The Holmes Brothers ♦ Fri. April 26

This New York-based, Virginia-bred trio work much the same sweat-soaked gospel/soul groove that the Staple Singers patented during their tenure at Stax. But the joyful noise the Holmes Brothers make doesn’t sound retro so much as timeless. It’s the world-class equivalent of the groaning, shouting, blues-based roots music you can still hear in sanctified churches and roadhouses throughout the South—indeed, wherever people don’t make distinctions between the sacred and the profane. The Holmes Brothers play a 7:30 p.m. show at 3rd & Lindsley Bar & Grill. Funk-soul combo the Tyrone Smith Revue take the stage later that evening at 10:30 p.m.

—B.F.W.

Picks written by Todd Anderson, Martin Brady, Chris Davis, Jonathan Flax, Bill Friskics-Warren, Jonathan Marx, Noel Murray, Margaret Renkl, Jim Ridley, Jack Silverman, Angela Wibking and Ron Wynn.

Thursday, 25th

Mandy Barnett Barnett’s torch ’n’ twang serve as a much-needed reminder of just how expansive the oft-misunderstood Nashville Sound actually was. Indeed, perhaps the Crossville native’s greatest strength, along with her staggering vocal command, is her stylistic reach—something that doubtless pleased her producer, the late Owen Bradley, who worked with singers as down-home as Loretta Lynn and Jimmy Martin and as uptown as Conway Twitty and Patsy Cline. Barnett and her band, including Bradley’s brother Harold on guitar, play at 3rd & Lindsley Bar & Grill.

—B.F.W.

The Judybats Fronted by the nasal-toned and oddly charismatic Jeff Heiskell, Knoxville’s alt-folk Judybats scored several college radio hits in the early ’90s. Both 1992’s Down in the Shacks Where the Satellite Dishes Grow and 1993’s Pain Makes You Beautiful contain real gems, in which Heiskell’s high-arch range and clever turns of phrase reach moments of pathos and humor that recall Morrissey in an East Tennessee guise. As the music industry shifted toward grunge, however, the group was one of many, many casualties to get axed by a major label. After a hiatus through the second half of the ’90s, Heiskell drafted a new cast for Judybats ’00, and the band continue to tour sporadically. They play Slow Bar with Boro-popsters Glossary.

—J.F.

The Porch Ghouls Fans of the rollicking stomp blues and shoestring clatter of bands like Doo Rag will absolutely flip over The Porch Ghouls, who marry the physicality of Memphis garage legends The Oblivians with the dark humor of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. Scott Taylor (formerly of The Grifters) and his cohorts don corpsepaint and blast their way through a passel of tunes that range from slow droning blues to full-tilt runaway train boogies that surprisingly never get derailed. At The End, they share a bill with Chris Crofton, whose beer-soaked ditties have been recently punked up, and the Holy Ghost.

—C.D.

Robert Hunter The man who put the words in Jerry Garcia’s mouth for more than a quarter-century comes to the Belcourt. Don’t be surprised if Jim Lauderdale chimes in on a few numbers—the two songsters co-wrote literally dozens of tunes during Hunter’s recent extended visit here.

Friday, 26th

Maura O’Connell The first time I ever heard Maura O’Connell sing, I was sitting at the Station Inn with the burly bassist for a local honky-tonk band, a guy who could uproot a mechanical bull with his bare hands. Within a minute of O’Connell singing Edith Piaf’s “Hymne a L’amour (If You Love Me),” my large friend was reduced to swabbing his eyes with beer coasters. If a voice that makes grown men cry, combined with a buoyant stage presence and fine taste in tunes, sounds like your idea of entertainment, don’t miss the Irish vocalist’s show at the Belcourt with Music City soulman Pat McLaughlin.

—J.R.

Masters of the Hemisphere/Trackstar Fans of Belle and Sebastian—and of twee pop in general—will find much to like in the simple orchestrations of both Masters of the Hemisphere and Trackstar. Masters hail from Athens, Ga., and like many of that town’s acts, anchor their expansive pop songs with melodies that meander yet never get lost. Bay Area indie-rockers Trackstar play it a little closer to the cuff, but their songs are impressive enough to make this bill at the Red Rose Coffee House one to not miss.

—C.D.

The Features/Character/My Tyger/De Novo Dahl If you’re a music fan and haven’t heard about any of these fine local bands, under what rock have you been living? The Features play the smartest new wave of new wave around these parts. Character emit textured, instrumental drones somewhere between white noise and melody. My Tyger and De Novo Dahl each do a credible job with slick indie pop. The chance to see all of these groups at the Exit/In is a hell of an event. Bring your dark-rimmed glasses.

—T.A.

The Gold Room If you liked June of ’44, Rodan and Bedhead before they gave birth to a bunch of whiny clones, The Gold Room should be right up your alley. But they’re one of the few bands in Nashville/Murfreesboro doing something that you can’t quite compare to their peers. The closer you get to putting your finger on it, the more elusive the description becomes. Heavy, but not hard, they play with Simon Brawl at the Boro.