A band's best friend

Along with making his bands sound better for more than two decades, John Munson credits Brad Kern for two other important developments in his life.

First, there was the time that Kern -- Semisonic's sound engineer and main man at the wheel -- fell asleep and went into the ditch driving back from a job in Duluth. "That would haunt my dreams [anytime] I slept with my head on my knees in the passenger seat of our Ford Econoline," Munson said.

And then there were the 500 or so times Kern played "Soul Cages" to tune the P.A. system.

"Brad taught me to hate Sting," Munson seethed.

The kind of war stories that any band might have about a sound man and close confidant, they're sprinkled with a little extra affection this week. Semisonic will reunite for only the third time in five years to assist Kern, 41, who was hit by a car July 11 while riding his bike in northeast Minneapolis. He suffered a fractured skull, collapsed lung and ample other damage, plus he lost three months of paychecks. The driver of the car fled and was never identified.

Friday's benefit concert at First Avenue will help pay some of the bills amassed by Kern and his family (two kids and full-time-mom Autumn). An impressive lineup of local favorites are showing their gratitude for their favorite sound man, including the Hang Ups -- also a rare reunion gig -- Mason Jennings, Jeremy Messersmith, Two Harbors plus Munson's other band with the other Wilson brother (the Twilight Hours).

"It's humbling, but it's also seriously saving my butt," said Kern, who only just started easing his way back to work two weeks ago, after doctors cleared him of a concussion and other lasting head trauma. "I'm healing better than Justin Morneau."

As a fan of all the performers, Kern made two requests: The Hang Ups' song "Greyhound Bus," and the Trip Shakespearianced cover of Big Star's "Ballad of El Goodo." However, since he's eager to get back to work, he also plans to man the sound board for about half the show.

"We'll record it, so I can enjoy it later," Kern said, adding the obvious: "I'm sure I'll relive the night often."

Auburn ready for gold An R&B starlet-in-the-making since she was 18, Auburn is finally seeing her career come of age as she returns home Sunday for a show at First Avenue, part of a tour as Jason Derülo's opener.

The St. Paul native -- Auburn Williams, now 21 -- has made it halfway up the Billboard Hot 100 chart and sold 300,000 downloads of her single "La La La," a heavily Auto-Tuned dance track also featuring Sean Kingston's pal Iyaz.

The song is a prelude to Auburn's album, due next year via producer J.R. Rotem's Warner Bros. imprint Beluga Heights. Rotem has been the singer's big backer since she earned underground attention with her 2008 single "Eww Eww." He previously helmed Rihanna's "S.O.S.," Kingston's "Beautiful Girls" and Derülo's "Whatcha Say." Pretty good company.

Bank of memories Most music lovers of a certain age have that one place and moment in time when they felt like they were at the center of a musical supernova. For Darryl Holter, a Minnesota native who now lives in Los Angeles, that era was the West Bank music scene of the 1960s and early '70s, which he pays homage to on a new CD he'll promote with two local gigs this week.

The heretofore amateur songwriter recruited some bigwig pros to play on the album, titled "West Bank Gone," including Heartbreaker Benmont Tench and Greg Leisz. Original songs such as "5 a.m." and the title track evoke memories of the Triangle and Viking bars, Dave Ray, John Berryman and other lost institutions. Holter also covers Willie Murphy, John Koerner and that kid from Hibbing to get his memories across, while musically he comes off as part Hiatt and Kristofferson. His shows are Saturday at the Acadia Cafe (8 p.m.) and Thursday at Palmer's Bar (10 p.m.) -- both on the West Bank, of course.

Random mix Also Saturday on the West Bank, the second installment of the Modern Guitar Festival will take over the Cedar Cultural Center with a lineup of local guitar and amp manufacturers alongside a roster of performers, none of whom want to be Stevie Ray Vaughan or Eddie Van Halen. Envisioned by genre-hopping wiz Mike Michel (Bill Mike Band, Unknown Prophets), the event features such indie-rock, jazz and none-of-the-above guitarists as Jeremy Ylvisaker (of Andrew Bird's band); his bandmate in the new all-star band Gramma's Boyfriend, Jacob Hanson (also of Halloween, Alaska); Dean Granros (How Birds Work); Park Evans (These Modern Socks); Terry Eason and more (8 p.m., $12-$15, all ages). ...

If you missed coverage elsewhere, this weekend's Sound Unseen film festival will offer a few live sets: Gary Louris will play a short one before "Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?" at the Southern Theater on Saturday (8 p.m., $20), and Estate and DJ Denver Dolly perform Sunday for the closing party at Channel Z studio. Also, you can catch movies on Broken Social Scene, David Byrne, Lil' Wayne and Phil Spector. See our reviews at Startribune.com/movies, and get more details at SoundUnseen.com. ...

Didn't Rogue Valley just have a CD-release party? Yep, and Chris Koza & Co. have already booked the third gig in their seasonal album cycle, Nov. 26 at the Cedar. The autumn disc is titled "Geese in the Flyway." ... Tapes 'n Tapes fans will have to wait until 2011 for the band's long-awaited third album, "Outside," but it's not as bad as that sounds: Recently mixed by Peter Katis (Interpol, the National), the record is slated to land Jan. 11. ...

When they return from the Gayngs tour, Zach Coulter and Adam Hurlburt will have to brush up on their thick British accents for their next gig with Solid Gold: They're doing an all-Oasis set at Lee's Liquor Lounge on Oct. 29, a Halloween party with E.L.nO. ... My favorite Tweet of the week, from Jeremy Messersmith: "I have the top selling iTunes song with the word 'Graveyard' in the title. Nothing like setting the bar low! #loweredexpectations."

chrisr@startribune.com • 612-673-4658 Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisRstrib