THURSDAY 3/17

St. Patty’s Day pops off at the Irish anchor of the River Market District when Dugan’s Pub hosts electric rock from Filthy Horse Band, traditional Irish sounds from Cup ‘o Tea, step dancers from McCafferty’s School of Irish Dance, a whole mess of bagpipes and a host of sing-along covers (or, as they should be called today, “shanties”) from Penguin Dilemma, 4 p.m. until close. The psychobilly rockers Josh the Devil and the Sinners leave the smoky bars behind for an evening at The Afterthought, 9 p.m., $7. Mediums Art Gallery decides to “Go Green” with the smoky jazz and R&B of Rodney Block and Friends, 9 p.m., $5 early admission, $10 after 10 p.m. And for you literate leprechauns, Mary Angelino and Angie Macri read their work at the R.J. Wills Lecture Hall of Pulaski Technical College for this year’s “Best New Poets” program, 6:30 p.m.

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FRIDAY 3/18

Hill music gets weird when Mockingbird Hillbilly Band teams up with the wild, woolly Bloodless Cooties side project of The Ugly Stuff at The Afterthought, 9 p.m., $7. Reno’s Argenta Cafe hosts an evening of loud, melodic rock from local mainstays Whale Fire and the mod-heavy new jacks of The Yipps, 10 p.m. Midtown Billiards regulars Joey Farr and the Fuggins Wheat Band bring guitar wizardry and a still-funny name to the late-night bar, 12:30 a.m., $12 non-members. Jeff Coleman tickles the ivories for his stint at Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m. In Hot Springs, the Big John Bates Grindshow offers up a night of menacing punk Americana, complete with a live pin-up side show, at Maxine’s Pub, 8 p.m., $6 adv., $8 d.o.s. Local author Phillip McMath’s new Civil War espionage drama, “The Hanging of David O. Dodd,” returns for another two-day run at The Weekend Theater, 7:30 p.m., $14.

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SATURDAY 3/19

Dreamland Ballroom hosts the “Bringing Back the Ballroom” concert/dance party/fundraiser with twangy Southern sounds courtesy of Big Smith and Johnson’s Crossroads, followed by a late-night, old school dance party spun by local soul music guru DJ Seth Baldy, 7:30 p.m., $10 adv., $14 d.o.s. The Afterthought offers up a night of smooth blue-eyed crooning from local soulman Cody Belew and his crack backing band, The Mercers, 9 p.m., $7. And downtown, Heifer Village hosts Family Saturday, an all-day event with animals, crafts, activities and more to celebrate the beginning of spring, 10 a.m.

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