It’s been a busy 18 months for Buffalo’s Goo Goo Dolls, who’ve been touring hard since February 2006. They’re just about to take their fifth trip to Europe before heading to Japan next month, shortly after the Darien Lake show. Then back to Europe again before returning to the States for three or four more weeks of performances. At which point, the plan is to come back to Buffalo to begin work on a new album at Trackmaster Studios, the great space at Franklin and North Streets where Robbie Takac used to record local bands when the Goo Goo Dolls weren’t using it to polish up songs and demos in the period before “Iris” made the band a global phenomenon. Takac recently spoke to Artvoice, and had this to say about the plan: “We decided it was time to stop buying antiques for people in Los Angeles and start buying some gear for ourselves,” he laughs. “Now we have this amazing facility that’s gonna be like the old classic rooms with a lot of old, vintage gear. John [Rzeznik] has got one of the biggest microphone collections anywhere. So it’s really exciting to bring all that stuff home.” At this Saturday’s show, the band will likely be performing some deeper cuts from their catalog, along with “Before It’s Too Late” from this summer’s Transformers soundtrack. Long-time fans—like the 250,000 who ask for updates via myspace.com/googoodolls—will also be thrilled by an all new multimedia extravaganza with “big, moving motors and lights all over the place. Big rock, man.” They’re joined by special guests Lifehouse and Colbie Caillat.

Bill Burr is laughing at you. And me. And the rest of us mindless gerbils who are trapped in the exercise wheel of modern society, too preoccupied to notice that if we just step off the wheel, we might actually get some traction towards realizing our dreams and living meaningful lives. It’s the oft-forgotten fundamental truth about comedians—they’re not just just funny guys; they are sharp-witted, smooth-talking social critics, the kind of people who’ll make you laugh at the fact that you’re an asshole…and you’ll pay them for it. Bill Burr is no exception, though he’s got the guy-next-door friendly looks to make you forget it. Burr was raised just south of Boston, and he looks like a stereotype from that city—an average red-headed guy who wears Red Sox paraphernalia. As a young man, according to his Web site, Burr was “always putting laughter before his studies, (and his) dreams of pursuing any sort of respectable profession died in the sixth grade.” Since 1995, he’s actively pursued comedy and is now considered one of the hardest-working comics in the country, performing over 300 shows annually. Come to the Town Ballroom on Friday night, and laugh along as Burr makes fun of the absurdity of everyday American life, exposing everything from our consumerism to our racism, support of the Bush administration, dysfunctional personal relationships and, of course, our inordinate fascination with technology.

Everyone talks about the “overnight sensation” who really had to work years before receiving the acclaim he was due. Texas songwriter James “Slim” Hand seems to have taken that adage to an extreme with the release of The Truth Will Set You Free (Rounder), his first international release, arriving four decades after he began singing in honky tonks around his home near Waco, Texas. “I started playing this kind of music when I was 12,” Hand reflects. “When I was 13, we’d play for $15 a person and free beer. I’m 53 and I’m still playing for $15 a person and free beer.” Listening to his record is a lot like going through a time machine. Blessed with a unique voice and an equally original songwriting slant, his songs communicate with the authority of a man who’s lived the country troubadour life, sprinkled with gigs as a rodeo rider, truck driver and horse trainer. But don’t mistake Hand for some run-of-the-mill revivalist. Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel and Texas music legend Lloyd Maines (Dixie Chick Natalie’s Dad) produced the record. And as Willie Nelson says: “James Hand is the real deal!” The show is a continuation of the Sportsmen’s private party series, which most recently brought the original honky tonk hero Billy Joe Shaver to town for an intimate, sold out performance.

As the great debut albums of 2007 go, Elvis Perkins’ Ash Wednesday (Xl Recordings) is among the top of the class. Perkins’ 11-track offering utilizes the singer/songwriter’s gift for tunefully tempered, fleshed-out folk rock that fearlessly delves into personal tragedy and loss. Much has been made of Perkins’ pedigree (he’s the son of Psycho star Anthony Perkins and photographer Berry Berenson) and the pall of his parents’ deaths does hang over Ash Wednesday. However, while they are part of the bigger picture, the facts behind Perkins’ story shouldn’t be used to outshine the lyrical deftness and songcraft within. Along with his band Dearland—comprised of bassist Brigham Brough, drummer Nicholas Kinsey and keyboardist/guitarist Wyndham Boylan-Garnett—Perkins creates some of the finest, dark-edged nighttime hymns of downtrodden luck and loss since Leonard Cohen was at his peak. While music fans are steadily emerging to embrace Ash Wednesday, fellow artists beat everyone to the discovery. Perkins and Dearland have been named as favorites and toured in support of friends like Cold War Kids, My Morning Jacket and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Support for Perkins and Dearland’s gig this Tuesday come from Roger Bryan—a regular fixture of the Old Sweethearts, among other Buffalo bands—who is set to release his first proper solo record (sans Sweethearts) in the coming month.