• EMM, Monday, March 9, The Annex, 7 p.m.: In an interview with Galore, songwriter and producer EMM gives a succinct des

• cription of her latest album: “BLACK DIAMOND really exists as a performance art piece to be a campy representation of the traits in women that are vilified most in society.” The most recent in a series of gem-titled collections creating a universe of superheroes, the album is beautifully in-your-face lyrically and musically, blending dark industrial, heavy EDM, pop gloss and EMM’s otherworldly singing. BLACK DIAMOND should be an experience as a live concert. With Ginny Luke, Nemo. Tickets at eventbrite.com.
• Foxes and Coyotes in Our Backyards: The Urban Canid Project, Tuesday, March 10, Goodman Community Center-Ironworks, 5:30 p.m.: It’s thrilling to see foxes and hear coyotes in the midst of the suburban blocks in which we live, but also frightening. Coyotes in particular may be dangerous to small children and pets as they become accustomed to living in close quarters with them. Ultimately we need to share the space. Learn about how wildlife is adapting to our urban areas, and how to co-exist, at this talk hosted by Wild Ones Madison.

• Andrew Lifson, Tuesday, March 10, Mystery to Me, 6 p.m.: Andrew Lifson’s teaching career has taken him from the north of England to Kabul, Afghanistan, and eventually to the heart of Wisconsin. So it makes sense that his debut novel, Rogues in a Nation, is set not only in post-World War II Germany, but also mid-century Appleton and present-day Madison. When Valerie Lisowski, a veteran psychiatric nurse, returns to her hometown of Appleton during a turbulent political moment, she learns that years ago her father was entangled with powerful industrialists and an upstart politician, which led to a series of consequences reaching far beyond the Midwest. In-person seats were claimed well ahead of time, but you can view the livestream at crowdcast.io.
• Canyonero, Tuesday, March 10, Harmony Bar, 6:30 p.m.: Judging by the mob scene at the Harmony for the debut of Canyonero in October, the east side is jonesing for some hardcore honky tonk. And this quintet, featuring players drawn from the Nick Brown Band, North Country Drifters and New Hiram Kings (Pupy Costello’s current outfit), more than delivers.
• Drum TAO, Tuesday, March 10, Overture-Capitol Theater, 7 p.m.: Drum TAO is a percussion-powered adrenaline lab. In their current show, “The Best,” the troupe’s signature taiko drum performance is joined by razor-sharp choreography and the kind of stage command that makes two hours fly by. The performers are not just drummers, they’re athletes, dancers and showmakers, moving from massive taiko hits to flutes and harps without losing an ounce of intensity. More than 10 million people have seen them worldwide, and this stop will make it obvious why. Tickets at overture.org.

• Back to the Future: The Musical, March 10-15, Overture Hall: If your inner 14-year-old still thinks a DeLorean is the coolest object ever made, this one’s for you. Back to the Future: The Musical takes the movie’s chaos engine and puts it onstage at full speed: Marty, Doc, 1955, bad decisions, butterfly effects, and one giant race to set the timeline right before everything goes sideways. If you’re of a certain age it’s nostalgia, but it also works as pure musical theater fun, with enough momentum to keep even non-fan companions just along for the ride happy. Broadway tour performances at 7:30 p.m. March 10-13, 2 and 7:30 p.m. March 14, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. March 15. Tickets at overture.org.
• Andy Ewen, through March 21, Giant Jones Brewing: In the 1980s and '90s Andy Ewen created illustrations for The New York Times Book Review, The Progressive and Isthmus; more recently his professional life has been at the UW-Madison medical school. But many in Madison will know Ewen as frontman/songwriter for the band Honor Among Thieves. In an artist statement, Ewen describes the work in “Recent Drawings” as “semi-automatic…I just start by drawing a line or a shape, and then let my imagination free associate in a manner akin to lucid dreaming.” The tasting room at Giant Jones is open Wednesday-Saturday; find hours at giantjones.com.

• The Virtue of Uncertainty, Wednesday, March 11, UW Elvehjem Building-Room L140, 5 p.m.: UW-Madison professor Jordan Ellenberg is a smart guy. He studies number theory, algebraic geometry, topology, combinatorics (which, believe it or not, has to do with counting), and applications of machine learning. In this UW Center for the Humanities Focus on the Humanities talk he’ll discuss the supposed certainty of mathematics, and uncertainty of the world we live in, and how it can be used as “a tool for helping us think about it honestly.”
• Under the Cover: Stories We've Been Falling For, Wednesday, March 11, Central Library, 7 p.m.: We love this collab between the Wisconsin Book Festival and Forward Theater Company, featuring five Wisconsin romance writers and moderated by Forward’s Jen Uphoff Gray. Romance has come a long way from stereotypical Harlequin plots; contemporary romance often deals with real-life issues with insight and humor and embraces LGBTQ+ protagonists. But there’s also historical, spy and sci-fi romance — the genre contains multitudes. Mae Marvel, Annie Mare, Natalie Caña, Jennifer Rupp and E. H. Lupton will discuss their work. Forward Theater actors will preview the troupe’s upcoming show, Lady Disdain by Lauren Gunderson.
• CANCELED: Dobet Gnahoré, Thursday, March 12, UW Memorial Union-Shannon Hall, 7:30 p.m.: For her latest album, Dobet Gnahoré returned to her native country of Côte d'Ivoire for inspiration. The result, Zouzou, is an uplifting blend of modern beats, Afropop’s shimmery guitar textures, and traditional music. A handful of U.S. tour dates this spring includes a stop at the Wisconsin Union Theater. Tickets at artsticketing.wisc.edu.

Find the individual Picks collected here, and as part of the full calendar of events.