This week's hot concerts

Holly Golightly & the Brokeoffs

10 p.m. Friday, April 29, Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St. $8. 704-333-9799.

Having relocated from her native London to a farm near Athens, Georgia, the former Headcoatee (who many know from her Whites Stripes’ duet) makes up a cancelled December show with her acoustic duo.

A.W.O.L. The Benefit

11 a.m. Saturday, April 30, Symphony Park, South Park, 4400 Sharon Rd. $30-$40/VIP $50. www.awolcharlotte.com

Duke University grad turned hit maker Mike Posner and duo Matt & Kim headline this cutting edge benefit concert (which benefits Don’t Break the Bond and Camp Care). Hot hometown acts Paper Tongues, Simplified, Sugar Glyder, Matrimony, Lucky Five and BPL also perform.

Don Dixon & Marti Jones

8 p.m. Saturday, April 30, Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St. $15-$17. 704-376-3737.

The famed producer (and Lancaster native) behind R.E.M’s “Murmur” and much of the jangle pop of the `80s South returns with his lovely fellow singer-songwriter wife before heading out with Mary Chapin-Carpenter this summer.

Tim Barry/Jenny Owen Youngs

8 p.m. Saturday, April 30, Milestone, 3400 Tuckaseegee Rd. $10-$12. www.etix.com

The former Avail frontman always approached his Richmond band’s working class punk as a rich storyteller so his foray into acoustic singer-songwriter-dom seems fitting. Tour mate Youngs writes fantastically catchy yet intelligent pop songs.

Usher

7 p.m. Saturday, April 30, Time Warner Cable Arena, 333 E. Trade St. $61.50-$113.70. www.ticketmaster.com

The likely current heir to Michael Jackson’s triple threat of pop/R&B singer/dancer/entertainer promises a ton of hits, slick moves, and famously auto-tuned fellow hit mater Akon opening the show.

Interpol

Tuesday, May 3, Fillmore, 1000 Seaboard St. $39.50. www.livenation.com

After years playing Asheville and Raleigh the dark modern rocker finally makes its Charlotte debut. With two new touring members, the group hasn’t let the loss of towering bassist Carlos Dengler slow its momentum.

Ziggy Marley

8 p.m. Wednesday, May 4, Fillmore, 1000 Seaboard St. $39.50. www.livenation.com

Having just published his “Marijuanaman” comic book, the former Melody Makers’ leader and Bob and Rita Marley’s oldest son, previews material from his upcoming fourth solo album “Wild and Free.”

Del tha Funky Homosapien

7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 5, Tremont, 400 W. Tremont Ave. FREE for 21 and up, $8 for under 21. www.etix.com

The veteran rapper and Gorillaz collaborator (most notably on the hit “Clint Eastwood”) makes a rare Charlotte appearance on the heels of his new triple disc release, “Golden Era.”

Whisky River celebrates anniversary, tickets discounted

Whisky River, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s Epicentre night club, celebrates its third anniversary Friday with country singer Rodney Atkins. General admission tickets for the concert have recently been reduced to $20 (they were originally $30). Pit passes, which guarantee a spot near the front of the stage, are still $50.

Kelley Earnhardt (Dale, Jr's sister and co-owner and general manager of JR Motorsports) will host the event.

Atkins' number one country hits include "Watching You," "It's America," "Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)," "These are My People," and "If You're Going Through Hell." Atkins released a new single, "Take a Back Road," on iTunes earlier this week. His next album is scheduled for a summer release.

Whisky River is located at 210 E. Trade St. Doors open at 5 p.m., music starts at 7 p.m. The event is 21 and over. Tickets are available at http://fullhouseconcerts.musictoday.com/FullHouseConcerts/calendar.aspx

Songwriter Jenny Owen Youngs talks new album, plays Milestone Saturday

Former Avail frontman Tim Barry and up and coming singer-songwriter Jenny Owen Youngs play the Milestone (3400 Tuckaseegee Rd.) Saturday, April 30th with Charlotte’s Pullman Strike (8 p.m., $8). Barry fronted one of my very favorite punk bands. Avail was my go-to wake-me-up when I had to open the coffee shop at 5 a.m. and remains a go-to pick-me-up when I’m frustrated or angry. His working class storyteller approach to songwriting translates well to a stripped down acoustic setting.

