Full volume

The Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion will have a busy week, likely the exact kind of week planners had in mind when the idea for the multimillion dollar venue was conceived. Three concerts take place at the facility in Rogers during the next seven days, and several shows for the fall have recently been announced, too. A roundup of the events follows.

Pepe Aguilar's first band was a rock band. It didn't last, but the influence did. He would later add a harder edge into the music styles performed by his parents, legends Antonio Aguilar and Flor Silvestre. The younger Aguilar's music found a very broad audience, and he has a stack of industry awards to prove it. Aguilar has sold more than 12 million records in his career and was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012. Fifteen of his recordings have reached the top of the Billboard charts.

The players are the same. The instruments are the same. And even the songs are just about the same as those contained on the album "Live," a recent recording by Steve Martin, Edie Brickell and the Steep Canyon Rangers.

But one thing at recent concerts has changed considerably since the recording's March debut.

"He has changed a lot of the comedy," says Mike Guggino, vocalist and mandolin player for the Steep Canyon Rangers.

The "he" in question, of course, is comedy legend and banjo picker Steve Martin. His comedy, music and the supporting efforts of the Rangers and Brickell can be seen in tandem on Sunday night at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion.

The Steep Canyon Rangers have been together for about 15 years. A series of albums helped establish their reputation as one of the best young traditional bluegrass bands anywhere. As a group, the band has been nominated for or won several awards, including a 2013 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album.

Steve Martin, meanwhile, had played banjo for many years, even as successful runs in television, comedy and movies occupied the majority of his time. He starred in many well-known programs, from "Saturday Night Live" to "The Jerk" to "Three Amigos" He released his first all-music album, "The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo," in 2009.

Which was right about the time he met the Steep Canyon Rangers. The band members knew Martin's wife, Anne Stringfield, a former writer at The New Yorker magazine. Stringfield made the introduction between the two parties.

"We just hit it off the first time we played," Guggino says. "It felt right."

Together, they worked together on the album "Rare Bird Alert," which featured guest appearances by Paul McCartney and also The Dixie Chicks.

Martin later recorded an album with songwriter and vocalist Edie Brickell, who happens to be married to Paul Simon. "Love Has Come for You" was released in 2013. Brickell joined the touring party in May 2013, and she now plays alongside Martin and the Rangers.

All of them get their moments onstage, Guggino says. The combined bands play songs from "Rare Bird Alert," "Love Has Come for You" and "The Crow." The Rangers also get a few songs to highlight their vast catalog of original work.

The resulting concert experience contains fast-picking moments, slow balladry and everything in between.

"And the comedy is fantastic," Guggino says.

In what is expected to be the largest event in the 10-year history of the Arkansas Music Pavilion, country superstar Tim McGraw will bring his "Sundown Heaven Town" tour to the venue on Thursday. He has sold more than 40 million albums in his career, offering hits such as "I Like It, I Love It," "Live Like You Were Dying" and the current "Lookin' for That Girl." The tour comes as a preview to his new "Sundown Heaven Town" album, which is due for mid-September release. Also on the tour are Kip Moore and Cassadee Pope.