WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30
BOBBY LONG The 24-year-old British singer-songwriter had his debut album engineered by Grammy-Award winner Liam Watson, most famous for his work with the White Stripes, and has been road tested doing 160 shows over seven months in seven countries a few years back. Long has built a following with a distinct soulfulness and personal lyrics. Don’t be shocked if screaming girls show up; he did co-write a song that was later sang by pal Robert Pattinson of Twilight fame. $10-$15. Visulite Theatre. www.visulite.com. (Mike McCray)
BRAVEYOUNG In a week bloated with instrumental rock options for your pocketbook, this Greensboro collective offers the best vocals-free (largely) bang for your buck. Formerly operating under the tag Giant, the rechristened Braveyoung recently released a strikingly rich and beautiful paean to solitude — We Are Lonely Animals — that tilts the band’s axis from Mogwai-flavored drama toward the potent minimalism of Mono. Rather than relying on guitar pedal-effects and unrelenting crescendo tsunamis (too soon?), these songs burn inexorably toward incandescent epiphanies via elegiac piano, deeply resonant bowed-double bass, and thundering timpani. Spine-tingling stuff. With Thomas Giles (ex-Between the Buried and Me), Stephen Brodsky and The Bear Romantic. $12-$14. Tremont Music Hall. www.tremontmusichall.com. (John Schacht)
GIFTS FROM ENOLA This Harrisburg, Va., outfit solders together familiar instrumental rock elements (metal/post-rock/psychedelia) and careers between EITS-like crescendo flurries and Converge’s aural assaults (minus the scream-o shite), but rarely develops a distinct sound of its own. The band’s 2009 release, Found Fathoms, had some intriguing moments, but they were too often overshadowed by the swell-and-release school of post-rock clichés. With The Farewell Monument and Little Tybee. $6-$8. The Milestone. www.milestoneclub.com. (Schacht)
THURSDAY, MARCH 31
CALVIN RICHARDSON You’ve gotta love Calvin Richardson. The Grammy-nominated singer is responsible for creating some of the best soul music to hit airwaves is the last decade or so (his latest CD, America’s Most Wanted, for example). On top of that, the Charlotte-based artist is never shy about enthusiastically repping his city. (He is known for verbally vowing to bring a Grammy to the Q.C. — and he’s come close.) With Lacee and Shirley Jones. $25-$40. 8 p.m. Amos’ Southend. www.amossouthend.com. (Carlton Hargro)
FRIDAY, APRIL 1
DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL Crooner and songwriter Chris Carrabba, the foundation of Dashboard Confessional, deftly composes emotive songs. The lyrics are reflective and unpretentious, tossed into music that can sway from acoustic to emo to punk to rock, and back around again. Carrabba and cohorts have become MTV and modern rock regulars with their pulse on teen heartbreak turned into polished numbers. With Cory Branan and John Lefler. $21-$24. Amos’ Southend. www.amossouthend.com. (Samir Shukla)
OCTOPUS JONES An intriguing combo from Myrtle Beach that’s not bashful twisting, unraveling, and retooling pop music into their own quirky muse. Which is concocted with moody flourishes, psychedelic guitars, sparse pop melodies, and inventive detours into musical crevasses. Treat Yourself is their new recording and is slated for release in April. $5. The Evening Muse. www.theeveningmuse.com. (Shukla)
THE RIVERWINDS What you get when the Riverwinds crank the guitars: blue-collar rock with a full sound that could be pouring out of amps in any city, the heartland, or rural byways in America. The quartet seems content tapping into classic rock and blues with nary a distracting genre hopping. It’s where every other song is fairly solid, leaving space for plenty jaunts to the bar. With Sequoyah and Wylie. $10. Tremont Music Hall. www.tremontmusichall.com. (Shukla)
GREAT ARCHITECT On first listen, it might sound like Great Architect has no direction, but the Charlotte-based noise outfit defies genres. Fusing elements of jazz, rock, blues and something completely indie, the band creates music that brings forth direction and decomposition all at once. Flittering guitar riffs, droning horns, skiffing drums by members of Blossoms, Yardwork, Minority Party, Hair Supply, Black Congo NC, Bob Fields and more. With Harvard, Robbers, Appalucia. $7. The Milestone. www.themilestoneclub.com. (Jeff Hahne)
SATURDAY, APRIL 2
DELBERT MCCLINTON With over 40 years in the music business Delbert McClinton shows no sign in giving up his rock star ways. The three-time Grammy winner and one-man band wears many hats as a singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist and harmonica player. With a forte in musical genres such as blues, rock and country, McClinton offers an array of styles and sounds sure to accommodate any audience. McClinton will also be playing with the Josh Panda Band. $35. Neighborhood Theatre. www.neighborhoodtheatre.com. (Johnathan Cruse)
TUESDAY, APRIL 5
THE FELICE BROTHERS After recording in a converted chicken coop and playing in New York City subways, an actual stage must feel like a luxury. But even that may not matter. They’ve trucked through shows in the mud where lightning shorted the power, making sure audiences got to see the folk rock, Americana goodness nearly every major music publication has raved about before. $13-$16. Visulite Theatre. www.visulite.com. (McCray)
This article appears in Mar 29 – Apr 4, 2011.
