Tampa Bay's music calendar is stacked this weekend with an unusually wide range of sounds — bluegrass, punk, blues, jazz, and rockabilly all have a moment across the region's stages.
Friday night kicks things off in Sarasota, where Fogartyville (525 Kumquat Ct.) hosts the Gathering of Billy Goats at 8 p.m. — a free meetup for fans of bluegrass virtuoso Billy Strings to connect and talk shop. On the punkier end of things, Saturday at 7 p.m. brings femme punk band Kitty Kitty Meow Meow to Suite E Studios in St. Petersburg, joined by Cozy In The Black, Hovercar, and Julep; tickets are $17.
Also on Saturday, the Firehouse Cultural Center in Ruskin welcomes the Kid Royal Band at 7:30 p.m. Blues singer-songwriter Chris "Kid" Royal brings more than 30 years of experience to the stage, having opened for the likes of Eric Burdon and Peter Frampton. Tickets run $23–$30. Meanwhile, Tampa's Carrollwood Cultural Center hosts the Paul Gavin Trio at the same time, with local musicians Paul Gavin, Zach Bartholomew, and Brandon Robertson stripping big-band Duke Ellington and Count Basie arrangements down to intimate trio format. Tickets are $32.
Sunday rounds things out on a lighter note: the Hillbilly Hellcats bring their rockabilly energy to 3 Daughters Brewing in St. Petersburg starting at noon. The ensemble has released six albums and toured 40 states and 16 countries — and the show is free.
This weekend music roundup was originally reported by Warren Buchholz for WUSF.
