As we trudge, in knit caps and snow boots, lugging gear up icy curbs and across frozen sidewalks, Dave Gerard and friends will be tying their swim trunks and strapping on sandals, enjoying their mid-winter jaunt to the soft sands and placid waters of the Caribbean. On the band's annual Groove Thang Island Tour, the veteran troubadours will spend the better part of February Virgin-island hopping-first St. Thomas, then on to St. Croix, back to St. Thomas and, finally, to St. John-and entertaining at venues with enviously sunny names like Paradise Point, Beach Bar and Island Blues (for a detailed itinerary, go to www.gerardtruffle.com). According to Gerard, the band is also in the middle of recording a new album, which they're set to mix and master upon their return. They hope to release it this May.

new arrivals

Right on the heels of the band's February tour through the Southeast, The Hotel Alexis will celebrate the national release of their first album, The Shining Example is Lying on the Floor. Initially released early last year as a limited-edition CD-R and distributed by band members, the recording quietly made a name for itself in various indie-rock circles, winding up by year's end on a couple of top-10 lists. It also impressed Parasol, the well-regarded independent label and mail-order house, which agreed to provide distribution, and so beginning Tuesday, March 1, The Shining Example will be available in record stores across the country. In addition, the album will officially be the first release of Broken Sparrow Records, an imprint founded by guitarist and singer Sidney Alexis and multi-instrumentalist Nathan Groth. More than an extension of The Hotel Alexis, Groth and Alexis see the label as a separate project and hope to put out several albums by other artists this year.

in brief

Local rock band The Screen recently announced the title of their upcoming album, to be released this spring on Red Fez Records. Antitrust needs only mastering and artwork before it gets pressed, and the band hopes to announce an exact release date shortly.

Roots-rock stalwarts Pondering Judd are set to release an acoustic EP next month, Succumb to Hell. The band says that the new record "breathes winter" and has a "lodgy, Appalachia, throw-another-log-on-the-fire" mood. Form your own impressions on Sunday, Feb. 13 from 3 to 5 p.m. when the band will host a listening party at The Stone Church.

A musical tribute at The Red Door on Tuesday, Feb. 1 will honor the memory of Jim Valletta. Among those performing will be local DJs Kinetic, Lord Bass, Ryan Garret and Veso, plus performances by a solo acoustic The Hotel Alexis and others. Admission is $3, with proceeds to benefit NAMI NH. The night starts at 7 p.m.