ROCK PICKS: Black Francis, Bob Dylan, Caroline Weeks, Casiokids

Also playing Tuesday:

The Brooklyn-via-Venezuela band Los Amigos Invisibles

Roxy Epoxy: “I want to own you.”

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SUNN 0))), THE ACCUSED, EAGLE TWIN at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts; THE SECTION QUARTET & SAM PHILLIPS at Largo at the Coronet; HEAVEN & HELL, COHEED & CAMBRIA at the Greek Theatre; THE VOYEURS, KISSING COUSINS, BOX VIOLET, POLYGRAPH at the Echo; THE LITTLEST VIKING, SIGNAL HILL, BEWARE OF SAFETY at Echo Curio; C.W. STONEKING & HIS PRIMITIVE HORN ORCHESTRA at the Redwood Bar.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12

BOB DYLAN, WILLIE NELSON, THE WIYOS AT LAKE ELSINORE
Speaking of baseball, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson have gone in search of the American Dream by playing a series of summer shows off the beaten track in small-town minor league baseball stadiums. Dylan follows up the forebodingly apocalyptic blues proclamations of 2006’s impressive Modern Times by delving even deeper into the past on his latest CD, Together Through Life, where he rummages through ragtime and Tin Pan Alley settings. Instead of handing down spirited wisdom from the mountain, this time around he’s in a more jovial, romantically playful mood, singing “My Wife’s Home Town” and the swanky “Jolene” (not the Dolly Parton classic) in a craggy voice that’s adorned with zydeco-style accordion. In recent years, Willie Nelson has done an all-reggae album (Countryman), reinterpreted the songs of Cindy Walker (You Don’t Know Me) and even covered Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody” (Moment of Forever). Regardless of genre, the Texas singer-guitarist comes armed with a sack full of classic originals (“Crazy,” “Always on My Mind”) and that distinctively warm voice that’s as burnished as an old saddle. Arrive early for Brooklyn band the Wiyos, whose new CD, Broken Land Bell, is a lively collection of folksy, old-time tunes marked by popping riffs, dusty banjo pluckin’ and jaunty rhythms, as well as three lead singers, including one who sounds curiously like Paul Simon. Starts at 5:30 p.m. 500 Diamond Drive, Lake Elsinore. (Falling James)

BUDDY GUY, DR. JOHN & THE LOWER 911 AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL
You don’t want to piss off the voodoo gods, but that’s just what George W. Bush did when he fiddled and dithered away while New Orleans was sinking under the weight of Hurricane Katrina. Dr. John has a long memory, and his recent CD, City That Care Forgot, is an incredibly angry, unsentimental broadside against Bush’s not-so-benign neglect. It’s as if the great piano man has given voice to all of the dead and dispossessed who were cast aside by the federal government’s inept rescue efforts. Unlike so many post-Katrina anthems, which tend to wallow in a funereal, nonspecific sadness, Dr. John’s funky, modern protest songs, such as “Land Grab” and “Promises, Promises,” have a caustic truthfulness that gets right to the heart of the matter by naming names and vowing revenge. Another guy you don’t want to piss off is Buddy Guy. The legendary blues guitarist can be an intimidating presence onstage, glaring with a chilling intensity that’s matched only by the searing purity and sublime expressiveness of his spiky-hard guitar playing. This time of year, the blues is often used as feel-good wallpaper music at picnics and baseball games, but both Guy and John manage to make this retro music feel raw and relevant again. (Falling James)

Also playing Wednesday:

PABLO MOSES & THE REVOLUTIONARY DREAM BAND at the Echoplex; BLACK FRANCIS, MERE MORTALS at the Mint; N.A.S.A.’S INTERGALACTIC CIRCUS WITH PASE ROCK, FATLIP at El Rey Theatre; JACKSON BROWNE at the Greek Theatre; HIGH ON FIRE, EARLY MAN, WHO RIDES THE TIGER at Alex’s Bar; DAWES, PAPA, PAIGE STARK at the Echo; GLEN PHILLIPS, SARA BAREILLES, MARIA TAYLOR, PARIS CARNEY, THE RESCUES, OTHERS at the Troubadour; MAXIM LUDWIG, GLASS PEAR, WESLEY JENSEN & THE WILDCATS, OTHERS at the Hotel Café; ROADSIDE GRAVES, AVI BUFFALO, THE PARSON RED HEADS, M. BISON at the Knitting Factory; OLIN & THE MOON at Pershing Square; OVIDEO, TASSO, THE DOWNER PARTY, FRENCH MIAMI at the Silverlake Lounge.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 13

WAYNE HORVITZ’S SWEETER THAN THE DAY AT THE HAMMER MUSEUM 
Eclectic and deep yet friendly to the ear, composer-pianist–electronic musician Wayne Horvitz’s blurred-genre approach is a rarity in American music, progressive, far-reaching stuff that straddles a peculiarly personal yet so tastefully presented range of styles, from his steaming fusion-funk combo, Zony Mash, or the avant-prog-jazz-rock kings Pigpen, or his earlier work in the N.Y. downtown scene alongside John Zorn, Carla Bley, Fred Frith, Bill Frisell and Bobby Previte. Horvitz’s recent critically praised projects include his improvised-composition chamber ensemble Gravitas Quartet, and collaborative work with his acclaimed composer wife, Robin Holcomb. Formed in 1999, the bebop/country blues–tinged Sweeter Than the Day began as an improvisatory, acoustic incarnation of Zony Mash, with Horvitz caressing a gloriously airy yet harmonically serpentine acoustic piano. Timothy Young is the band’s cerebrally soothing guitarist, and acoustic bassist Keith Lowe and drummer Andy Roth provide the creamy-smooth propulsion. (John Payne)