Youngs is a more recent favorite. The more I find out about her, the more I think she’s a kindred spirit. She loves "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (Darkhorse Comics put her in an ad for the "BTVS" comics) and she appreciates bad movies! Before I knew those things I'd discovered her catchy folk-pop songs, her sense of humor and a sweet voice that is capable of tackling pretty much anything as she’s proven with unexpected covers. She approaches Nelly’s “Hot in Herre” with a balance of irony and seriousness and the video is adorable. She reminds me at times of a younger Aimee Mann. Her pop-rock and folk-pop originals are good and at times great. I've put "Last Person" and "Led to the Sea" on my kid's iPod mixes (which inevitably become family favorites).

Youngs is working on her next album with producer Dan Romer. She had the following to say about the upcoming release, which she hopes to release early next fall.

"I’ve been pretty freaking excited about it. I can see the end of the tunnel. Things are starting to sound like songs. We just had a horn session and a strings session. I'm super pumped about that. The players were phenomenal. Dan is a great arranger and on top of that picks players who have been playing with each other for a long time and have a wide skill set.

"Dan and I tried to approach this record in a few ways that are new and with a renewed commitment to certain objectives. We have a really heavy focus on dirty percussion. We’ve been going through a lot of antique woodblocks. We built this thing, the tambour-drum - a 50 gallon metal oil drum with a tambourine loose on top of it. You can get the weird metal sound out of the drum and the tambourine has that weird rattle to it.

"I'm trying to sing better (too). We’re trying to make the record less like a record that has been tediously put together and more natural. I think a lot of the songs will imply or show that I'm a little bit happier, which is nice. Although I’ve thought similar things in the past and have been proven wrong by listeners. I’ve also done a lot more speculative songwriting as well. There’s one song that’s kind of about volcano sacrifice and one about electro convulsive therapy. Another is about this kid during the Jonestown Massacre. There were a couple of people who weren’t killed. One had his hearing aid turned off. One boy hid in the woods and the song is about him coming out of the woods and seeing 900 dead bodies. It can’t just be about love and heartbreak all the time. I wanted to apply my love of reading to the lyrics."

British underground garage rock veteran makes South home, plays Charlotte

The idea of moving to the English countryside seems exotic and romantic to me. I wonder if Holly Golightly, one of my favorite British female singers, felt the same way moving to a farm outside Athens, Georgia a few years back. Before her move with Lawyer Dave, her partner in her latest band the Brokeoffs (pictured above), I’d only gotten a chance to see her once live a decade ago in Chapel Hill. But thanks to her proximity Golightly is close enough to make a Charlotte gig a reality. She plays Snug Harbor (1228 Gordon St.) with the Brokeoffs Friday, April 29th.

Friday’s concert marks her second time in Charlotte in the last couple of years. I missed her the first time she played Snug Harbor, but even my hardest-to-please friends raved about it.

I discovered Golightly when a Headcoatees album wound up in a gift (laundry) basket that a friend gave me for Christmas in college. My friend knew I was a fan of girl groups, Brits, and punk, so the recommendation was fitting. Golightly (named for a character in my favorite old movie, "Breakfast at Tiffany's") was already a solo artist by this point and I found that I enjoyed her solo albums more than Thee Headcoatees (the sister band to Billy Childish’s garage rock combo Thee Headcoats).

I lost track of her a few years ago, but the Charlotte shows have placed her back on my radar.

She and the Brokeoffs release “No Help Coming” Tuesday, April 26^th. The album reflects the rootsy Americana, country, and blues of her new surroundings, but it’s still steeped in Golightly’s signature style – quirky, retro sass and a bit raw. It’s easy to imagine her singing some of these songs in a dirtfloor speakeasy forty or fifty years ago. The girl group charm, lo-fi garage rock quality, and tea-soaked accent I love remain. What’s interesting to me now is that Golightly always sang with a strong English accent, but there was also a bit of a slow drawl to her phrasing. Maybe she was bound for the deep South all along.

