And so it begins - the slow trickle of bands, big and small, making its way to our fair city after playing a ridiculous amount of shows in a ridiculous amount of venues in Austin. The month is only going to get busier, so hang on, it'll be a wild ride.

Nightjar is a sextet based out of Indianapolis (see, local-ish), which formed in 2007 as a duo and quickly gained members after that. With influences such as the Old 97's, Wilco, and Ryan Adams, Nightjar has a decidedly alt country sound, but the music is so much more than that.

While their own original music is fantastic, it's hard to resist this soulful take on the popular Wilco song. And what could be better than an up-and-coming Chicago band covering a true Chicago musical legend?

You can tell that summer is rapidly approaching, given the number of festival line-ups that are tumbling in. The Newport Folk Festival, in (where else) Newport, Rhode Island, has announced its lineup for its 2010 festival.

I'll be honest, I'm predisposed towards liking anything Andrew Bird comes up with, but he makes it so easy by being so darn amazing all of the time. I first heard his cover of this song during the shows he did at Fourth Presbyterian here in Chicago in December, and it rapidly became a favorite of mine.

This week is a little low-key. That's because every band in the universe is making its way out of Austin after SXSW. Don't worry, kids, April and May are exploding with music.

After I watched the original ChatRoulette improv bit, I was reminded of Ben Folds, for the piano geekery and the improv. Well, apparently Ben Folds was reminded of Ben Folds, too, because, well... just check it out.

England sure seems to be producing a lot of young folk singers with very big voices, older than their years. Johnny Flynn is one of them.

The last time I saw Hockey, they were tossing out free beer at Lollapalooza, a consolation prize after their set was cut short due to a significant lack of power to the stage. This time, there were no such energy crises, and also no free beer.

A note to the city of Chicago: I don't care what kind of ridiculous budget cuts you have to make in the future. Please never, ever let go of Michael Orlove. This guy has done a whole lot to energize downtown Chicago with music of all genres. And best of all, it's free.

Matthew Cooper, performing as Eluvium, has been making dense, ambient music for years now, but this time, he's tried something different: he's added his own vocals into the mix.

There are a lot of great shows this week featuring local bands, and lots of them are free or very cheap. You should check some of them out, give some love and support to the local music scene.