Win Something—There are few awards in the lives of many musicians. Aspiring local ones can expect shiny prizes like: crappy pay, excess drama, late hours and the occasional heckler. Of course, pats on the back are not the reason most of us are in this game. We do it because ... wait, why are we doing this?

The Cell Theatre presents Back to Green River, Eat a Helicopter, WeatherRED, Natural Reaction and Lacerate this Friday, Jan. 26. Doors open at 7 p.m., cover is $7 and, as always, it’s all-ages. (LM)

Although they have nothing but kind words for a great many Phoenix bands, Stewart Alaniz of the prog-rock power-trio Chief Beef and Tony Poer of the experimental outfit Emperors of Japan are anxious to leave the confines of an overly saturated music scene in their hometown.

It would be tough to call it straight-forward folk. But, for all of his sonic tinkerings, The Dodos frontman Meric Long has constructed tunes that are devoid of many bells and whistles (save for a few vocal loops) and have an unmistakable honesty and humility that's refreshing in a genre that has bred more than its fair share of uppity musicians.

If you’re ready to step out of the alt.rock music rut you've been stuck in for the past decade, The Way the Wind Blows is your first foot out of the hole. A Hawk and a Hacksaw draw from global influences (most notably Balkan) without making The Way the Wind Blows a one-way ticket to the old world. The Albuquerque-born duo masterfully interlaces delicate violin with the potentially overbearing cry of the accordion to create a lively, organic and entrancing experience. This isn't your momma's heavy-handed, new-agey folk—it's folk for the rest of us.