JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE/TIFT MERRITT
Prodigal son of a prodigal father, Justin Townes Earle shares with his old man an air of hard-won wisdom forged from a turbulent past. His old man, of course, is maverick roots rocker Steve Earle, and the elder Earle's deadpan growl echoes in Justin's gravelly, broken-hearted drawl. Still, with other influences ranging from Woody Guthrie to Kurt Cobain, the younger Earle is an artist eternally in transition. His latest LP, Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel about Me Now, finds him stepping away from his early affinity for rockabilly bravado in the direction of Memphis soul. Fittingly recorded in a converted Asheville church, the new material draws heavily from liturgical music, boasting a heavy Hammond B-3 sound. With haunting songs dripping raw self-awareness, Earle has clearly found his voice, but his power lies in the admission that he's still finding his way. Tourmate Tift Merritt emerged from Raleigh's late-'90s alt-country scene, drawing favorable comparisons to Emmylou Harris and finding an early champion in Ryan Adams. Her latest LP is titled Traveling Alone, but lately a lot of folks have been jumping on her bandwagon. Still, acceptance from the orthodox Nashville crowd hasn't blunted the intimate emotional power of Merrittt's songs. $20-$25. Nov. 16, 8 p.m. McGlohon Theater, 345 N. College St. 704-372-1000.

CHARLOTTE SYMPHONY: MOZART MASS IN C MINOR
Mozart's Mass in C Minor occupies the same space as his stunning Requiem (my favorite of his works, but no matter): that of expansive compositions, enormous high-classical undertakings, left sadly incomplete. The ambitious Mass, which the Charlotte Symphony presents this weekend, is aptly named - it is liturgical music, meant to mirror, or even score, the elaborate symbolism and ritual of Catholic ceremony. Yet Mozart's Mass also requires a massive amount of people: a full orchestra and oratorio, in addition to multiple soloists. And though this monolithic work was never finished, per se, it does run the essential Mozart gamut of sturm, drang and euphoria - all within a masterful, frankly transcendental tone-scape. $23.50-$83.50. Nov. 16-17, 8 p.m. Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St. 704-372-1000.

SCHOOLBOY Q
Remember when Nas told Jay-Z that Eminem murdered him on his own track? Go listen to A$AP Rocky's "Brand New Guy" and hear Schoolboy Q's verse steal the show in similar fashion. While Kendrick Lamar is resuscitating West Coast hip-hop for mainstream consumption, his TDE/Black Hippy crew is busy making sure people know it is more than a one-man movement. Ab-Soul and Jay Rock have made noise but Schoolboy Q has proven to be the dopest and most distinctive rapper in the camp. If anything has become his calling card, it's fearless and off-kilter verses spit with a reckless abandon that the anti-mainstream can appreciate, but they're also dope enough for radio to find room for. This hippy may have achieved balance. $31-$75. Nov. 15, 7 p.m. The Fillmore, 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. 704-549-5555.

LINDSAY FULLER
On her third full-length, You, Anniversary, Alabama-raised Seattle native Lindsay Fuller shoots for the same dark poetic fires burning in other female artists like Thalia Zedek or Shannon Wright, though Fuller's songs are less shy about their pop and Americana roots. But there's more Southern Gothic in Fuller's songwriting, which is why the bleak-but-redemptive works of Nick Cave are another touchstone you hear in conjunction with Fuller. That suits Fuller's narrative vein, as do the specters of late poets, writers and friends that haunt sometimes explicitly, sometimes not her songs. Besides the W.S. Merwin poem that inspired the LP title track and an Edgar Allen Poe name-drop, the mortality-occupied storytelling also conjures images of Southern artists of all stripes from O'Connor and Faulkner to 16 Horsepower and Vic Chesnutt, as our transience and frailty play out tragically in Fuller's songs. With Lucy Wainwright Roche and Kaia Wilson. $12-$15. Nov. 15, 8 p.m. Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St. 704-376-3737.

LUCY WAINWRIGHT ROCHE
If Lucy Wainwright Roche was the bragging type, she could boast an illustrious bloodline. With Lucy's aunts, mother Suzzy Roche founded the quirky and inventive folk vocal trio The Roches. Lucy's half siblings, Rufus and Martha Wainwright, craft lush theatrical pop with more than a hint of drama queen. Father Loudon Wainwright III is justly celebrated as a scathingly satirical chronicler of family dysfunction. At every family gathering there's always the quiet one, the perceptive witness who frequently forms the keenest insights - and that's where Lucy fits in. With a warmly funny, almost gawky, stage demeanor and a clear, lilting voice, she sings of small towns, being on the road and the absurd humor of random disaster. Not as showboating as Martha or Rufus, Lucy crafts narratives that are openhearted, keenly observed and candid. Compassion is her strong suit, and it's no accident that she does a killer cover of "Hungry Heart," Bruce Springsteen's rousing ode to empathy. It may seem faint praise to call a smart and funny singer/songwriter even-keeled, but Roche is every bit as incisive as her father and her siblings - there's just no trace of bitterness. With Lindsay Fuller and Kaia Wilson. $12-$15. Nov. 15, 8 p.m. Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St. 704-376-3737.

