Blue Dogs/The Dirty Guv’nahs
Friday
6 p.m., NC Music Factory Fountain Plaza, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd.,
$5, www.ncmusicfactory.com
The music factory’s annual Friday concert series pairs the
veteran Charleston bluegrass-flavored roots-rock outfit with the up and coming Knoxville
country-rockers, whose new album “Hearts On Fire” topped Billboard’s
Heatseekers chart. Both bands have reputations for high
energy live shows.
Apache Relay/The Weeks
The Nashville outfit evolves past its roots-rock beginnings with
something deeper, melancholy, and classic rock n’ roll on its new self-titled
album, which glides on rich harmonies. Its earnest Mississippi-based tour mates
are like an early Kings of Leon.
Whitewater Ramble
The Fort Collins, Colo. quintet brings bluegrass into the
future by mixing fast-paced, nimble picking and hearty harmonies with deeper
rock n’ roll vocals, segues into jazz fusion, and showy orchestral movements
that ignite jam band crowds while keeping an anchor in tradition.
Jamey Johnson
Friday
11 p.m., Coyote Joe’s, 4621 Wilkinson Blvd., $25, www.coyote-joes.com
While his Nashville cousins are headlining amphitheaters the critically
adored, Alabama-bred troubadour keeps things low-key - as he did with 2013’s
unlikely Top 5 hit album “Living For a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran” - with
an intimate-by-comparison club show.
Reverb Fest
This is one of those big local bills that allows newcomers
to sample Charlotte acts without committing much but time, while (in this case)
supporting the Chronic Illness Relief Fund. Acts include Bo White, Del Rio,
Couches, Hectorina, Sinners & Saints, Pullman Strike, Late Bloomer, Grown
Up Avenger Stuff, It Looks Sad, and more.
Tegan & Sara
The Canadian sister act has forsaken the snappy indie-pop it
built its career on (its second release was ironically called “This Business of
Art”) for full-on commercial pop music, following 2013’s “Hearthrob” by sharing
the stage with Taylor Swift and providing a track for “The Lego
Movie” - "Everything is Awesome!"
Tamar Braxton
After playing sister Toni Braxton’s backup singer off and on for
two decades and a briefer run with the Braxtons, the younger sibling is
enjoying a second life as a solo artist with a No. 1 R&B album thanks to two reality series - “Braxton Family Values” and “Tamar &
Vince.”
Nashville Pussy/Supersuckers
The grooves don’t get much gnarlier than this pair of gritty
guitar rockers. The former’s latest record “Up the Dosage” plays like a redneck Motorhead
if Lemmy were raised on Schlitz, muscle cars, and classic country in the deep
South. The Supersuckers rock in similar fashion, but hail from the Northwest.
Uh Huh Her
Before turnings heads with her acting on Showtime’s “The L Word,”
Leisha Hailey was half of `90s alt-rock duo the Murmurs. Musically she time
jumps 20 years with futuristic electronic-based music that still features lush
female vocals in this duo with Camila Grey.
Neon Trees
With its third album “Pop Psychology” and singer Tyler Glenn’s
recent “Rolling Stone” reveal that he’s gay, Utah’s biggest pop export is
enjoying renewed interest. What’s more its third album pins
read-between-the-lines lyrics with some of the catchiest pop music this side of
Provo.
Gedeon Luke & the People
Thursday, 9 p.m., Double Door, 1218 Charlottetown Ave., $5, www.doubledoorinn.com
This Memphis-raised band leader heads up an eight-piece ensemble through some of the grittiest, liveliest, spirit-moving soul this side of the `70s. He shifts between inspirational Sly Stone-style frontman to an equally emotive singer in the vein of Curtis Mayfield. His debut album "Live Free and Love" is out in June, but you can catch he and the big band early for a bargain price.
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