Lots of stuff during the week to check out; not so much over the weekend. I'll be checking out Carolina Chocolate Drops on Friday. As always, the below is just a list of shows that tickle my fancy. Your mileage, or taste in music, may vary.

It's no surprise that I'm a big fan of the Chicago Roots Collective, which is now entering its second year of life here in the city. The Collective is made up of ten local bands, has put on 30 shows over the past year, and has a monthly showcase at one of my favorite venues, Lincoln Hall.

This is basically the worst week in the world for concerts. And by worst, I mean full of too many choices. I'll be at the Brandi Carlile show at SPACE on Wednesday, and at DeVotchKa at Lincoln Hall on Saturday. The rest of the week is up in the air. I'll probably be sobbing under my desk rather than making any real decisions.

I have mixed feelings towards this song, mainly because I have mixed feelings towards the original. I kind of laughed at Brooke White's breezy piano cover of Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody" the first time I heard it, but it's been growing on me as time has gone on. What do you think?

Bit of a quiet week. I'm headed down to explore a new neighborhood on Friday for a house concert with Antje Duvekot and Lucy Wainwright Roche. I love house concerts, I just wish they weren't so far away from my little north side cocoon.

How is it October already?  Time flies, having fun, etc. etc.This month's mix goes all the way from folk to socially conscious hip-hop to quirky covers and back again.

Apparently this is my time for Discovering Music I Shamefully Missed Out On. "Road Regrets" is a strong opener to Dan Mangan's 2009 album, Nice, Nice, Very Nice, and it just gets better from there. Also, I'm a sucker for animated videos of any sort.

Excited to see the Retribution Gospel Choir on Friday. Still haven't figured out how I'm getting to/from the Hideout in the middle of the night, but such is life.