Straight-A students: The A3 Group, an advanced nine-piece instrumental music ensemble from the Springfield Academy of Arts and Academics, will fill the Wildish Theater with the sounds of “Bass Folk Song,” “Django’s Castle” and other music by A3 student composers 7:30 pm Friday, Feb. 28; $5 students and seniors, $7 general. Local favorite Mood Area 52 takes the stage next, performing its signature blend of jazz, American folk, Brechtian cabaret and classical music. The groups will cap off the night with a joint performance of “St. James Infirmary” and “Occluded Pets.”

EW’s 2013 Next Big Thing winner Sol Seed kicks off a West Coast tour Feb. 27 for the reggae-fusion band’s latest album, Family Tree. The tour ends in Eugene with an album, release concert April 11 at Cozmic. Speaking of Next Big Thing, the 2014 competition opens May 1 with new categories and a 72-hour Music Video Film Fest with the Bijou. Details to come.

Tori Amos once said of fellow musician Willy Porter: “Willy plays rhythms that make me want to crawl inside his guitar and sleep there forever.” Well, perhaps not forever, but how about an evening? Porter, a singer-songwriter and rock guitarist, plays with Carmen Nicholson 7:30 pm Sunday, March 2, at Cozmic; $16.50 adv., $18 door. Please, only one person inside his guitar at a time.

Don’t miss: Greensky Bluegrass, the 5-piece band that Rolling Stone says represents bluegrass “for a whole new generation,” plays with Tumbleweed Wanderers 9 pm Friday, Feb. 28, at WOW Hall; folk veteran and environmentalist Alice Dimecele plays 8:30 pm Sunday, March 2, at Sam Bond’s; The Coup returns to Cozmic, dropping G-funk hip hop with a political edge 9 pm Monday, March 3.