Music

What: Alison Scott with Kevin Bowe and The Okemah Prophets dual CD release show with Johnny and Molly from Communist Daughter, Desdamona, the Laurel String Quartet, Ellis and Ben Lubeck from Farewell Milwaukee

When: 8 p.m., June 8

Where: Varsity Theater, 1308 Fourth St. SE

Cost: $15 or $12 with student ID

What: Reina del Cid and the Cidizens, Haley Bonar, Brute Heart

Where: Northrop Mall

When: 7 p.m., Friday

Cost: Free

YouTube is full of young men and women singing earnest guitar covers to their webcams. When University of Minnesota alumna Reina del Cid uploaded her own cover videos five years ago, she had no idea they would help her find a community of fellow bedroom songwriters, a modest, but passionate fan base and the ambition to become a touring musician.

What: Works for Words hosted by Chris Koza. Featuring Rogue Valley, Sims of Doomtree, Caroline Smith and Gabriel Douglas of 4ontheFloor

When: 8 p.m., Friday

Where: 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul

Cost: $25/$12 with a college ID

Beyonce. Björk. Lou Reed. These are just a few of the big names that’ll be mentioned in 89.3 The Current’s forthcoming “Works for Words” show Friday at the illustrious Fitzgerald Theater.

The cliché that’s been formed about the Twin Cities' outdoor block party/festival circuit is that there are too many of them.

There’s some merit to the argument. But for a city bereft of all the summer debauchery our country’s coasts enjoy every year (Outside Lands, Bonnaroo, beaches, beaches — oh, and more beaches), the excess only seems like a necessary coping mechanism.

More often than not, discussions about the state of hip-hop devolve into a debate about the merits of backpack rap versus commercial rap. Is it about making it rain or making you think? Is it style or substance? Self-aggrandizement or self-deprecation?