BUILDING MOMENTUM TO MAY >>>

Who really cares if Bon Iver wins a Grammy or how many VMAs Madonna has stacked on her mantel? It's not like anybody with taste actually takes them seriously. As aficionados of the South Sound music scene, however, we're dying to know which of our faves will end up big winners at the inaugural Oly Music Awards this May.

"We're specifically focusing on the Olympia music scene, but encouraging musicians, bands, and music listeners throughout the South Sound region and throughout Western Washington to participate, especially bands with a presence in the Olympia music scene - bands that play Olympia," says musician and Oly Music Awards organizer Jabi Shriki.

The Oly Music Awards will run three days, kicking off Thursday, May 3 with a solo performer showcase, followed by a live band showcase Friday and an awards ceremony Saturday.

Not specific to any one genre - although the Weekly Volcano doesn't see any crunk, chillwave or garagedubcrunksteptechwave on the eligible "recognized" genre list - the contest portion of the Oly Music Awards will consist of two components - judging of submitted mp3s and online voting to pick the best live musicians.

"There will also be two showcases as part of the Oly Music Awards - one will feature solo/acoustic musicians and the other will feature live bands," says Shriki.

To build momentum, an Oly Music Awards "pre-show" will hit Le Voyeur Friday night. We tossed a few questions at indie acoustic musician Shriki.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: Who's performing Friday at Le Voyeur?

JABI SHRIKI: I'm kicking off the show at 9 p.m. performing music off my new CD, Puzzle Pieces. Alt-pop band Fight For Change hits the stage at 10. Rockers Elbow Coulee with its new line-up performs at 11 p.m. The night ends with the debut of indie rockers Point Process.

VOLCANO: Any science behind the line up?

SHRIKI: The show really kind of fell together organically.  Elbow Coulee wanted to have a return show with their new line-up.  Point Process is a band that practices at my house that wanted to schedule their first show.  Fight for Change is a band that also practices at my house that I really liked, so I asked them to join the bill.  I put myself on the bill, since Olympia Power and Light wanted to review the CD, but they wanted to have a show to mention in the article.  It ended up not working out time-wise, but I kept myself on the bill as a solo act at 9 pm.

VOLCANO: What's the backstory on your CD title?

SHRIKI: It's a long story. The title came from a quote from a character in a book that I'm working on. One of the characters - who is a good person with powers that can be used for horribly destructive purposes -  wonders why a just god or an ordered universe would allow her to exist. The other character responds, "We all have a purpose in life, but the search for that purpose can be maddening. It's like putting together a puzzle with all the pieces facing down.  You know that they fit together somehow, but it's impossible to see the bigger picture."

I ended up spending a lot of time thinking about puzzle pieces as a metaphor for life, and I wrote a poem, which was:

blind to the way
undertones turn the world
in verse, second voices grind
broken glass into puzzle pieces

VOLCANO: Will you perform at the Oly Music Awards?

SHRIKI: I'm keeping my music totally separate from the Oly Music Awards. I'll be strictly the organizer for future pre-shows.

[Le Voyeur, Oly Music Awards Pre-show, Friday, Feb. 10, 9 p.m., no cover, 404 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia, 360.943.5710]

LINK: Best of Olympia 2012 Party

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT >>>

What's our favorite thing about the "Boobie Bash" scheduled for Valentine's Day at Hell's Kitchen? Well, you'll be happy to know the fact it inspired the Tacoma Weekly to run with the headline "Show your love for boobies this Valentine's Day" is only second on our list.

Yes, it's hard to top the cause behind this event, even for schmucks like us.

Raising money for the "Team Lisa' Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure account - who's namesake, Lisa Gauthun, is diagnosed with stage 4 terminal cancer according to Clare Jensen's story in the Tacoma Weekly - the "Boobie Bash" promises live music from Moron Broz, Blood Hunger, Deathbed Confessions and Czar, as well as burlesque performances and raffle prizes galore.

[Hell's Kitchen, with Moron Broz, Blood Hunger, Deathbed Confessions, Czar, 928 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]

Next to the question "Don't you ever shut up?" Bobble Tiki's mother, the saintly Mrs. Tiki, was most often heard to ask her precious Bobble when he was young "Aren't you ever happy?"

"Well, excuse Bobble Tiki for living!" was his usual snappy reply - even then charmingly referring to himself in the third person.

But Mrs. Tiki had a point. Is Bobble Tiki ever happy?  On rare occasions, such as today when local music promoter Flash send Bobble Tiki a heads up on his Guttermouth Show March 2 at the Backstage Bar & Grill.

Combining the best parts of the oral tradition and street-side drainage systems, Huntington Beach's Guttermouth serves its punk rock fast, loud and snottily enough to make Bobble Tiki don his "Don't Make Me Get Out My Flying Monkeys" T-shirt for the show. The band will provide a night full of songs about fecal matter, your mother, unhealthy relationships with farm animals and more four-letter words than you can shake a forest full of sticks at.

Opening for Guttermouth will be Boldtype, Neutralboy, The Uncivil and South 11th. 

[Backstage Bar & Grill, Friday, March 2, 8 p.m., $12 advance, $15 door, 6409 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.564.0149]

WALK THIS WAY >>>

Do you enjoy comedy? Do you like bliss? Then you'll want to catch the musical Newsday called "blissfully funny," Mel Brooks's adaptation of Young Frankenstein at the Washington Center.

It was developed in Seattle in 2007 and hit Broadway two years later. A mostly faithful translation of the 1974 movie, it includes all your favorite moments: "Abby Normal," "Puttin' on the Ritz," Frau Blücher's way with horses and one enormous schwanzstucker. (Voof!)

Or, if you've never seen the movie, you're in for an even bigger treat. The year is 1934. Frederick Frankenstein seeks to erase the memory of his mad grandfather by doing serious science. As you might predict, this ends with the creation of a singing, dancing monster, a rendition of "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life," and a lot of lit torches.

For what you are about to see next, you must enter quietly into the realm of genius.

[The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, Young Frankenstein, Feb. 7-8, 7:30 p.m., $26-$82, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia, 360.753.8585]

HERE WE GO AGAIN >>>

A facelift and another name change are scheduled for the revolving door at 728 Pacific Ave. Currently Club Kokonut operates out of the space, which sits across the street from The Office Bar and Grill in downtown Tacoma. Club In General Manager Suzie Gaultier reports under building owner Thomas O'Connor's LLC Good Old Dog, Club Kokonut will become Club In - not INNightclub as its Facebook reads.

"The name on Facebook is wrong. I had to spell it differently to get a page," explains Gaultier regarding the name confusion.

As you may recall, the gay-friendly club On the Rocks operated out of the space before it briefly became Club Kokonut in the summer of 2008, followed by the Surreal Ultra Lounge in April 2010. At the end of last year, Club Kokonut re-opened in the space.

"There was too much drama," says Gaultier of Surreal.

A liquor license has been applied for under Good Old Dog LLC. The business is currently open and will see an interior overhaul up until the grand opening party Saturday, March 3 when it will officially launch as Club In.

"We are changing everything. We'll have a very basic menu, it'll be happy hour food - sliders, honey hot wings, simple foods we all enjoy," says Gaultier. "Most clubs do a lot of shots. I want to do more martinis and special cocktails - more classy stuff."

As for the music, anticipate DJs and maybe a few surprises.

"I'm pretty open to music, you never know what I might have," explains Gaultier. "It will be a mix of everything: Top 40 mash-ups on the weekends, dubstep and electro during the week, as well as live hip-hop shows."

A dress code will be enforced on Friday and Saturday.

Gaultier says she wants to bring the missing piece to Tacoma.

"People from Tacoma drive to Seattle, get drunk and party then drive home. You want your community to keep their money, not spend it in Seattle."

She admits she's still trying to figure out just what Tacoma needs in order to stay put.

She also vows she'll connect with the community by "throwing events and helping neighboring businesses to discover each other."

Above all she wants patrons to "be happy and comfortable" at Club In.

Good call.

