As musical contests go, it's far tougher than "American Idol" or the Grammys. Insults fly, beliefs are mocked, mothers are besmirched - in short, fun for all. It's my annual winter trip with my old buddies from college.

Though there's one unflappable jazz devotee, the rest have musical tastes shaped by baby boomer vintage sounds, more or less. Then there is me, who listens to a lot of music with non-English lyrics. Chastened through experience I am cautious when I press songs upon people. But I hear lots of great stuff and am convinced that people would love it if exposed to it, so I press on, a musical matchmaker.

This year, my job is a bit easier since regional American roots music has become part of the world music circuit as evidenced by recent releases and shows.

Boston's Crooked Still tweaks bluegrass with the use of atypical instrumentation. At last month's Globalfest, its fiddle and banjo were joined by a cello and double bass, sweetening the sound without making it commercial pablum. The band replaces the genre's rustic quality with a modern elegance, while Aoife O'Donovan's lovely voice gives the music a lot of heart. Crooked Still is finishing up a new album, but I may play "Shaken by a Low Sound," hoping my friends hear the common ancestry with the Grateful Dead's "American Beauty."

The retro sounds of "The Great Debaters" soundtrack are conjured up by young performers who have been making their mark by playing old African-American styles. Though they veer off a bit on the album, the Carolina Chocolate Drops usually perform music from the Piedmont region of North Carolina, sounds that were typically African-American in their time, but to modern ears seem like genres associated with white rural audiences such as bluegrass or country.

Also on the soundtrack is Sharon Jones, an up-and-coming rhythm and blues belter who goes back further in time for the movie, channeling the raw sounds of early blues. New to me is Alvin Youngblood Hart, who sounds like a raspy-voiced old bluesman, but is only in his 40s (that's not old, is it?). For my boomer friends, the sales pitch is easy: think the Rolling Stones' "Exile on Main St."

An American band that takes an international perspective is Portland, Ore.-based Pink Martini, who will be at Tilles Center in Brookville March 6 and Avery Fisher Hall in Manhattan March 9. The title track on their CD "Hey Eugene!" is a gospel-y, quirky tale of the East Village, but singer China Forbes tackles five languages on the album. With her husband, Thomas Lauderdale, the Harvard sweethearts have put together a nimble big band that follows them anywhere with great style and a contagious sense of fun.

Another familiar but unfamiliar sound is that of Dengue Fever, a group of California musicians who re-create, of all things, the pop music of Cambodia during the Vietnam War era. With their Farfisa organ sound and psychedelic guitar effects, the band sounds like it could have been on a bill with Question Mark & the Mysterians, though with one difference: Chhom Nimol, their Cambodian-born singer whose Asian-style vocals make it a thing apart. The band's latest "Venus on Earth" is a bit uneven, but the group does create some fun tunes for anyone who can roll with the non-Western vocals. I expect a mixed reaction at best to this unusual group.

For those who like the free form of jam bands, Ireland's Lunasa is not as trippy as the band Kila, but its instrumental music is a powerful, collective effort where technical prowess lights up a concert hall. They will be at the HighLine Ballroom March 13.

For those who appreciate the acoustic spectrum of boomer music, Hawaiian slack key guitar should be a welcome find. The finger-picking of Cindy Combs on "Sunny Rain" seems as warm and balmy as the islands from which it comes. What better for a winter vacation in Vermont?