Marina & The Diamonds
Marina & the Diamonds is actually the singular Welsh singer-songwriter Marina Diamandis, who wants us to know all about her love/hate relationship with pop culture. To that end, the quirky songbird has taken on a soulless, materialistic alter ego named for her new LP Electra Heart. Confused? You should be, and I bet Ms. Diamandis is, too. Some back story: Drawing on '80s dance music and Liz Phair-style heartbreak-hardened alt-rock, Diamandis swept up accolades with her 2010 full-length debut The Family Jewels. Marrying piano ballads with electro beats to swooping vocals that recall New Wave Valkyrie Lene Lovich, Diamandis' sugar-rush pop was a sublime counterweight to her cynical, often sour lyrics. Early hit "I Am Not a Robot," still her best cut, hones a Kate-Nash-meets-Kate-Bush vocal to a unique blend of British eccentricity and raw emotional power. Unfortunately, the newer Electra Heart material swamps Diamandis in an unwieldy concept. Attempting to spotlight artificiality with artifice, Diamandis comments on vapidity and hollowness with generic dance-floor bangers that are both vapid and hollow. Diamandis may think it's oh-so-meta to turn contemporary self-absorption on itself, but she's really just disappearing up her own ass. With Icona Pop. $26.50. Dec. 11, 7:30 p.m. The Fillmore, 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. 704-549-5555.

KEB MO
For a revered, three-time Grammy winner for Best Contemporary Blues Album, guitarist/songwriter Keb Mo really ain't that much about the blues. True, he came out of Compton playing gritty covers of Robert Johnson's country blues (from his 1994 self-titled debut LP), jammed with Albert Collins and Big Joe Turner and was a key contributor to the film and music series Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues, but Keb Mo's musical reach has always been broader, if nowhere near as deep, as the blues. His affinities lie with a clean, pristine mix of adult pop, light funk and mellow pre-disco soul. It's a musical universe as far from the Mississippi delta as it is from contemporary hip hop, nestling comfortably in a smooth '70s-era Steely Dan studio sheen. Keb Mo cut his teeth as an A&M staff songwriter, penning pop and old-school R&B, and his sensibilities have always been closer to Bill Withers than Howlin' Wolf. Still, he slings a mean National Steel guitar, perhaps raising expectations among blues purists that he never intended to meet. Keb Mo's oeuvre is an irony-free variation on late-'70s Doobie Brothers modus operandi, carefully arranged and impeccably played. It may lack fire in the belly, but that's the hand this guitar man chooses to play. With Chuck "The Charleyhorse" Johnson. Sold out. Dec. 8, 8 p.m. McGlohon Theater, 345 N. College St. 704-372-1000.

Jessica Lea & David Mayfield
They're calling it the "Sibling Rivalry Tour." It's not because they don't get along, but more likely because Jessica Lea and David Mayfield - both brilliant songwriters - couldn't be more different in style and presentation. Jessica's somber tone sets the mood for her dark and sultry songs. She'll bat an eye and sing and sway but her vocals are clearly the focus of her music. On the other hand, there's David. He's more likely to jump off an amp, roll around on the floor, stomp and holler his way into your heart. With T. Hardy Morris. $15. Dec. 7, 10:30 p.m. Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St. 704-376-3737.

LOST IN THE TREES
Unique opportunities often lend themselves as reason for a road trip. For many bands who make the decision to chamber group their songs, the results too often turn out to be unnecessary, uninteresting or just plain awful. But if ever it made sense for an act to bring in a chamber orchestra of 12 strings, harp, piano and percussion, it would be Ari Picker's Lost In the Trees. Though the Berklee graduate premiered his first opus with the North Carolina Symphony, Lost In the Trees' two LPs are folk-rock records that transcend that genre via Picker's classically inflected arrangements. This year's majestic A Church That Fits Our Needs, on which Picker comes to terms with his mother's difficult life and eventual suicide, places the singer's delicate tenor atop layers of complex strings and horn parts. The songs translated well enough through a six-piece at Lost In the Trees' Visulite show earlier this year, but one listen to either LITT recording and this fully orchestrated gig at Reynolds Industries Theater on the Duke campus in Durham sounds like a singular event worth the investment in time, gas and tickets. Speaking of which: $26-$36. Dec. 7, 8 p.m. Reynolds Industries Theater, 125 Science Dr., Durham. 919-660-3356.

TARA NEVINS
Multi-instrumentalist and singer Tara Nevins, a founding member of Donna the Buffalo, has such an earthy sense of American roots music that she can transport listeners to the hills and backwoods of Appalachia simply with her plaintive, right off the front porch voice. Nevins' recent solo album, Wood and Stone, evokes an era gone by, but it's also hauntingly fresh enough to sweep up a few more believers. The record, her first solo outing since 1999, is admittedly for Nevins a very personal, autobiographical work, and for the listener a country-folk gem stitched with touches of Cajun. Her singing, fiddle and guitar playing is heartening for those who want traditional music of the South lingering in the fields, in the rural hinterlands, as well as its burgeoning cities. $12. Dec. 6, 9 p.m. Double Door Inn, 1218 Charlottetowne Ave. 704-376-1446.

WILLIE NELSON
There aren't many people who can hit the stage at 79 and still draw audiences of all ages. Then again, there aren't many people who make national headlines when they cut their hair, either. Willie Nelson, of course, is an icon. The Country Music Awards just named its Lifetime Achievement Award after him. Nelson's weathered looks aren't nearly as beaten up as his guitar, Trigger, which looks more like swiss cheese than a musical instrument - but it's been getting the job done for decades. At this point, Nelson's timeless vocals have won over as many fans as his pro-marijuana stance. Hey, did you hear the one about him smoking a joint on the roof of the White House? Yeah, who hasn't? With Lukas Nelson, Paula Nelson. $60.50-$167.50. Dec. 5, 8 p.m. The Fillmore, 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. 704-549-5555.