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.

JASON ISBELL
Only the participating parties really know whether Jason Isbell left the Drive-By Truckers because his marriage to bassist Shonna Tucker was falling apart or because there wasn't enough room in Dodge for three talented songwriters. Either way, the split seems to have served all the protagonists well, musically speaking. Isbell might not be the born storyteller than Patterson Hood is, or have that natural George Jones country thing down like Mike Cooley, but he has a leg up on his ex-mates in terms of simple songcraft. His early solo work was more rock-based and seemed an extension of his Truckers' role, but since then, he's developed a niche purely his own. That's evident in his wistful 2011 album Here We Rest, where Isbell created a gorgeous paean to Alabama that balances his home state's rich musical pedigree of rollicking Muscle Shoals soul and rural country folk. That LP cracked the top 100 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart, and "Alabama Pines" was named Song of the Year at the Americana Music Awards. Lesson being, breaking up may be hard but sometimes it's for the best. With Communist Daughter. $15. Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m. Visulite Theatre, 1615 Elizabeth Ave. 704-358-9200. www.visulite.com.

CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS
Characterized as a simple old-timey Tarheel string-and-jug band, Durham's Carolina Chocolate Drops execute a more complex call-and-response between the distant past and present. Breaking into the mainstream with its 2010 LP Genuine Negro Jig, the Drops proved that modern ears could attune to the country blues, galloping banjo, field-holler stomp, and syncopated fife-and-drum beats of African-American roots music. Though they've resurrected unjustly neglected tunes from the faded pop-and-hiss of forgotten 78s, the Drops have never been dry archivists. Their foot-stomping, full-blooded shows prove the pulse of a 1930s tent revival is just a heartbeat away from contemporary hip-hop. The band has always been about context and history, peppering shows with chats about the African origin of the banjo and other nuggets of cultural heritage. Still, longtime followers were concerned when the virtuosic trio recently lost a founding member and transformed into a five piece. Fans need not worry. Expanding their repertoire to include more jazz and folk balladry, the Carolina Chocolate Drops stay connected to their power source - the ancestral Piedmont music they mean to share with everyone.$20/$22. Dec. 1, 8 p.m. Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E. 36th St. 704-358-9298.

THE PHARMACY
Seattle trio The Pharmacy are like a leftover from a '60s garage-rock trip. Rocking lo-fi sounds, the lads relish in the trippy era, sometime evoking early Rolling Stones, while other times channeling killer psych-garage bands like the Lyres and Redd Kross. In the song "Pines," the singer mumbles "I get the sense that the present tense is where I should reside." Not so fast, as where they do reside, musically, is a pretty cool place. The band's new recording, Stoned & Alone, should be on the streets by the time they roll into town. They continue honing the stuttering, tinny guitars, swirling keyboards and spare, yet feisty percussion, where the quirky ditties oft convulse into a noisy mess. Hey, maybe that's the point. With Modern Primitives, Cop Graves and the Orchidales. $5-$7. Nov. 30, 9 p.m. Milestone, 3400 Tuckaseegee Road. 704-398-0472.

WATER LIARS
St. Louis singer-songwriter Justin Kinkel-Schuster and Oxford, Miss., drummer-producer Andrew Bryant formed the heartland duo Water Liars on a whim, recording their debut LP Phantom Limb over three days with a single microphone. So it's no surprise that their oeuvre lands smack dab at the crossroads of blues, country and folk. Despite the occasional squall of Melvins-styled sludge, Water Liars' songs are played simply, relying on visceral emotion, the duo's intuition and the twin specters of lonely nights and precious mementos left behind. Kinkel-Schuster's compositions have a lived-in feel, nodding to Appalachian rocker Hasil Adkins, The Replacements' Paul Westerberg, acid folk man Skip Spence and Neil Young stumbling "out of the blue and into the black." Since the group takes its name from Mississippi writer Barry Hannah's best-known short story, Faulkner-esque tomes from Flannery O'Connor's Christ-haunted South pull predictably on their sensibilities. Unexpected is a quote from British occultist and Great Beast 666 Aleister Crowley that kicks off the austere hymn "It is Well." Behind Water Liars' veil of grounded familiarity lurks a glimpse of the undiscovered country. With Miami Dice, Mechanical River and Callisto. $5. Nov. 30, 10 p.m. Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St. 704-333-9799.

SILVERSUN PICKUPS
Hey you! Yes you, with the mouse hovering over the "purchase" button for Silversun Pickups tickets. What do you think you're doing? Don't you know Christmas is right around the corner, and that you should be saving your money for presents? Listen, I know you miss the Smashing Pumpkins. We all do. But if you want to hear someone appropriating the sounds of that once-great band, why not just watch some YouTube videos of Zwan or something? Seeing the Silversun Pickups is going to leave you feeling empty and disappointed inside, just like the nostalgic goodbye Twinkie you ate when you heard that Hostess was shutting down. There, there. Someday, someone will write an album as good as Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. But Silversun Pickups are not those someones. Now go find something nice for your mom for the holidays. With Civil Twilight and Morning Parade. $33. Nov. 29, 8 p.m. The Fillmore, 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. 704-549-5555.