Queerchannel

Thu., Aug. 26, 7:30 p.m., $18, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com.

by A.D. Amorosi

rock/pop

Everybody should have a problem as good as Steph Hayes. As the longtime poetic centerpiece of Stargazer Lily and Cory, Hayes knows her way around emotive lyrics and temptingly contagious (but never obvious) roots-rocking melodies. Plus, she's a damn fine guitarist; dobro dude Mike Brenner don't let no slouches into his sacred-steel hip-hop ensemble Slo-Mo. Still, it's Hayes' current band, The Good Problems, where she sounds most at ease — and productive. There was Dirty Hearts in 2006 and Mostly True Stories in '08, and by year's end we'll also have Made to Change, a live recording of 12 new songs. This Thursday, Hayes and Chris Schutz (with whom Hayes also plays, in The Tourists) bring together a host of local gay talent — music, arts, film, everything — for QueerChannel: Aiden James, Puppett Rastello, Nicole Reynolds, Dangerous Ponies, Liberty City Kings, Lulu Lollipop of Peek-A-Boo Revue and more. A percentage of the night's take goes to the Attic Youth Center, the only independent LGBTQ youth center around.