California's ALO, formerly known as Animal Liberation Orchestra, has had the kind of history available only to California bands with solid connections to the lefty artist scene, which in their case  included Jack Johnson as good friend and musical collaborator. They've toured the world with Johnson, played several Jam Cruises and slowly moved from experimental college music to radio-friendly popular music, included their just-released Sounds Like This. They'll be at Headliners on May 23 with the bluegrass band The Infamous Stringdusters (winners of IBMA's 2007 Emerging Artist of the Year, Album Of The Year and Song Of The Year), which should make for an interesting musical combination a la The Grateful Dead and Old and in the Way. Tickets are $12.

--Paul Moffett