This first bit of news is delivered with a humble apology to the members of Skamasutra. Earlier this month, their keyboardist, Joe Larson, responded to this column's regular plea and sent in a long list of news about his band. (It's worth mentioning that Joe is one of the few musicians who have actually managed to find time between band practice and cigarette breaks to write us.) And not only that, but he closed his message so earnestly, with a profession of love for The Wire and encouragement for us to "keep up the good work." For all his honest effort and enthusiasm, we rewarded Joe with, well, nothing. Mea culpa, Skamasutra, it was an unintentional oversight. Fortunately, it's not too late to acknowledge that these youngsters, all current Exeter High School students, had the honor of opening for NYC's The Slackers when the legendary ska band played The Bombshelter in Manchester last month. A few weeks ago, too, the band was in Portland opening for Streetlight Manifest, which boasts former members of the popular punk/ska band Catch 22. They'll next be playing at the Exeter VFW on Sunday, June 26. To find out when and where Skamasutra will be playing after that, check out their recently redesigned Web site at skamasutra.net.

When their album, American Standard, came out at the beginning of this year, a full 20 years had passed since we'd last heard new material from The Jabbers, the ignominious punks who played behind the notorious GG Allin. Accustomed to long waits, the band didn't rush out to book a CD release show. In fact, their official CD release took place this past Saturday at The Abby Lounge in Somerville, Mass. Celebrating with The Jabbers were The Midnight Creeps, The Bamboo Kid, Red Invasion and Jonee Earthquake.

One of the few bands around town with enough going on to warrant a weekly e-mail update, Pondering Judd always seems to have something big on the horizon. The latest is news that the band has scored the opening slot for The Saw Doctors at the Hampton Casino Ballroom. The Saw Doctors-described by Allmusic.com as "the most successful Irish rock band since U2"-will be playing with Judd at the Ballroom on Monday, Aug. 15.

Beat Night, the five-year-old monthly jazz and spoken word jam hosted by Larry Simon at The Press Room will be featured on this Wednesday's installment of WMUR-TV's NH Chronicle, with clips from the May performance. For those who don't know, the TV program profiles noteworthy events, institutions and people from around the state. Check it out on June 22 at 7:30 p.m. on Channel 9.

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