Back Beat

Nima’s Wish Foundation hosts its annual fundraiser concert SPRING FORWARD June 8-9 at Cozmic; $18-$30 (free for kids 10 and under). The two-day event hosts a smorgasbord of local musicians including headliners Reeble Jar and Sol Seed, Laura Kemp, Phoebe Blume, I-Chele and Zambuco Marimba. Funds go to providing aid for people in Gambia, where Nima Gibba’s father is from. The 11-year-old Gibba tragically passed in a car accident in 2009.

Phase two is complete. The Kaleidoscope Music Festival, the inaugural camping fusion fest at Mount Pisgah Aug. 23-25, has beamed in the electronic, fantasy-pop duo Empire of the Sun from a planet better than ours as another headliner. Other artists include Aesop Rock, Daedelus, Hieroglyphics, Felix Cartal, GRiZ, Cosmic Gate and Candy Cigarettes.

Booked! WOW Hall is bringing Gold Panda, Ra Ra Riot and STRFKR to Eugene this fall.

EW’s Next Big Thing song of the week: “Beautiful Nothing” by Robert Meade. Meade is a pro and it shines through on this track. With a voice that sounds like the love child of Elliot Smith and Paul McCartney, it’s no wonder the troubadour is booking gigs at South by Southwest and the Sundance Film Festival. Catch Meade 6 to 9 pm first and third Fridays at Granary Pizza Co. To enter the contest or vote on your favorite local musicians, visit nextbigthingeugene.com.

Don’t miss this week: a fantastic night of indie rock with Desert Noises (who just booked the Austin City Limits festival), Parson Red Heads and Said the Wale June 6, and the sublimely honky-tonk Whitey Morgan and the 78’s June 14 at Sam Bond’s; Axe & Fiddle has a solid early June line-up with Quiet Life (June 6), Conjugal Visitors and Dunghill Rooster Strutters (June 7), Kelly Zullo (June 8) and Bear Attack (June 9).