Northfield’s own guitar wizard Peter Diggins, joined by bassist Jim Anton and drummer George Marich, will play at the Upstairs Rueb on Friday, February 8th, from 8 to 11 pm, as the trio Sizzling Eggheads, in an ArtOrg production. The trio was a major player in the nationally recognized Minneapolis music scene of the late ’80s and early ’90s, headlining such noted venues as First Avenue and the Entry, the Cabooze, 400 Bar, and the Uptown Bar & Grill. If you haven’t heard Peter Diggins play guitar, you need to pull yourself off the couch tonight and come on down to the Upstairs Rueb, he’s a local artistic treasure.

Just at the northern edge of Downtown Northfield, you will find a rather highly regarded liberal arts institution known as Carleton College. Tonight there’s a performance of selected chamber and solo works by composer Alex Freeman at 8 p.m. in the Carleton College Concert Hall. This special event, featuring performances by Chicago pianist Brian Lee and Finnish kantele musician Eva Alkula, along with members of the Carleton and St. Olaf music faculty, pays tribute to the work of acclaimed composer Freeman, now a professor of composition at Carleton College. Friday evening’s program will represent a cross-section of Freeman’s instrumental chamber works from the last seven years, including “Sonata” (2000) for piano and “Magnolia” (2002) for the Finnish national instrument, the kantele.

“The Girls” will be in concert on Saturday night, February 9th, at 7:30 pm at the First UCC Congregational Church, (300 Union Street…at the eastern edge of our emerging Arts and Culture District). Lori Dokken, Judi Donaghy, Erin Schwab and Debbie Duncan, popular Twin Cities musicians, bring their tight, four-part harmonies to jazz tunes, familiar ballads and R & B standards to Northfield. This is the concert that folks have been buzzing about for weeks. Tickets are available at the UCC Congregation Church office, the Northfield Arts Guild office or Present Perfect (419 Division Street).

Finally, there’s another rather highly regarded liberal arts institution, up on that western hill, known as St. Olaf College. Barb Brocker, a nationally recognized musician, will perform a unique solo concert of handbells on both bell tree and table. Also participating will be ringers from the St. Olaf handbell choir. That’s at 6 pm in Urness Recital Hall.