Junior
Brown
Friday 8 p.m., Chop Shop, 399 E. 35th
St., $20-$30, www.chopshopnoda.com
With
his double neck guit-steel (dual six-string and steel guitar), Brown is a
honky-tonkin’ original with a nod to the past. Yet with songs newer songs like
“Hang Up and Drive” and “Apathy Waltz” he keeps a foot firmly in the present.
Southern
Culture on the Skids
Friday 8:30 p.m., Visulite, 1615 Elizabeth Ave.,
$15-$18, www.visulite.com
Having
recently re-recorded 1994’s touchstone “Ditch Digging” album as the new “Dig
This” (complete with Karaoke versions), the NC favorite return before readying
2014’s collaboration with the B-52’s Fred Schneider.
NOFX
Saturday 7:25 p.m., The Fillmore, 1000 NC Music
Factory Blvd., $36, www.livenation.com
While
fans may debate how “punk” it is to play a corporate-owned venue after years of
chiding “the man” in its lyrics, few fans will deny the joy of hearing "The Decline" EP and "Punk in Drublic" in their entirety live (although recent posted set lists don't always include both). With Off With Their Heads and Implants.
John
Prine/Justin Townes Earle
Saturday 8 p.m., Ovens Auditorium, 2700 E.
Independence Blvd., $52.50-$74.05, www.ticketmaster.com
With
the recent revelation that the songwriting legend has operable lung cancer,
he’s keeping his NC tour dates while having to reschedule others because of his
surgery. Steve Earle’s son, who’s an old soul with his own sound, joins him.
Tyler
James Mechem
Saturday 8 p.m., Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St.,
$8-$10, www.eveningmuse.com
The
former frontman of Charleston Americana favorite Crowfield celebrates the
release of his new solo EP with a final Charlotte show before relocating to his
hometown in Indiana where he’ll take up the still musical family business of
guitar strap-making.
Scowl
Brow
Saturday 10 p.m., Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St., $5, www.snugrock.com
This
punky indie trio released one of the best local albums of the year - a brazenly
frank, intimate, and not usually very nice look at love, sex, death, and excess
in your twenties. It’s risky rock n’ roll reminiscent of the best debuts.
Joe
Firstman & Meiko
Saturday 10:30 p.m., Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson
St., $13-$15, www.eveningmuse.com
The
Charlotte native's ups included tours with Willie Nelson and
Jewel and a stint as Carson Daly’s band leader, but lately Firstman's carved out a niche as a prolific, versatile indie
artist. His tour mate brings her own soft, sexy adult folk-rock songs.
The
Wanted/Tegan and Sara
Sunday 7 p.m., The Fillmore, 1000 NC Music Factory
Blvd., $33, www.livenation.com
The
British boy band and the Canadian twin sister duo (who have taken a decidedly
polished pop turn on their latest album after 15 years as indie darlings)
co-headline Kiss 95.1’s annual Kissmas Concert with A Great Big World.
David
Bromberg
Wednesday 8 p.m., Visulite, 1615 Elizabeth Ave.,
$25-$28, www.visulite.com
A
sought after sideman in the `60s and acclaimed solo artist in the `70s, this
guitar wizard turned luthier gave it up to build violins, but in the last six
years he’s been lured back to making his own music - like 2013’s excellent
blues record “Only Slightly Mad.”
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