[Club Kokonut, 728 Pacific Ave., Tacoma]

FUTURE THINGS ARE COMING >>>

I've tried to make it a point, when writing about local music, to avoid talking about the ages of the members of the bands I highlight. But I must impress upon you how young the members that make up Gig Harbor garage two-piece Trasholes are, if only to make it abundantly clear to you just how much they have their shit together. Both members are in their mid-to-early teens, and their music is more sophisticated and weird than you could ever expect. Lead singer and guitarist Ian Call's voice rides that line between adolescence and adulthood, which only makes each voice crack sound that much more punk rock.

It's exciting to see another young band following the lead of other shit-kicking acts like the defunct Freakouts and Durango 95.

[Backstage Bar and Grill, with Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds, Girl Trouble, Red Hex, Thursday, Feb. 2, 7 p.m., all ages, $7, 6409 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.564.0149]

[Tahoma Tea and Co., with the Fun Police, Secret Wives, Yahtzee, Saturday, Feb. 4, 7 p.m., no cover, 1932 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.572.2477]

KID CONGO COMING TO TOWN >>>

Kid Congo became an important post-punk figure in the 1980s. After playing in an early incarnation of The Gun Club, Kid joined The Cramps in the early '80s, and traded in his birth name - Brian Tristan  - at the suggestion of singer Lux Interior. Kid did a couple of more stints in The Gun Club before joining Nick Cave's crew in the late-'80s. He's been releasing music under his own name since 2005.

Thursday, Feb. 2, Kid Congo will perform at the Backstage Bar & Grill in Tacoma. Appropriately, Girl Trouble, Red Hex and the Trasholes will open.

What two free tickets to the show?

Correctly answer the question below and you name will be shoved into a random drawing for the pair of tickets. We'll draw a name at 5 p.m. today. The winner will be notified by tomorrow noon; tickets will be held at will call.

BECAUSE THIRD THURSDAY ARTSLIP WAS A DISASTER >>>

Last Thursday you stayed home - pounding Jack Daniel's while burning your furniture to stay warm. The snow and ice destroyed Tacoma's Third Thursday Artwalk, including the Dawn of 2012 opening reception at Fulcrum Gallery.

Fulcrum owner Oliver Doriss wants to try again Thursday, if the sun hasn't killed us.

According to Doriss, "This Thursday 6 pm The Brick House and Fulcrum Gallery team up to bring you a storm of a different kind. Both galleries are hosting group shows of talented artists from strikingly different points along their career path. A self-portrait show at the Brick House offers a selection of established artists, while Fulcrum explores emerging talent with Dawn of 2012. Don't miss this opportunity to experience artwork in these two uniquely Tacoman galleries, on their terms. ;)"

[The Brick House, Self-Portraits (through Feb. 29), Thursday, Jan. 26, 6 p.m., no cover, 1123 S. Fawcett St., Tacoma, 253.2230.4880]

[Fulcrum Gallery, Dawn of 2012 - Emerging Artists of 2012 (through March 10), Thursday, Jan. 26, 6 p.m., no cover, 1308 MLK Way, Tacoma, 253.250.0520]

PUNK MEETS BLUEGRASS MEETS YOU? >>>

If you hurry, you can get free tickets to see the Old Man Markley show tomorrow night at the Backstage Bar and Grill in Tacoma. According to the band's website: "OMM cut its teeth playing countless jams of bluegrass standards and covers of distinctively un-bluegrass songs done bluegrass style. Soon, out of the chaos grew original material that combined everything the band loved about all the different styles of music the members grew up laying and writing."

Exciting.

Also on tomorrow's bill are The Fun Police, The Shivering Denizens and Ando Ehlers Chaos Death Polka.

All you have to do to win tickets is leave us a message on our Twitter page with your name and email address. We will randomly draw a name for a pair of tickets at 5 p.m. tonight. The winner will be notified by tomorrow noon; tickets will be held at will call.

FUTURE THINGS ARE COMING >>>

What's a Wednesday night without a little chaos? More to the point, what's a Wednesday night without rock and roll run through the wringer? California's punk and bluegrass band Old Man Markley joins our area's Celtic punk rockers The Fun Police - with a dash of The Shivering Denizens and Ando Ehlers Chaos Death Polka - for a $5 show at The Backstage Bar and Grill. For this show, that's cheap - just the way rock and roll likes it.

Expect an eclectic, memorable night. 

[Backstage Bar and Grill, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 8 p.m., $5, 6409 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.564.0149]