• The great Joni Mitchell turns 66 on Saturday and to honor the folk-rock goddess, a group of local musicians will gather at Your Inner Vagabond in Lawrenceville for "Happy Birthday Roberta Joan -- A Star-Studded Joni Mitchell Tribute."

Among those performing will be Autumn Ayers, Brewer's Row, Mark Dignam, Maddie Georgi, Heather Kropf, The Thomas Twins, Ruby Vere and The Weathered Road.

Vere has a special tie to Mitchell, having spent time with her while living out West.

"I met Joni in Los Angeles when I was a young music student in Hollywood," Vere says. "She was my idol and muse as I began my career as a singer-songwriter. My best friend grew up with her and took me to her house in Bel-Air. We swam in her pool and listened to her playing upstairs in her home studio."

Some time after that, Vere says, "She came to one of my shows in Hollywood and later came to my apartment to play my guitar and five of her new songs from 'Turbulent Indigo' that had not yet come out. I went back to her house a few more times and to one of her art exhibits with Don Henley."

For the tribute show, Vere will play a pair of Mitchell favorites: "Coyote," which Joni played at "The Last Waltz," and the title track from "Blue."

"I love those two and I knew they weren't typical mainstream Joni songs to play. They have been a challenge to learn. I'm doing a very nontraditional version of 'Blue' also, which will be interesting to see if diehard Joni fans will approve."

The show begins at 7 p.m. Admission is $8.

• Beatlemania reigns at the Hard Rock Cafe tonight as the AcoustiCafe presents an evening of Fab Four covers to benefit Variety: The Children's Charity of Pittsburgh.

The lineup features Joel Lindsey, Jenn Wertz, Mark Dignam, Bob Banerjee and others doing everything from "Here Comes the Sun" to "Helter Skelter."

"I've always been a Beatles fanatic," AcoustiCafe's Mark Willson notes, "and I've wanted to do this for the longest time. We've got a great lineup of musicians working up fresh, offbeat acoustic versions of tunes by what was an electric band, after all -- so it should be interesting."

AcoustiCafe is a nonprofit organization that hosts open mic sessions every Monday night at Club Cafe. The show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 in advance, and $7 at the door (412-481-7625; www.acousticafe.org).

• Speaking of covers shows, Howler's in Bloomfield recently got slapped with a lawsuit from Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) that could cost the bar/music venue more than $10,000 in settlement and attorney's fees.

It originated from one of the Sunday Night Hayride shows in which a band from West Virginia did some Johnny Cash covers.

"There were like three people in the venue that night," says Howler's booking manager Mary Jo Albright. "It was one of our worst Hayrides. Clearly someone from BMI was in the club. They gave us a list of what songs were played."

BMI is an agency that collects license fees on behalf of its songwriters and distributes them as royalties. Some music venues pay the annual BMI fees to allow for cover songs. Others post signs in the venue to the effect of "No cover songs allowed."

Albright says Howler's will be forced into buying BMI's blanket coverage, which amounts to $1,500 to $2,000 a year. But she's frustrated by the whole affair. "In the end it hurts the artists and the venues. Do you think Aerosmith gives a damn if some punk band covers their song?"

• Pittsburgh roots band The Deceptions will release its first full-length CD, "Sinner's Soul," with a show Saturday at Club Cafe.

Led by songwriters Jared Fretz and Dan Krofcheck, The Deceptions are an Americana band with a warm earthy sound influenced by the likes of Ryan Adams, Wilco, the Band and Counting Crows. Along with the basic stuff, The Deceptions employ such instruments as mandolin, harmonica, Hammond organ, accordion and piano. The 10-track LP was recorded under the direction of engineer Doug Kasper at Soundscape Studios (Anti-Flag, Ford Thurston).

Show time is 7 p.m. For a taste, go to www.myspace.com/thedeceptions

• Indie-rock guitar heroes The Karl Hendricks Trio will play its last local show of the year (most likely) at Howler's tonight with Columbus band The Kyle Sowashes, launching a mini-tour that will hit Columbus, Bloomington and Chicago.

The band is fronted by the zany Kyle Sowash, who describes the recipe as "Blend 32 ounces of good-humored tales of everyday life with five tablespoons of bubblegum pop hooks ... garnish with a pinch of nostalgic indie rock, and serve."

Alexei Plotnicov will do a solo set to open at 9:30 p.m.

• If by chance you're reading this in San Francisco, you can get a dose of rowdy Pittsburgh punks Kim Phuc at the Li Po Lounge tonight. The Stooges-style band is on a West Coast swing that will span from San Diego to Portland. The only off-day on the tour seems to be Monday, which is penciled in as "Watching the Steelers in San Francisco."

• Hampton's Maddie Georgi, who made it to the finals of the CMT's Music City Madness contest, is now in the final three for the New York Songwriter's Circle's Young Songwriter award, again for the song "Go." Voting will take place at www.fashionfantasygame.com. ... University of Pittsburgh's WPTS (92.1 FM) has made it into the top five for the mtvU Best College Radio Station Category. Voting continues through Monday and the winner is announced on Nov. 18. If you go to www.mtv.com/ontv/woodieawards/2009/college-radio-woodie/, it looks like you can keep voting over and over again.

-- Scott Mervis, smervis@post-gazette.com

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