Over the course of a month traveling through America, the San Francisco country-rock band Or, the Whale ate cheese curds in St. Louis, played on top of bowling alley lanes in Minneapolis, triumphed at ping-pong on the East Coast, warmed up by a campfire in the south, and had hot dogs for breakfast in Chattanooga. They also polished nightly their good-time brand of 1970s-style raggadocio—meaning they’ll be primed and ready to tear the roof off this weekend. Having played with Fleet Foxes, the Devil Makes Three, the Dodos and Two Gallants, Or, the Whale (the name is a Melville reference) is part of a new Bay Area clash of the old and the new, where Led Zeppelin and Levon Helm waltz arm-in-arm through the Presidio and sing of wild living in perfect four-part harmony. Welcome them home on Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Hopmonk Tavern. 230 Petaluma Ave., Sebastopol. 9:30pm. $12–$15. 707.829.7300.Gabe Meline 

Given the brilliance of Mose Allison’s lyrics—pointed, wry and delivered in a knightly laid-back manner—it’s important to remember that the man behind the beatnik classics “Your Mind Is on Vacation” and “Everybody’s Cryin’ Mercy” is also a hell of a pianist. At 29, he included on his very first album for Prestige Records Back Country Suite only two vocal tracks; the rest, ivories, played in his impossible-to-nail-down style. Now 82, Allison can appreciate his status as a living legend, but he doesn’t rest on his greatest hits. In concert, he’s as nimble on the keys as he is varied in his set lists; there’s no telling when he’ll premiere a new composition or, for that matter, unearth a forgotten chestnut from an obscure 1940s Nat “King” Cole session. Cross your fingers for “Lost Mind” and “Young Man Blues” when he appears on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 19 Broadway Nightclub. 19 Broadway, Fairfax. 4:30pm and 7pm. $25–$30. 415.459.1091.Gabe Meline 

With a tortured plea, the chorus of “Simplemente Amigos” by the Mexican pop sensation Ana Gabriel is the oldest of sentiments. “When closing the door, we loved without control,” goes the rough translation, “but they do not accept our love.” Gabriel is a deeply religious woman, appearing onstage with an ever-present carnation as a symbol of her relationship with God, so it’s ever more poignant that her biggest hit was inspired by a gay friend’s struggle for acceptance. Coming from one of the country’s biggest stars, the song is a beautiful, heart-wrenching statement. Now with over 20 albums to her name, Gabriel, born in Sinaloa to a Spanish father and Chinese mother, is fluid in rock songs, pop ballads and rancheras, and drips with the kind of emotion that can’t be faked. She performs on Thursday, Nov. 19, at the Wells Fargo Center. 50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa. 8pm. $65–$125. 707.546.3600.Gabe Meline 

They advertise the old-fashioned way. Taped to a pole downtown, with actual photocopy emulsion on an orange piece of paper, was the most ridiculously unreadable hand-drawn flyer I’d seen since 1988. After several minutes of closely inspecting the lowrider-inspired art, I deciphered the headliner: Algo & the Rhythms. An electronic trio comprised of Algo the Robot, L.O.G.O. the Percussor and Chromeleon, the local band specializes in laptop-infused dance songs owing debts to Daft Punk, Jon Carroll, Ian Curtis and many, many theme songs to Nintendo games. The band members often perform wearing silver lamé boxes on their heads, and this weekend, judging from the tiny handwriting on the flyer, they play with Troi, DJ Fresh Patchwork, Printer Cups and Attacks the Darkness on Friday, Nov. 14, at Unity Music. 1840 Piner Road, Ste. #18, Santa Rosa. 7pm. $8. www.myspace.com/algoandtherhythms.Gabe Meline 

For a town with only one art-supply store, Napa is certainly ahead of the curve. Who would have thought that Santa Rosa leaders would preemptively shut down a street art festival—citing concerns about encouraging vandalism—while Napa, of all places, actually gets Montana Gold to sponsor the second in a series of Montana StreetArt events? This weekend, 10 artists from Sacramento, Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco and Napa converge on the front lawn of Napa Valley Art Supplies to work their skills with the spray can. Throughout the day, visitors can stop in and watch the progress, browse artist portfolios and nosh on barbecue, and the completed pieces will be for sale at the end of the event. At last month’s successful event, a policeman even stopped by to check out the fresh styles. Drop in and see the future of street art on Saturday, Nov. 14, at Napa Valley Art Supplies. 3250 California Blvd., Napa. 11am–5pm. Free. 707.224.2775.Gabe Meline

