Canadian Alternative band Cowboy Junkies perform tonight at the 20th Century Theatre in Oakley. Formed in the mid-’80s, the group has been consistently critically acclaimed and have had a few moments of mainstream breakthrough, including its cover of The Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane," a minor MTV hit in the late ’80s that was revived as part of the soundtrack to Natural Born Killers in 1994. The track was included on the 2008 compilation of Canada's finest, Rhino Records' Northern Songs: Canada's Best and Brightest (the album put the Junkies alongside Great White North greats like The Band, k.d. lang, Leonard Cohen and Broken Social Scene). The past couple of years the Junkies have been issuing a string of releases under the "Nomad Series" banner, a nod to the group's freedom from a record label contract for the first time since their formative years in the mid-’80s, which has given them free reign on what they release, create and record. The group has used the series to get closer to its already close fans, keeping those interested posted on the progress of each project via their website. Now that all four volumes of the Nomad Series have been issued, the collection is available as a box set with lots of bonus features and a 52-page book. Tickets for tonight's 8 p.m. show are $20-$30. Here's "Sweet Jane" and a track from Vol. 2 of the Nomad Series, which features all songs written by late singer/songwriter Vic Chesnutt, "We Hovered With Short Wings."Our Steven Rosen spoke to the Junkies' Michael Timmins about the Junkies' connection to Cincinnati's like-minded Over the Rhine band. Read it here.

Today is the 15th anniversary of the murder of celebrated rapper Christopher Wallace, aka the Notorious B.I.G. (aka Biggie Smalls, aka Big Poppa, etc., etc.). Since his death, Wallace's status has risen considerably and he's widely considered one of the best MCs to ever hold a mic, for both his smooth, laid-back flow and lyrical prowess. Caught in the middle of the East Coast/West Coast feuding of the time, Wallace (a NYC native) was killed while in California promoting his soon to be released sophomore album, eerily titled (in hindsight, as was his debut's title, Ready to Die) Life After Death. On March 9, Smalls attended the Soul Train awards show in L.A., where he presented Toni Braxton with one of two awards she would win that night (and was booed by the West-leaning coastal feuders in the audience). Wallace left an afterparty at 12:30 a.m. later that night and, about 50 yards from the party entrance, a black Chevy Impala reportedly pulled up next to the vehicle the MC was in and someone in the Impala shot Wallace four times in the chest. He was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead March 9 at 1:15 a.m. Despite various theories, confessions and extensive investigations, the case, like that of West Coast star rapper Tupac Shakur (killed about six months prior in similar fashion), remains unsolved. Life After Death came out 15 days after Wallace's murder. It went to No. 1 on Billboard's album chart instantly. Two more posthumous B.I.G. records were cobbled together — 1999's Born Again, featuring tracks culled from unfinished ones on which Wallace had been working, and the similar Duets: The Final Chapter from 2005, which was widely criticized due to the posthumous pairings with artists many felt Wallace would never have worked with in his lifetime. The album's guests included Eminem, Twista, The Game, Nas, Nelly, Scarface, Missy Elliott, R. Kelly, Bob Marley (?!), Korn (?!?!) and West Coast MCs Snoop Dogg and 2Pac. Amazingly, unlike the posthumously prolific 2Pac, the album really was "The Final Chapter"; the only other Biggie releases to come out after that were a 2007 greatest hits collection and the 2009 soundtrack to the film Notorious, based on Wallace's life and death.Time magazine's website posted a music video playlist tribute today here. And below is "Living In Pain" from the Duets release, which featured Big and Pac, plus still-alive performers Nas and singer Mary J. Blige:Click on for Born This Day, featuring Bow Wow, John Cale and Ornette Coleman.

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