for a show at Wilbert’s benefitting DAP Productions’ ongoing efforts to raise money for autism awareness.

Cleveland’s own space age grooveologists Sultans of Bing are the musical support for AOD, and it promises to be a good evening of music for a great cause.  Tickets are $15 in advance, and will bump up to $17 day of show.  Grab ’em here.