Though there may not be much that remains of the “Vacation Wonderland” promised by the antique sign that still hangs over Monte Rio’s main intersection, a few pockets of the post-war resort life remain. One of them is the Highland Dell, a lodge and restaurant built in 1906 and recently renovated but largely unchanged in feel from its days of long canoe rides on the Russian River and longer one-piece bathing suits. The rustic building has been hosting live music in its intimate, wainscoted environs as of late, and this weekend the Oklahoma-born white ghost Leon Russell stops in for a two-night stand. There’s something about the Russian River redwoods and the AM radio vibe of “Tight Rope” and “Lady Blue” that go together well, and though tickets aren’t cheap, it’ll be an old-fashioned night to remember when Russell plays, with Levi Lloyd opening, on Friday–Saturday, Nov. 13–14, at the Highland Dell. 21050 River Blvd., Monte Rio. 7pm. $70–$80. 707.865.2300.Gabe Meline 

In the two years since he defected from the Bay Area to the land of freeways, Dodger fans and botox, the immeasurably talented Dave Gleason has managed to avoid every Southern California pitfall. Sticking true to his dusty, string-bending ways, the singer, songwriter and guitarist has fit right in with the paparazzi-free Southern California country-rock scene to which his heart has long been tied. His latest album, Just Fall to Pieces, garnered rave reviews, he began playing with the Bakersfield greats, and he started a weekly stand at the quintessential desert roadhouse Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown, Calif., near Joshua Tree. He hasn’t made it back up here as often as we’d thought, but this weekend he drops by the quintessential West Marin roadhouse for twang-infused harmonies about wine, women and wild livin’ on Friday, Nov. 13, at Rancho Nicasio. Town Square, Nicasio. 8:30pm. $10. 415.662.2219.Gabe Meline 

When his summertime smash hit “This Is Why I’m Hot” topped the Billboard charts in 2007, it was near-impossible to escape the Washington Heights rapper MIMS and his obscure, correlative logic. “I’m hot ’cause I’m fly,” he explained, “you ain’t ’cause you not.” Would, then, the way to hotness lie in pursuing the ideals of the fly? Or is flyness, in the master plan of MIMS, dependent on coexisting with one who is hot—perchance MIMS himself? The thought process confounded brains but moved asses for a few short months, and quicker than Sean Paul’s “Beautiful Girls,” it was gone from the ringtones of America. MIMS has a new album out this year called Guilt, and he brings his East Coast style of sayin’ nothin’ on the track on Thursday, Nov. 12, at the Casbar. 3345 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa. 9:30pm. $20. 707.568.1011.Gabe Meline 

With over a hundred advance tickets sold, it was a supreme letdown when the E-40 show at the Santa Rosa Armory back in August was shut down by police before even getting underway. Just like the Vallejo rapper got his second wind with his smash album My Ghetto Report Card after a long career languishing in obscurity, so the ill-fated show gets its second wind by moving to . . . the Odd Fellows Hall? You read it right. Underneath framed medals and portraits of past encampment officers—not to mention a hallway covered in garish photos of Rose Parade floats from the 1960s to today—the “Ambassador of the Bay” makes a return to the area slangin’ his trademark rapid delivery of crazy-intellectual lingo. The Ambassador’s subordinate lodge includes “noble grand” Turf Talk, “chaplain” Laroo Nump, “wardens” the DB’z, “color bearer” Cousin Fik, “vice grand” Ant D.O.G. and a host of guardians and supporters on Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Odd Fellows’ Hall. 545 Pacific Ave., Santa Rosa. 8pm. $30. 707.843.6624.Gabe Meline 

Certain voices never fail to provide an immediate sense of calm, and Gram Parsons, who died in 1973, may have possessed just about the most paradoxical. With a tumultuous life that ended in tragedy out in Joshua Tree, Parsons left behind a near-perfect catalogue of songs, each one a hazy window into carefree ease. Over the years, the legend of Parsons ebbs and flows in varying degrees (reaching an apex in 2003 with Grand Theft Parsons, a film based on the hilarious journey of Parsons’ corpse after his death), but it’s never a bad time to resurrect his brilliant, emotional catalogue. No band in the area does Parsons’ music better than Laughing Gravy, a supergroup featuring members of Solid Air, Under the Radar, the Ruminators, the Last Record Store’s Doug Jayne and more. Knowing better than to mimic Parsons, Laughing Gravy instead captures the essence of songs like “Hickory Wind” and “Hot Burrito #2” and runs it through their Northern California filter. It’ll be hearts on fire when Laughing Gravy play Friday, Nov. 6, at the Last Day Saloon. 120 Fifth St., Santa Rosa. 8:30pm. $8–$10. 707.545.2343.Gabe Meline