Scott McCaughey and Peter Buck seemingly have been joined at the musical hip since McCaughey started his tenure as a R.E.M. sideman in the mid-’90s.

Three-quarters of R.E.M. — Peter Buck, Mike Mills and drummer-turned-farmer Bill Berry — reunited onstage tonight in Portland, Ore., at the second of two benefit concerts for Scott McCaughey, the longtime R.E.M. sideman who suffered a stroke in November. See video from the reunion performances here.

A host of musicians — including R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Mike Mills, as well as Alejandro Escovedo, members of Sleater-Kinney, The Decemberists, Drive-By Truckers and The Shins, and more — will perform two concerts in Portland, Ore., next month to raise money for Scott McCaughey, who suffered a stroke last month.

Scott McCaughey, leader of the Young Fresh Fellows and the Minus 5, and who spent 17 years as a touring guitarist and multi-instrumentalist for R.E.M., suffered a stroke while on a tour of the West Coast with Alejandro Escovedo, his wife announced today. He is in stable condition, but a long recovery is expected.

Last night in Seattle, former R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck played his first-ever solo show — after conducting, as he noted from the stage, his first-ever solo soundcheck — he debuted his new backing band Richard M. Nixon as the opening act for the first of two Young Fresh Fellows album-release shows at The Sunset.

This week’s new releases include ‘Tiempo de Lujo,’ the 13th studio album from Scott McCaughey’s long-running Young Fresh Fellows, the limited-edition, purple-vinyl ‘Bug: Live at the 9:30 Club’ from Dinosaur Jr,’ and the third EP from VCMG, the collaboration between Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore and Vince Clarke.