RUN DMT Visitors to DMT hyperspace often mention experiencing "alien music" and a "universe of formless vibration." There's a dubstep duo with the same RUN DMT name who think this means clubbing you over the head with tedious beats until you wig out at some shitty rave. Oh, yeah. Fuckin' deep, bro. No, this act is the vehicle of Baltimore's Michael Collins, who creates docile textures of abstract, soul-and-ambient flavored sound collages for listeners to luxuriate in as they spin off into the intergalaxosphere. Just imagine what it'd be like under the influence of drugs - whoa! With Tonstartssbandht, Human Pippi Armstrong and headliner Blossoms. The Milestone.

JOHN WESLEY HARDING, RICK MOODY AND JOE PERNICE Strange combo, this, since Mr. Moody is better known as the author of The Ice Storm and other fine novels. He's also a crack essayist, though, and his latest, On Celestial Music, takes on everybody from Otis Redding to Arvo Pärt. Harding is the dude who pinched his name from a Dylan LP, which tells you about his literary pretensions; he's always been a bit "big hat, no cattle" to me. The real music candy here is Pernice, one of America's best and most underappreciated songwriters. Over 13 releases his miserablist miniatures have been drawn with as sharp a pen as vintage Morrissey - who, it turns out, was a key figure in Pernice's wastrel youth, as the latter's Continuum 33⅓ book on the Smiths' Meat Is Murder makes plain. $25. Stage Door Theater.

REMY ST. CLAIRE He cites a bevy of brooding Byronic influences: Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Townes Van Zandt and blues hellhound Son House - a "mad, bad and dangerous to know" bunch if ever there was one. But in performance, Remy St. Claire is more akin to the mighty Tims - Tim Buckley and Tim Hardin. Like these fellow cult troubadours, St. Claire's vocals can be heavenly - soft and cottony at one end, high and soaring on the other. It's a nice contrast to music that frequently skirts the hazy hellish swamp rock of Nick Cave or Mark Lanegan, with songwriting that plumbs the darker, danker depths of the subconscious. But bits of Skynyrd-fried Southern rock and '70s AM radio hits bubble up from the voodoo tar pit. Free. Common Market, Plaza Midwood.

LEADVILLE SOCIAL CLUB In a short time, Charlotte's Leadville Social Club, featuring veteran regional musicians, has garnered a lotta love in the area. The band's energetic roots-rock, alt-country and sunny Southern music fires up any gathering, whether lazing on a porch front, soaking in gin joints or sweltering in an outdoor summertime gig. The band has a stack of original numbers in their oeuvre with an occasional cover tossed into the mix. This is a fine double bill with the Mike Strauss Band opening. $5. Double Door Inn.

PMCR Presents Ever turn on the radio, hear a live concert and think it would be the "coolest thing ever" to be at that show? Here's your chance. Broadcasting live on Plaza Midwood Community Radio, this free show - a $5 donation is suggested - will feature Temperance League, The Bear Romantic (pictured at left), Little Bull Lee and Saint Solitude. Proceeds will help the radio station pay rent and remain commercial-free. But don't just sit home and listen, get out and show some love! $5 donation suggested. 9 p.m. Snug Harbor.

Mavis Staples If you're looking for an upcoming concert that is flying under the radar, yet promises to offer a soul-inspiring good time, this could be it. Mavis is the youngest of the legendary The Staple Singers, who were an institution of 1970s soul music with hits like "I'll Take You There." Since then, Staples has branched out to become a gospel/folk diva and female caretaker to the musical tradition of the Civil Rights Movement. Her 2010 release, You Are Not Alone, won her a Grammy for Best Americana Album. $32.50-$39.50. 8 p.m. McGlohon Theater. - Mike Cooper

TEA LEAF GREEN Whoever said "irony is dead" was probably being ironic. Witness San Francisco's Tea Leaf Green. These American gypsies hit the crazy Kerouac highway that begins at Big Pink and swings past Dylan, the Dead and the Band. The dreaded goo of jam-bandery doesn't stick to TLG's heels as they head for the future with sincere hearts and irony-free minds. Right? Well, no. While rollicking dual drums, distorto guitar and conventional song structure ground Tea Leaf Green, the band's wide-eyed America is leavened with electronica, over-the-top glam-rock stomp and not-quite-camp sugar-pop with Bee Gees falsettos. And, all the while, they rock an endearing guttersnipe image that falls just short of arch. With Greensboro's industry hardened country popsters House of Fools. $15. Visulite Theatre.

POSSUM JENKINS The N.C. quintet hits the road locked and loaded with its recent recording Carolinacana. The title sums up the combo's exuberant Southern rock, rural Americana and acoustic-guitar-fueled blues boogie. The band's songs are whittled from music of the South, with a keen sense of interplay within the band, and a natural emphasis on songcraft. Opening for the Dirty Guv'nahs. $12-$14. Visulite Theatre.

GEORGE BENSON His sweetly fluid guitar ranges from cool and creamy soul-jazz to fractured hard-bop. But it's George Benson's silky smooth vocals - think Stevie Wonder minus the underpinning angst and an octave or two - that nearly derailed Benson's career. Singing, particularly scatting to a single string solo, on 1976's "This Masquerade" netted Benson the biggest hit of his career. By the mid-'80s, attempts to duplicate this commercial fluke had mired him in the dire Sargasso Sea of smooth jazz. Fortunately, Benson's inner jazz cat re-emerged, bringing his guitar off the back burner without displacing his vocals. A true rarity, George Benson is a slickly commercial elder statesman who can still swing like a motherfucker. $69.50-$99.50. Knight Theater. (Pat Moran)

THE BLACK KEYS There’s no way in hell I can listen to “Lonely Boy” without a foot tap, finger snap, head bob or some kind of illegitimate dance move going on — usually I’m alone in my car though. Needless to say, the arena’s gonna be rockin’ when the Ohio duo struts and grooves through its catchy, blues-infused tunes. Increased popularity hasn’t diminished the band’s ability to write an updated version of front-porch rumblers. With Arctic Monkeys. $41.50-$51.50. 8 p.m. Bojangles’ Coliseum.