This is a good week for bluegrass all around.
The big concert is Alison Krauss and Union Station, playing next Sunday at the Lake Tahoe Summer Concert Series at Harveys (15 Highway 50 in Stateline; 8 p.m.; $49.50, $69.50, $99.50; Ticketmaster or apeconcerts.com).
That group needs no introduction. Sam Bush, however, is new to the area and debuts Saturday night at the Nugget with his New Grass Revival, fusing traditional bluegrass with a little jazz, rock, blues, funk and whatever else the moment inspires.
Bush has paid his dues and presented his credentials. He's performed with Emmylou Harris, Béla Fleck, Charlie Haden, Lyle Lovett and Garth Brooks, among others. He's also said that "in the acoustic world," he's been able to play with "every one of my heroes," folks like Bill Monroe, Doc Watson and Earl Scruggs.
"I've been to the mountain," he said.
The latest album by Bush is "Circles Around Me," his seventh solo outing, so titled because it contains both bluegrass favorites (returning full circle) and newgrass musical experiments. It also includes appearances by Del McCoury, Edgar Meyer and Jerry Douglas (1100 Nugget Ave. in Sparks; 9 p.m.; $32; 800-648-1177 or janugget.com).
Around the Silver Circle
• "Three-part guitar and bass harmonies, dueling solos, and savage thrash intensity, sit alongside soaring three-part vocal harmonies, ultimately crashing headfirst into bludgeoning, Neanderthal riffage." If that sounds irresistible, Machine Head is the band for you, celebrating its sixth studio album, "The Blackening," at the Knitting Factory on Thursday (211 N. Virginia St., Reno; 8 p.m.; $22 general admission standing; $35 reserved seating; KnittingFactory.com).
• Reno's Rainbow Festival celebrates gay pride Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Wingfield Park. A $5 admission provides entertainment by groups with names like The Ethel Merman Experience and Nothing Like a Dame. More well-known is Mumbo Gumbo, the headliner sponsored by Harrah's Reno. Harrah's will also host a pool party at the hotel starting at 5:30 p.m., also $5, with the female-fronted band Rendezvous w/Cool Beans.
This week in Artown
• Pink Martini and MarchFourth Marching Band, 8 p.m. Monday, Hawkins Amphitheater, 6000 Bartley Ranch Road, Reno; $45, $75 (renoisartown.com).
• Aurelio – African, South American, Caribbean blending with Honduran music in what is called garifuna – 7 p.m., Wednesday Wingfield Park, 300 W. First St. in Reno; free.
• Dancing in the Park: Four Rooms Dance Collective, 8 p.m. Thursday, Wingfield Park, free.
• Americana Festival, Virginia City, free music in seven venues, 7 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday, free, also with free shuttles.
• Downtown Reno's Bruka Theatre presents one classic and one modern take on a theme with "Oedipus the King" and "The Medea Project," Friday and Saturdayat 99 N. Virginia St. in Reno; 8 p.m.; $16-$25; (775) 323-3221.
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