Peace Talks Radio, a nonprofit organization devoted to bringing the world peaceful dialog is, like many of us, having a hard go of it in this economy. To continue his good work, producer Paul Ingles found a rocking way to gather funds—hold a raffle featuring a covetable “Peace Guitar” as its grand prize. The acoustic cherry wood instrument up for grabs is autographed by Bonnie Raitt, Lyle Lovett, Shawn Colvin, Roberta Flack, Taj Mahal, Leo Kottke and others, with additional John Hancocks to come. Raffle tickets go for $20, and there are 20 other prizes up for grabs including autographed color lithographs and CDs. Plus, even if you don’t win, you’ll be rewarded with the satisfaction of being altruistic and promoting altruism, too. For more on Peace Talks Radio and the raffle, visit goodradioshows.org.

Of course Mike Doughty is keen on Tweeting. First known for defining Soul Coughing with his spare and striking lyrics, 140 characters would be ample space for Doughty to paint a city or a scene or a mood or a person—or maybe all of those. He says he works well with constraints.

Nice wallpaper! Or is that a flyer? Find out on Friday, Feb. 19, when La Junta, Zoology and Shamani share funky hip-hop and decorating tips at the Launchpad. Show starts at 9 p.m. and $5 gets you in the door. Sorry, kids; this one is 21-and-over (it’s not like you guys could afford to damask your Student Ghetto apartments anyway). (Jessica Cassyle Carr)

Cuban multi-instrumentalist Omar Sosa composes vividly lyrical music that draws on traditions from five continents, combining the folkloric and the contemporary in a profoundly personal voice. His music often takes on a ceremonial aspect as he pays homage to and invites communication with the spirit world. Translating such music to an orchestral setting presents challenges, but Brazilian arranger Jaques Morelenbaum and Germany’s formidable NDR Bigband, alongside Sosa’s quartet, offer a sympathetic, sensitive treatment of tunes from Sosa’s Spirit of the Roots, Bembón and Afreecanos albums. Sosa himself contributes arrangements of two new compositions. The orchestra’s musicians play with a refined, calibrated discipline as an ensemble, and with hair-raising freedom as soloists. Magically, the project preserves the intimacy of the music while projecting it onto a larger canvas. (MM)

P.O.S. (real name Stefon Alexander) is the atypical rapper. He never sports ice, spits about getting “crunk” or brags about how many Bentleys he owns. He could be your best friend, brother or classmate. Yet underneath his humble demeanor lies a verbal assassin armed with rapid-fire delivery and passionate lyrics.