Ethan Bortnick
Friday 7:30
p.m., McGlohon Theatre, 345 N. College St., $29-$49, www.blumenthalarts.org
The child prodigy pianist holds a Guinness World Record, has two
PBS specials, sold out Vegas, and has helped raise $40 million for charity –
and he’s only 14. The musical wunderkind delivers his Power of Music Tour,
which incorporates a children’s choir and guest musicians, and features
everything from standards to pop and jazz to his originals.
Chris Thile
Friday 8
p.m., Batte Center, Wingate University, 403 N. Camden Rd., Wingate, $42, www.carolinatixx.org
The versatile Grammy winning mandolin virtuoso of Nickel Creek,
the Punch Brothers, and collaborations with YoY o Ma and Edgar Meyer will take
over NPR’s “Prairie Home Companion” when Garrison Keillor retires in 2016. You
can catch him flitting from genre to genre like the Justin Timberlake of new
grass with a rare solo set.
Marshall Tucker Band
The pride of Spartanburg returns for its annual CLT show
following the release of its “Live in the UK 1976” album in October. With
classics like “Can’t You See,” the original Southern rockers have teetered on
the precipice of country and rock since before country-rock was big business
and have weathered much turmoil under the leadership of frontman Doug Gray.
Futurebirds
This Athens’ outfit’s new album “Hotel Parties” turns up the
psychedelia without abandoning its Americana and indie-rock roots. The album
sounds like the folkier side of legendary Scottish fuzz-nuts Jesus and Mary
Chain met Band of Horses in the studio, which is a good thing. It’s Southern
and rootsy with jangly splashes of shoegazing Brit-pop.
Magnolia Collective
Recent concert posters touting this Chapel Hill act make use of
Day of the Dead skull imagery and that’s a good visual representation of the
band’s country-steeped, folk noir which sometimes travels musically across the
border. It celebrates the release of its new album, “An Old Darkness Falls” with
Charlotte’s Amigo and Landless.
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
Although still eight years younger than Tony Bennett who recently
wowed Charlotte, 81 isn’t too shabby for a “seasoned” performer like Frankie
Valli. Having enjoyed a career renaissance thanks to the Tony winning hit
“Jersey Boys” and a stint as an ill-fated gangster on “The Sopranos,” Valli is
back crooning hits in that unmistakable falsetto.
Emily Kinney
It’s been a year since her beloved “Walking Dead” character,
Beth, was gunned down. Between roles on “The Flash,” “Masters of Sex,” and “The
Knick,” the actress penned a remarkably witty acoustic-based pop album called
“This is War.” She’s a fun lyricist whose sassy attitude, refreshing rhymes and
word choice make for a heady good listen.
Gwar
Gwar’s bow at Tremont before the club closes next month truly
marks the end of an era for the beloved venue. The band has weathered an
arrest, being banned from the city, and the death of its frontman, so it’s
fitting it should get to say goodbye to a venue that’s prevailed through its
own struggles and so often hosted the (fake) blood-spewing act.
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