More acts headed to Verizon this summer

The summer concert calendar is starting to fill up. Maroon 5 and Train announced Monday morning that the two Grammy winning groups will team up for a summer co-headlining tour. The tour will hit Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Charlotte August 2nd. A few days later on August 5th, Kings of Leon return to Verizon with special guest Band of Horses.

Maroon 5 Singer Adam Levine announced the upcoming co-headlining tour via the band's website Friday (in the above video). Dates were announced Monday. The Maroon 5/Train tour kicks off July 22nd and the Charlotte date is the first of its East Coast run. Reported opening acts will be Gavin DeGraw for the first leg of the tour (which includes Charlotte) and Matt Nathanson on the second. Special fan ticket packages go on sale Tuesday, April 26th.

Tickets for both the Maroon 5/Train and the Kings of Leon dates will go on sale to the public May 14th. Presale for KoL's Charlotte show begins May 10th. Kings of Leon last played Charlotte in September 2010. This marks the Tennessee rockers first full US tour since the release of its latest album "Come Around Sundown."

Kings of Leon recently headlined opening night of the Coachella Festival and taped an episode of VH1's "Storytellers" that will relaunch the series May 13th.

Gospel/R&B singer to record live concert in Fort Mill Thursday

R&B singer Shirley Murdock, who had her biggest solo hit with 1987's "As We Lay," will record her upcoming live concert CD/DVD, "The Journey," at The Broadcast Group Complex (8400 Regent Parkway, Fort Mill) Thursday, April 28th. The concert boasts a star supporting cast of veteran female R&B singers - Kelly Price, Regina Belle, and Beverly Crawford, who will join Murdock on stage at different points during the show.

Murdock, a native of Toledo, Ohio, started her career as a gospel singer but ventured into R&B after becoming a backup vocalist for the `80s funk family band Zapp. Murdock was a featured vocalist on the 1986 Zapp hit "Computer Love" and went on to chart as a solo artist. Her solo hits included "Go On Without You," "No More," and "As We Lay" (which was co-written by Zapp's Larry Troutman).

After touring with the inspirational play "Be Careful What You Pray For" (with Cuba Gooding, Jr.) in 2000, the singer-turned-actress returned to the gospel music of her youth with her first gospel cd "Home." She worked on that record with Grammy award winning producer Cedric Thompson (an Anderson, SC native). She and Thompson are re-teaming for "The Journey" and his hometown connections dictated the live recording happen here.

"This gives him access to the wonderful musicians and singers in that area, not to mention the beautiful venue we'll be ministering, recording and filming in," she explains.

The concert begins at 7 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door.

Homegrown act makes its Merlefest debut

Among the musicians performing at the 23rd annual MerleFest, which begins Thursday in North Wilkesboro, is the ToneBlazers, an acoustic quintet with roots in folk, bluegrass, country, and old-time. The group is steeped (as well as based) in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. The bulk of songs on its new cd, "Red Clay Roots" were written by North Carolina songwriters such as Michael Reno Harrell as well as by members of the group.

Its member have performed with well known acts like Loretta Lynn, Alison Krauss, Mark O'Connor, and Doc Watson. It actually has a few connections to MerleFest, Watson's nearly 25-year-old tribute to deceased son Merle. Guitarist/mandolin player Randy Gambill lives in North Wilkesboro and is an instructor at Wilkes Community College, the site of MerleFest. Bassist Billy Gee resides in Moravian Falls and runs a guitar repair business. One of his clients is Watson. (The original trio of Gee, Gambill, and Dale Meyer are pictured above).

The ToneBlazers will perform multiple times over the four-day festival. If you miss MerleFest the band plays the US National Whitewater Center on June 9th.

MerleFest runs Thursday, April 28th through Sunday, May 1st. The Zac Brown Band will headline opening night with the Del McCoury Band and another North Carolinian, Randy Travis. Jerry Douglas, Sonny Landreth, and the Doobie Brothers headline the main stage Friday. Sara Jarosz, Joan Osborne, Lyle Lovett, Sam Bush, Donna the Buffalo, and Watson are among Saturday's performers. Robert Plant and the Band of Joy will help close out the festival on Sunday, May 1st.

MerleFest tickets are available at 1-800-343-7857 or online.