The Flyer's music writers tell you where you can go. Chicks ruLE … or at least they do this week at the Hi-Tone. The year of the woman in music was a trite marketing gimmick (for a couple of years in a row) awhile back, but if all the smoke has had the effect of bringing to light some of the talent on display this week — talent that just happens to have ovaries — all the better. Briefly, now playing a regular Wednesday night gig is the jazz combo the Soul Cinquain Boptet featuring Candice Ivory. This 18-year-old chanteuse sings with the seductive breathiness of Ella Fitzgerald. (For more on Ivory see this week’s Moment of Truth.) But this weekend’s shows are the ones to watch. On Friday the Hi-Tone hosts Wanda Jackson and Rosie Flores. Though she started her career as a teen country sensation (think the Leann Rimes of the ’50s), Jackson could also accurately be called the first lady of rockabilly. By the time she was 12, Jackson was a celebrity in her native Oklahoma with her own 30-minute radio show. In 1954 she went nationwide when she teamed with country singer Hank Thompson and his Brazos Valley Boys for a string of hits, including “You Can’t Have My Love.” Her first tour in 1955-56 found her sharing a bill with Elvis Presley and, partly through his influence, her career in rockabilly began. Until the ’70s, Jackson successfully managed a career that bounced between the two genres. In 1971, she discovered Christianity and began recording gospel music. By the ’80s she had largely disappeared from American shores, finding her audience in Europe’s roots-music revival. But she left a number of disciples behind, including alt. country queen Rosie Flores. For her 1995 album Rockabilly Filly, Flores brought Jackson out of retirement for two duets. The pair has toured together occasionally since, and in 1997 the respected reissue label Bear Family Records put out a stunning eight-CD retrospective of Jackson’s career, Tears Will Be the Chaser for Your Wine. On Saturday the headliner is singer/songwriter Robbie Fulks. But get there early to check out the opening act, Anna Fermin & Trigger Gospel. Born in the Philippines, raised in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and currently residing in Chicago, Fermin has followed her improbable path to the doorstep of Americana as personified by Fulks and his Windy City Bloodshot Records co-horts. In truth, however, alt. country purists aren’t going to be thrilled with Fermin; like her better-known contemporary Kelly Willis, Fermin’s melodies are too irresistibly pop, her guitars too straight-edged rock for purists but her material is too distinctive, not gimmicky enough for the Nashville set. As heard on her current CD Things To Come, the group more accurately harks back to ’80s L.A. roots rockers Maria McKee and Lone Justice than any other supposedly more authentic source, which is just fine by us. — Mark Jordan You can e-mail Mark Jordan at jordan@memphisflyer.com