Concert picks
Von Bondies with SSM and Freer, 9 p.m. today at the Abbey Pub, 3420 W. Grace St., Chicago. $12/$15. (773) 478-4408.
Back when The White Stripes still lived in Detroit, they were contemporaries of The Von Bondies, a Detroit garage band featuring singer-guitarist-songwriter Jason Stollsteimer, who once famously received a sucker punch from Jack White at a local bar. The band's major label debut from 2004 made them all the rage in the U.K. but didn't make a dent here, despite being one of the craftiest pop albums to come out of that city in years. The power chords and mad energy of "Love, Hate and Then There's You," a forthcoming album this year, will hopefully change that situation.
John Vanderslice with The M's, Young Galaxy and Heypenny, 9 p.m. Wednesday at Schubas, 3159 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. $15. (773) 525-2508.
Bay-area psychedelic pop auteur John Vanderslice headlines the opening night of Tomorrow Never Knows, the annual January indie pop festival that runs through Sunday. Headliners include Bobby Conn (Thursday), Cloud Cult (Jan. 18), laptop pop performer White Williams (Jan. 19) and epic rockers The Walkmen (Jan. 20). Openers vary. Paul Green's School of Rock plays two shows for children at 2 p.m. Jan. 19 and 20. Check schubas.com for a full schedule.
Son Volt with the Felice Brothers, 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. $30/$33. (312) 559-1212.
One of the architects of the alt-country movement of the 1990s, Son Volt continued onward to become one of the meatier rock bands out there today. Frontman Jay Farrar's elliptical yet eloquent lyrics plus sturdy rock-country melodies have sustained the band through personnel changes, resulting in "The Search" (Sony Legacy), one of their finest albums to date. This is a benefit show hosted by Cubs announcers Len Kasper and Bob Brenly, benefiting Cubs charities. Expect tons of North Side love.
Barn concert
The Byron Colby Barn, located in Prairie Crossing in Grayslake, will host an afternoon of French baroque music by Leclair, Marais, Duval and others at 4 p.m. Sunday. It is a return visit by The Callipygian Players, experts of French gamba and violin music. Tickets cost $15; children 16 and younger admitted free. The barn is located at 1561 Jones Point Road. Call (847) 543-1202.
Steppenwolf jazz
Jazz vocalist Maggie Brown, daughter of Chicago jazz and civil rights legend Oscar Brown Jr., headlines an evening titled "A Legacy of Jazz and Poetry," Feb. 4 at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago. She'll be joined by hip-hop artist Jeff Baraka, singer Africa Brown and others. It's part of the theater's "Traffic" series. Tickets cost $28. Call (312) 335-1650 or visit www.Steppenwolf.org.