KNKX has two ticket giveaways this week, Marcia Ball at Jazz Alley on the 27th and Ry Cooder at the Moore on July 13th. Cooder has an album scheduled for release in May, his first studio recording in six years, and Ball is enjoying her status as Texas State Musician of the Year. They couldn’t be more different, Ball playing Gulf Coast R&B and boogie woogie on her swinging hot piano, Cooder roots rock and one of Rolling Stone’s 100 greatest guitarists of all time. Both are essential to go out and see.