Summertime swelter meets sassy belters when an all-star lineup of blues women take the outdoor lawn stage for a backyard barbecue this weekend. From her early years in Mother Earth up to her recent solo work, Tracy Nelson is a force to be reckoned with, and no one is likely to forget the deep roots that run in Carlene Carter’s blood as the descendant of America’s most famous country-music family. Dorothy Morrison’s star turn in the Edwin Hawkins Singers’ “Oh Happy Day” may have been the Texas singer’s best-known moment, although 1971’s seductive funk killer “Rain” is probably the hottest thing she’s ever recorded, and Annie Sampson and Angela Strehli round out the supergroup. Dave Gonzalez’s Stone River Boys open while the horseshoe pits clang away on Sunday, May 24, at Rancho Nicasio. Town Square, Nicasio. 4pm. $20. 415.662.2219.Gabe Meline

While firefighters spend their time on the clock putting out flames, this weekend brings two separate events involving firefighters making things hot, hot, hot—and keeping them glowing for hours on end with community barbecues. In Jenner, the local volunteer firefighters go head to head in an all-out chili cook-off and salsa contest, complete with barbecued oysters, local brews, a dunk tank and more on Sunday, May 24, at the Jenner Community Center (10398 Hwy. 1, Jenner. Noon. Free–$10. 707.865.2771). In Marin, the Muir Beach Volunteer Fire Department hosts its annual beach barbecue with dancing, music, a raffle, merchandise and tons of juicy, hot, grilled meat. They’ll be checking coolers, so don’t try to sneak in booze; alcohol will be for sale at the event on Sunday, May 24, at Muir Beach (Near Coastal Trail, Marin. 12pm. $20 per car. 415.384.0683).Gabe Meline

Not content to stay within their viticultural environs after last week’s cover story, the Napa trio Body or Brain bring their high-kicking, energetic indie pop over the hill for Sonoma County to see what all the Napa fuss is about. They bring along with them Serf and James, a falsetto-driven group strong on acoustic jangle and funky backbeat, which proves that Napa isn’t all distortion and noise. Of note also is Jonny Andrew, a 19-year-old songwriter who performs his romantic reassurances under the name hellotherelittleone. “Woot! Liz and Me are Space Pirates” is the name of one of his songs, and he already has one of the best EP cover shots of the year. With Decent Criminal and Go Time, check out a slew of new bands on Friday, May 22, at the Phoenix Theater. 201 E. Washington St., Petaluma. 8pm. $8. 707.762.3565.Gabe Meline

It seems like just yesterday when record store sections for Charlie Hunter only had a few Blue Note albums, including Hunter’s jazz version of Bob Marley’s Natty Dread. The Berkeley guitar phenomenon has over two dozen albums out now, becoming more prolific as the years roll by. His latest, Baboon Strength, is the first that Hunter has self-released, and it has a freedom of melodic spirit separate from jazz’s esoterica—there’s even a song dedicated to Karen Carpenter—recorded in Brooklyn with vintage analog keyboardist Erik Deutsch and snap-sharp New York drummer Tony Mason. Hunter hits the North Bay twice in the upcoming week: on Thursday, May 21, at 142 Throckmorton Theatre (142 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley. 8pm. $18–$20. 415.383.9600), and on Sunday, May 24, at the Hopmonk Tavern (230 Petaluma Ave., Sebastopol. 8:30pm. $15–$20. 707.829.7300).Gabe Meline

There is no greater director-composer partnership in the history of cinema, with the possible exception of Fellini and Rota, than that of Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann. Before their falling out over the score to Torn Curtain in 1966, and Hitchcock’s ruthless dismissal of his co-conspirator in suspense, Herrmann had written 10 years of iconic film music. Among his best-known theme is Psycho, to be performed in a program, titled “Shadows and Light,” this weekend by the New Century Chamber Orchestra. In a program exploring the fears and fevers of the night, including Borodin’s Nocturne, Strauss’ Die Fledermaus and Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,” director and violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg premieres Clarice Assad’s new commissioned work Dreamscape. Get lost in the stars on Sunday, May 17, at Osher Marin Jewish Community Center. 200 N. San Pedro Road, San Rafael. 5pm. $32–$54. 707.357.1111.Gabe Meline

