Tuesday, 4/26 – Guided By Voices at Cannery Ballroom
Robert Pollard has been making music under the Guided by Voices moniker for longer than I, and most of the people that are reading this, have been alive. Though the touring band has undergone countless changes over the past three decades, this newest iteration of the band features Nashville favorite Bobby Bare, Jr. on guitar. This is also the first night of a short tour in support of newest album, Please Be Honest. Additional local flavor comes in the form of punk poet Daniel Pujol and his band opening up the show. $30.
Wednesday, 4/27 – Deerhunter at Exit/In
Bradford Cox is one of the more divisive figures in indie rock, splitting time between Deerhunter and his side project, Atlas Sound. I went to go see the former play in Atlanta this past January, expecting one of Cox’s infamous mid-concert monologues, only to be mildly underwhelmed by the lack of stage banter. Instead, Cox and his bandmates (including cowriter and Lotus Plaza frontman Lockett Pundt) took the audience through a tour of their 15-year old discography, which is filled with everything from pop music delivered with a shit-eating grin to jangly punk to mind-numbing ambience. It’s worth showing up to this one early to catch instrumental masters Bitchin Bajas open up the night. Sold out.
Friday, 4/29 – Vetiver at Mercy Lounge
Fans of sunny, jam-leaning folk music should keep an eye on this one. San Francisco-based singer/songwriter Andy Cabic has been making music under the Vetiver moniker for over a decade now (are you sensing a theme with this week’s choices yet?), having opened for Wilco and collaborated with Devendra Banhart, releasing several albums along the way, including last year’s Complete Strangers. Buzzy Third Man affiliates Sun Seeker open the show. $15.
Saturday, 4/30 – Polica at Mercy Lounge / Nicole Atkins at High Watt
Polica (pronounced “pole-eat-see-ya”) have not been making music for over a decade and are not the brainchild of a single auteur, but rather the collaboration between Minnesota musicians Ryan Olson and Channy Leaneagh. Polica traffics in a brand of electropop that brings a tinge of intellectual lyricism to danceable production. Leaneagh distinctively employs autotune in her vocal delivery, but not in an overbearing fashion. The similarly minded MOTHXR open the show. $15. Also recommended in Cannery Row that night: newly transplanted Nicole Atkins, a gothic folk singer-songwriter in the vein of Chelsea Wolfe, playing at High Watt for $10.
Sunday, 5/1 – The Front Bottoms at Exit/In
Longtime cult favorite folk punk outfit The Front Bottoms hit The Rock Block to revisit their near-decade old catalog. They will also be playing Shaky Knees in Atlanta in two weeks, which we will be covering here. This Nashville date is opened up by indie rockers Brick + Mortar, and the justifiably hyped twee-pop duo Diet Cig, who are high on my list of acts to catch at Shaky Knees. Sold out.
Lockeland Springsteen 