Ashley Maile

Mariachi El Bronx

Mariachi El Bronx is playing this Saturday at the Firebird. The show starts at 8:00 p.m.; San Francisco folk-rock duo Two Gallants opens the show.

We have a pair of tickets for the show, and you can win them! All you have to do is write in the comments your full name, a way we can contact you, and why it is that you think you should go to the show. Be creative! The winner will be chosen at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.

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The Sound Advice Workshops -- flashlights for musicians along an increasingly hard to see industry trail -- will hold its second panel this saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Nebula Coworking Space at 3407 Jefferson. The topic this time around is Promotions & Publicity, and the panelists include Tara Pham, editor of Eleven Magazine, Laura Hamlett from PLAYBACK:stl, Nick Acquisto from KDHX (88.1 FM), Christine Sanley from Distiller Promotions and me -- the music editor of the RFT.

Admission is $5 at the door, unless you win one of the two pairs of tickets we're giving away. In order to win, let us know in the comments below what you think is the most important tool at the disposal of musicians for telling people about shows.

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Portugal. the Man - Sunday @ the Pageant

Update: Our winner!

milwaukee hurt me
sound guy ruined 'got it all'
help avenge the song

Original post follows.

Portland-by-way-of-Alaska's Portugal. the Man is playing the Pageant this Sunday, and we've got an extra pair of tickets to give away -- contest time!

Inspired by Haiku Lou, St. Louis's best music website to waste time at on the company dime -- er, I mean, that isn't what I was doing when this came up, whoops -- this contest will challenge entrants to try their hand at the ancient Japanese linguistic art form. Click through for details on how to win:

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Courtney Allessio

Of the many places you could end your Record Store Day, no where promises the caliber of dance party you can expect at the Firebird for the Hood Internet, presented by Knuckle Rumbler. To win tickets: Tell us in the comments below what your favorite fusion food dish is. Because of the mash-ups, you see.

Read what RFT Music writer Jamie Lees had to say about the show and listen to "Some Creeps (TLC x Holy Ghost x Michael McDonald)" below.

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Update: Matt Harnish wins, because we can't resist a local hook. As a side note, I sincerely hope that Adam R. is the person I think it is. Well played, everybody.

As much has been said about the Velvet Underground, there will always be more worth talking about. Rob Jovanovic, who wrote the only book you need about Pavement as well as biographies of Nirvana, Big Star, R.E.M. and Beck, has just released Seeing the Light: Inside the Velvet Underground. We've got a nice shiny hardcover copy sitting on our desk and we'd like to give it to you.

To win, tell us in the comments below what your favorite piece of Velvet Underground trivia is. We'll pick a winner tomorrow afternoon.

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Illustration by Matt Ehrhardt

"Local Flavor"

Tonight, the LouFest lineup will be announced at Plush. The Blind Eyes and Morning Teleportation will play, admission is $8 and doors open at 7:30. A limited number of $60 two-day Early Bird passes for LouFest itself (to be held August 25 and 26 in Forest Park) will be available starting tonight as well.

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In the spirit of fostering conversation, the Firebird, the Luminary Center for the Arts and St. Louis Secret Sound Society are starting a new series of music workshops. It's called Sound Advice, and each monthly installment will feature a panel of experts talking about the ins and outs of the increasingly tangled world of making and sharing music.

The first workshop will be this Saturday, March 31 from 1 p.m. to 3 at the Luminary. This first one will serve as an introduction to the series and a general discussion -- confirmed panelists include Jacob Detering of Red Pill Studio and badass guitarist Andrew Elsner of Torche, Riddle of Steel, etc. Admission is $5. You can buy tickets here or at the door.

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Next Tuesday, April 3, LouFest will announce the lineup for its third installment in Forest Park on August 25 and 26. The big news will come at a party at Plush (3224 Locust Street, 314-535-2686) and the Blind Eyes and Morning Teleportation will play.

We have a few tickets to the announcement party, but we've also got something else: A pair of two-day passes to LouFest itself. And we're going to give them away on Tuesday. Here's how you win both:

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Yonder Mountain String Band will play back-to-back shows this weekend at the Pageant (6161 Delmar Boulevard, 314-726-6161). Friday and Saturday's shows both start at 7:30 p.m. and feature Brown Bird as opener.

We have a pair of tickets for both shows, and we'd like to send a few of you fine folks to the brink of University City. To win, tell us in the comments below or on our Facebook page what your favorite day hike is in the St. Louis region.

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Shawn Brackbill

Update: We've picked a winner, via Facebook. Jon Gitchoff, selected by blind polling of our tree-expert panel, who offers this fact, "They're just the right height in Michigan." Thanks to everyone who entered.

The Head and the Heart will play the Pageant. Tickets are $17.50 in advance or $20 on Sunday. Drew Grow & the Pastors' Wives and Black Girls will open.

We'd like to send you to the show -- to win a pair of tickets, tell us your favorite fact about trees. Yep: A fact about trees. We will accept submissions in the comments below or on our Facebook page.

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