New York City’s Prestige Records, while releasing early albums by John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and other jazz pioneers, walked through the damp concrete of Washington Square Park one day and picked up a few straggling folksingers along the way. Among the best and most notorious was raconteur Dave Van Ronk, but Prestige found an unknown gem in Tom Rush. Lasting on Prestige about as long as Ronk, Rush jumped to folk haven Elektra Records in time to release his best record, The Circle Game, featuring songs by Joni Mitchell and James Taylor that came to new life through Rush’s soothing tenor. From that point, Rush became an interpreter of modern songwriters rather than a revivalist looking back, and always makes sure to throw in a few originals for authenticity. He performs songs from his first album in 30 years, What I Know, on Friday, May 15, at the Napa Valley Opera House. 1030 Main St., Napa. 8pm. $35. 707.226.7372.Gabe Meline

After years spent as the star attraction in the company of “Wild Thing” and “Angel of the Morning” songwriter Chip Taylor, it only seemed natural for the extremely talented wings of Carrie Rodriguez to take flight on a solo career with the release of her acclaimed 2006 album, Seven Angels on a Bicycle. Rodriguez is such a phenomenal fiddle player, mandolinist and singer that it’s easy to overlook any ho-humming over her recent album, She Ain’t Me; the songs, well-written but limply supported by inorganic production in the studio, should have no problem coming to full life onstage. Rodriguez has long been cast as a rising star in these pages, and anyone who caught her opening for Lucinda Williams’ latest tour is also laying their money down. Carrie Rodriguez in the late aughts is like Emmylou Harris in the late ’70s. Go see her if you know what’s good for you on Thursday, May 14, at the Last Day Saloon. 120 Fifth St., Santa Rosa. 8pm. $15. 707.545.2343.Gabe Meline

If the windows at the Hopmonk Tavern are still intact from the massive bass rumble of Bassnectar’s set last week, then the Milgard glass will be grateful for the milder but no less danceable beats purveyed by Andreas Stevens, aka DJ Greyboy, at this week’s Juke Joint. By now a fixture on the West Coast funk and soul scene, Greyboy’s released six albums on the San Francisco Ubiquity label under his own name and four with his live-band offshoot, the Greyboy All Stars. With his breakthrough album, Freestylin’, in 1994, Greyboy was also one of the first crate-digging DJs in the fading days of acid jazz. He’s continued to stay relevant through many different eras since—scratch turntablism, the funk 45 phenomenon, the Kraftwerk revival, the electro-disco 12-inch craze—mostly by sticking to the basic notion that records are made to dance to. He appears with Brooklyn’s retrofunk party band the Pimps of Joytime on Thursday, May 14, at the Hopmonk Tavern. 230 Petaluma Ave., Sebastopol. 9pm. $10. 707.829.7300.Gabe Meline

Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the granddaughter and torch-bearer of civil and labor rights activist Cesar Chavez, was introduced to the plight of the farmworker in early childhood and hasn’t abandoned the fight since. Now the program director for the Cesar E. Chavez foundation, she works with youth in Latino communities toward more involvement and self-empowerment, upholding her grandfather’s idea that “we don’t need perfect political systems, we need perfect participation.” Chavez Rodriguez has developed numerous after-school programs based on Cesar Chavez’s ideals, and has even developed a web-based K–12 curriculum on the life and work of her grandfather. She also works hand in hand with the United Farm Workers on issues like voter registration and activist programs, and tours the country giving speeches which share her personal memories of her grandfather’s work and promote education, human rights, community service and justice for all. She speaks on Monday, May 11, at Sonoma State University Cooperage. 1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park. 7:30pm. Free. 707.664.2382.Gabe Meline

Coming up with the Living Legends crew in the East Bay, MURS was once known best for selling tapes on Telegraph Avenue and hosting a series of “Broke Ass Summer Jam” concerts. Talent intervened, however, and now the rapper with the birth name of Nick Carter (you’d change your name too if you shared it with a Backstreet Boy) has been seen on tour with Atmosphere, in the independent film Walk Like a Man and as an occasional host on CurrentTV. MURS is possibly the most East Coast–sounding MC to live exclusively on the West Coast, with a direct, understandable style more indebted to Masta Ace than Rodney O., although he represents California with a fervor—he’s even got a rib-length “Cloverdale” tattoo (it reflects the area off Wilshire and La Brea in L.A.). Tech N9ne, who headlines the show, knows a thing or two about the hustle himself, although instead of selling tapes on the street, he usually erects an enormous merch booth. Both appear on Saturday, May 9, at the Phoenix Theater. 201 E. Washington St., Petaluma. 8pm. $26–$30. 707.762.3565.Gabe Meline