From Guster to Modest Mouse, 7 can't-miss August concerts coming to Columbia

There are no dog days here, at least far as live music is concerned.

August will be one of the most vibrant months on this year's concert calendar, with treasured artists and brightly burning stars on their way to Columbia venues.

Here's a sneak preview of seven upcoming concerts that will make August reverberate for longer than its 31 days.

Aug. 5: Guster at Rose Park

One of the abiding bands of the past 30 years, Guster does it all: they can craft stadium-sized anthems or drop low into a seemingly fathomless well of melancholy; take on all the properties of a proper American string band or explore their inner Brian Wilsons. The band brings its deep, sublime folk-rock catalog to Rose Park for a can't-miss Summerfest show. $31-$36. Visit https://rosemusichall.com/ for more details.

Aug. 8: Sarah Shook and the Disarmers at Rose Park

Shook and Co. traffic in a sound often called "alt-country," but no single tag can properly express an approach that mingles the shiver of centuries-old murder ballads, smash-it-up urgency of punk, introspection of folk and warm steel of country. You just have to hang on every note and hang on for the ride. With Travis Feutz and the Stardusters. $15.

Aug. 11: The Hooten Hallers and Volk at Rose Park

The Hooten Hallers, easily first-ballot Missouri rock hall of famers, just keep stitching their remarkable quilt, made of all known shades of the blues. In this hometown gig, they team up with Volk, the dynamic duo of Eleot Reich and Christopher Lowe. The pair's latest EP, "Stand the Test," sounds something like Fleetwood Mac sweating it out under a disco ball's refracted light. $15.

Aug. 13: Modest Mouse and Cat Power on Ninth Street

Two of indie-rock's great scene-shapers share the stage as Modest Mouse and Cat Power visit Columbia. Led by the endearingly irascible Isaac Brock, Modest Mouse perseveres after losing founding drummer Jeremiah Green to cancer last year; even before the band broke into the mainstream with the 2004 smash "Float On," it created an entire career's worth of endearing, particular indie-rock anthems. Chan Marshall, the heart and mind of Cat Power, is among our most important songwriters, a font of emotion and insight who travels effortlessly from a murmur to a howl. $42.50. Visit https://thebluenote.com/ for more details.

Aug. 18: Kassi Ashton at Rose Music Hall

The Roots N Blues fest (now Treeline) alum hails from California — the one in Missouri — and takes a defiant approach to her country music, mingling immediate hooks with a no prisoners bravado. Writing about her recent single "Drive You Out of My Mind," Billboard's Tom Roland compared its effects to high-test coffee: "elevating heart rates, rhythmically overstimulating the brain and infusing a general sense of urgency, all in the best way." With Matt Jordan; $12-$15.

Aug. 20: Father John Misty and The Head and the Heart on Ninth Street

The cool contrarian of indie rock, Father John Misty, teams with uplifting peers The Head and the Heart for a fire-and-ice bill sure to seal the summer. From Misty's "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" and "Pure Comedy" to the Seattle band's "Lost in My Mind" and "Down in the Valley," some of the most evocative songs from the past decade will be on display as these catalogs meet. With Miya Folick; $50-$55.

Aug. 29: AJJ at The Blue Note

"Disposable Everything," the latest from this Phoenix folk-punk band — AJJ lives in a lineage with the likes of Violent Femmes and the Mountain Goats — furthers its pursuit of abandon as a discipline. The members of AJJ experience disaffection, righteous anger or anxiety, then chase the feeling in song with bash and strum, winking lyrics and a radical sort of hope. The band leads a killer bill into The Blue Note, with hip-hop genius and True/False Film fest alum Open Mike Eagle in tow, as well as Sad Park and Foot Ox. $24-$45.

Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. He's on Twitter @aarikdanielsen.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: From Guster to Modest Mouse, 7 can't-miss August concerts coming to Columbia