3/12/10: Today’s Tips: Friday

MUSIC: Altan @ the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy. Celebrating their 25th anniversary, fiddler-vocalist Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh leads the fabulous acoustic Celtic ensemble into the most acoustically perfect theater in all of Nippertown. 8pm. $20, $25, $29.

MUSIC: Sam Bush @ The Egg, Albany. Simply a genius of the mandolin. 8pm. $28.

MUSIC: Mary McCaslin and Garnet Rogers @ Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs. Two great singer-songwriter-storytellers return to town in celebration of Caffe Lena. 8pm. $25.

MUSIC: Carpathia Jenkins & Louis Rosen @ the Eighth Step at Proctors, Schenectady. She sings, and he writes the music and plays guitar. Together the duo presents “One Ounce of Truth,” a collection of songs based on the poetry of Nikki Giovanni. 7:30pm. $26.

MUSIC: Carrie Underwood @ the Times Union Center, Albany. With Craig Morgan, Sons of Sylvia. She’s racked up 5 Grammys, 5 American Music awards, 5 Country Music Association awards, 8 Academy of Country Music awards and 14 Billboard Music awards. Not bad for a gal who sang “MacArthur Park” on “American Idol.”

MUSIC: The M Shanghai String Band @ the Piggy Bank, Beacon. The best neo-old-timey band in the land. 8pm. Free.