Brandi Carlile sold out two shows at the Tower Theatre next week, but we put her on the cover of GO! Magazine anyway. Because she’s great. And she loves Bend. And Bend loves her. Here’s Carlile’s recollection of her gig opening for Sheryl Crow here in 2008:

“I remember she was late to the gig and I had to play for a long time. I mean, I must’ve played for 45 minutes into her set before she got there,” Carlile said, “and the audience never once left us. They never once acted bored or irritated, and they were incredibly receptive to Sheryl when she got there. They let me play at least half an hour (or) 45 minutes into a Sheryl Crow show without Sheryl Crow, and I won’t ever forget that about Bend. I won’t ever forget how kind they were.”

She goes on to talk about last summer’s show at the Tower Theatre, the concept behind her new album “Give Up the Ghost,” working with Elton John, and more. I really enjoyed doing this interview and writing this story, and I hope you’ll read the whole thing here.

Tuck And Roll is one of Bend’s best bands, and they have a brand new album of poppy punk rock to show the world. You can pick it up at tonight’s CD-release show at Players. Meanwhile, here’s a bit from my conversation with frontman Sam Fisher:

“I would call myself a late-bloomer with music. I have four older siblings, and my older brother Mason really had the ultimate ’80s collection of music on tape, so I just kind of latched on to that,” Fisher said in a telephone interview last week. “I didn’t branch out, really, until I met Ryan and when I heard Weezer’s blue album. I think that was … when I realized, ‘Hey, wait a minute. There’s other stuff out there than cheesy butt-rock. This stuff sounds really good.’”

It was his first leap into the deep rabbit hole of music obsession.

“After that is when I first started buying my Pennywise CDs and NOFX CDs. It seems like once you get a good punk album that you like … it’s so easy to discover other music and other bands on that label,” Fisher said. “That was it for me.”

You should read the whole thing here.

Also in the music section of GO! Magazine this week: a round-up of St. Patrick’s Day shows, funk/jazz legend Maceo Parker in Bend and funk/jazz up-and-comer Trombone Shorty in Sisters, plus Pato Banton, Poor Man’s Whiskey, Great American Taxi, One Horse Shy, the second annual Jim Jam for Jim Witty, and the More Bars in More Places underground hip-hop tour, featuring Knobody. And there’s always lots more in our complete music listings.