STEPHANE WREMBEL
French-born guitarist/composer Stephane Wrembel follows in the footsteps of Gypsy musical genius Django Reinhardt, the Romani who revolutionized jazz and guitar playing in general. Though classically trained, Wrembel spent his youth learning guitar in Gypsy camps. There he acquired the dexterity, speed and percussive down-stroke picking pioneered by the legendary Reinhardt. As Wrembel mastered the Master’s style, the mainstream beckoned, most notably when Woody Allen hired Wrembel to compose “Bisto Fada,” the title theme for Midnight in Paris. Swinging, melodic and romantic, Gypsy jazz has a growing cadre of fans. Those fans were aghast when Wrembel began to strike out on his own, reaching far beyond the traditions of Manouche guitar. Nowadays, Wrembel draws on rock aggression, Middle Eastern tonalities and Japanese influences as well as Gypsy swing. Favoring dramatic juxtapositions and abrupt tempo shifts, Wrembel admits that he’s all over the map — a musical impressionist, composing with an ever-shifting picture in mind. As Wrembel likes to say, he plays “in the light of Django, instead of his shadow”. Call him Django unchained. $15-$20. Nov. 10, 8 p.m. Amos’ Southend, 1423 S. Tryon St. 704-377-6874.

PRETTY LIGHTS
Derek Vincent Smith calls his electronic brainchild Pretty Lights “electro/hip hop/soul dance music.” His 2012 Illumination Tour boasts a massive set with LED towers suggesting a looming cityscape, but Pretty Lights doesn’t draw its name from this monster light show. Instead, Smith plucked the name from a flyer for a 1966 Pink Floyd show. Amid the psychedelic lettering was the key phrase: “Come and see the pretty lights.” The early Floyd reference is fitting, since like Syd Barrett’s cosmonautic crew, Pretty Lights strives to give the concert goer a totally enthralling experience. Though Smith’s dance-music attack is different from classic rockers like Floyd, the two approaches aren’t poles apart. Smith borrows riffs from Led Zeppelin, Nirvana and Nine Inch Nails, and he seeks to fuse the cutting edge with organic soul. Indeed, break-out track “Finally Moving” samples “Something’s Got a Hold on Me,” pairing the velvety vocals of Etta James with futuristic textures. Consider too that Smith has collaborated with hard-scrabble country legend Dr. Ralph Stanley on an update of “Wayfaring Stranger,” and it’s clear there’s more to Pretty Lights than meets the electronic eye. Inside that cyborg casing beats a soulful heart. $25-$34.50. Nov. 10, 8 p.m. Bojangles’ Coliseum, 2700 E. Independence Blvd. 704-372-3600.

SOCIAL DISTORTION
West Coast punk is the beginning and the foundation for Social Distortion, but the band’s unmistakable sound also corrals rockabilly, country, roots-rock and hard blues. Frontman Mike Ness remains the sole original member since its formation in 1978 and debut recording in 1983, but he was always essentially the band. His addiction battles and hiatuses aside, the recent album Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes is only its seventh studio recording, but Ness still rocks his ass off, howling the words in a more spoken, less sung rasp. Ness, who also has a couple solo records in his stack, simply straps on the guitar, yells into the mic and launches a punk attack laden with raw guitars in an uncompromising sound that now completely belongs to him. The song “Still Alive” from the latest recording sums up his three-and-a-half decade trip. “With a guitar in my hand I stand a little taller / And I’ve been to hell and back / I ain’t falling off this track / From the back to the front page / From the gutter to the stage.” With Lindi Ortega and The Biters. $32.50. Nov. 9, 8 p.m. The Fillmore, 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. 704-549-5555.

CHARLOTTE SYMPHONY POPS: TRIBUTE TO BENNY GOODMAN
Swing-era jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman is worth celebrating. And, sure, bold statements like this are bandied around for all the legends; yet Goodman’s uncompromising anti-racist stance stands out, from gigs at the famously integrated Savoy Ballroom to his later refusal to play venues or even regions that insisted on white-only bands. These were bold and important moves for such a successful pop star of that era. And while Charlotte may not have necessarily been on Goodman’s tour itinerary in the late 1930s — due to his integrated band at the time — this weekend sees a tribute by modern clarinetist Dave Bennett. There’s naturally a question of sterility, and whether swing jazz loses some of its sweaty physicality in an upscale venue like Knight Theater. But you weren’t expecting to dance, were you? $34.50-$62.50. Nov. 9-10, 8 p.m. Knight Theater, 430 S. Tryon St. 704-372-1000.

ANTHONY DAVID
A rising star of the soul and R&B scenes, Anthony David got his start as an occasional collaborator with early-aughts celeb of the genre, India.Arie. Though David’s music shares with India.Arie an affinity for earnestness and mild social commentary, he has carved out his own style, most notably in his storytelling style of songwriting and his recent move away from acoustic arrangements. Since a 2008 Grammy nomination, he has been touring extensively, chasing the dream of carving out space in the charts for “a pure singer/songwriter who can express real emotions in real time.” With Avery Sunshine. $20-$30. Nov. 9, 9 p.m. Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E. 36th St. 704-358-9298.