By Julie Lawrence Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Oct 02, 2007 at 8:10 AM

Welcome to Rocktober, friends. Do you have a Halloween costume idea yet? You've got four weeks to figure it out, but in the mean time, there are a bunch of shows to see to take the pressure off. The OnMilwaukee.com / WMSE Local Music Podcast is here to help.

The Bryan Cherry band gets nice and soulful at Shank Hall on Saturday, Oct. 6 with Southbound, which performs its annual tribute to The Allman Brothers Band. So if that Southern-twinged rock is your deal, go watch these dudes wail at Shank Hall.

I'd like to thank the people at Café Lulu for really paying attention to what's good in this city and booking some great bands to play in what's a pretty nice space, for a restaurant. This weekend you'll find Sleepcomesdown with Hoss on Saturday night and for a mere $3 you can be privy to SCD's brand new album, "Whisper Kinetic." It's the band's CD release party, so if you like "Secret Handshake" on this podcast, go get your own copy.

And that's not the only CD release party happening this weekend. Singer-songwriter Mike Keane is ready to unleash his latest EP, "Drive On," at Art Bar this Saturday. He'll have a couple guests -- Mark Harrod and Chris Jakubiak -- join him on stage.

The almighty Father Phoenix is also preparing its debut -- should surface on Halloween, so hang tight. If you missed Sunday's OnMilwaukee.com interview with singer / guitarist Kris Russell, you can read it here and then get to the Miramar Theater on Monday, Oct. 8 for a show with Bald Eagle and Asrava, and then to Stonefly Brewing Co. the next night to see this trio of force yet again. Good times.

Julie Lawrence Special to OnMilwaukee.com

OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.

As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”