Versatile bluegrass act Skillethead plays Thursday at McMenamins Old St. Francis School in Bend.

Three different local bands with very different sounds will play McMenamins Old St. Francis School in Bend over the next week. All of these shows are free and scheduled to run from 6-9 p.m. 

First up, local bluegrass quintet Skillethead takes the Thursday-night shift in Father Luke’s Room, where tasty beverages and smiling faces pair nicely with traditionally rooted, single-microphone string band music. “Traditionally rooted” means the band looks and mostly sounds like a bluegrass band, but occasionally mixes in some of its own modern and varied influences, too.

On Friday night, local Beatles cover band JuJu Eyeball will play McMenamins. Here, “cover band” feels a bit like an understatement, because these dudes pour themselves fully into re-creating a rockin’ Beatles experience by looking the part, sounding the part and focusing on fun. Notably, the band nails multi-part vocal harmonies and its repertoire includes scores of Beatles songs, from “Across the Universe” to “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” to “Yesterday.”

Just a couple of weeks ago on these very pages, we filled you in on Fractal, the local jamtronica band that played a show to raise money for The Mockingbird Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works to ensure young people have access to music education. On Wednesday, Jan. 4, Fractal will bring their sound — a blend of funky jam-rock and beat-driven electronic music — to Old St. Francis School, where they’ll recreate those blissful late-night-at-the-festival vibes.

McMenamins is located at 700 NW Bond St. in downtown Bend. Learn more at mcmenamins.com.