Nothing can trump the dark and surly romps that Legendary Shack Shakers were dishing out at Mercy last Saturday, but there’s a great lineup nonetheless of grassroots troubadours tomorrow night. Local Lance Whalen has a dark but evocative singer/songwriter brand, and fellow Nashvillian W.B. Givens mashes the blues of his Mississippi homeland with the bluegrass of Appalachia. Both are opening for Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three, who blew into Nashville from St. Louis with an old-timey hodgepodge of ragtime, jazz and western swing. We wouldn’t recommend Americana singer/songwriter types if they were just dime-a-dozen. $10 at 8 p.m.

We’re not sure what it is about J.D. Wilkes – maybe it has something to do with his crazy eyes, stringy hillbilly-punk appearance and tendency to replace a horn section with kazoo – but we love to watch this guy put on a show, whether he’s with Southern goth troubadours, the Legendary Shack Shakers, or the more recent rockabilly/ragtime trio, The Dirt Daubers, with wife Jessica and the talented Nashville bassist Mark Robertson. Tomorrow night at Mercy Lounge, you get a double deal with both acts, plus Kansas-based Split Lip Rayfield, who’ve got their own kickass brew of hard-driven, bluegrass-infused Americana. 9 p.m., $14 at the door Dec. 3 if you like you some banjo…

The Deli’s got its hump day show picked out. Last week we mentioned a show at The End November 30, featuring raw Bowling Green rockers Schools and Hymn For Her, a dobro and banjo-wielding duo that travels by a Bambi 1961 Airstream from gig to gig. Local support comes from elegant gypsy folk quartet Honey Locust. The band has but two recordings, but we’ve been plugging em for the past couple of weeks, and we can’t wait to hear them live on Wednesday. If you like banjos, accordions, fiddles and the like…

It’s been over a year since the garage pop dynamos of Bad Cop released Harvest the Beast, and now this is happening: a 6-pack digital EP titled I Can’t Slow Down, featuring three new songs and videos. “Animal” (a Seth Graves creation) debuted today via Impose magazine, and the EP drops tomorrow. Plus, the band also recorded a limited edition 7” for Prince Cook Records, set for a 2012 release.

Just saw this brand new video for The Goldroom‘s "All Thumbs," incidentally my favorite track from The Surrounding Hours, which I reviewed earlier this month for the Murfreesboro Pulse. If you’ve heard the record, you know. If you haven’t, you might wanna listen to it now. Great stuff. – Jessica Pace

We love this video almost as much as we love the song. Photographer Jo McCaughey directed this brand new video for PUJOL’s “Mayday,” track one from debut EP, Nasty, Brutish, And Short. A killer crown and various duels? Sold.

Allow us to take a moment to talk about our most recent folk fascination: gypsy folkies Honey Locust – we’re really digging their violas, accordions and banjo. Below you can hear two pretty tracks, “A Softer Someday” and “Blood of the Bleak,” both of which are available as free downloads. Be sure to catch them at The End with Hymn For Her Nov. 30.

The Deli’s looking forward to the weekend already due to a funny-bluesy-folksy lineup at Exit/In this Friday. First off, Rayland Baxter is headlining with some pretty and precise fingerpicking. Old Deli faves The Kingston Springs’ shabby blues/southern rock mash-up opens along with our new favorites, Birdcloud. We’ve been won over by these ladies’ sometimes filthy lyrics and Carter Family-esque rustic twang, but we’ve opted to post a Baxter tune about a hooty owl rather than a video for one of Birdcloud’s very funny but maybe not so appropriate songs. We bet you know which one we mean. But anyway, show is at 8, tickets $10.

Hoot Owl by Rayland Baxter

Watch The Dirt Daubers‘ new video for the killer folk-country ditty, “Angel Along the Tracks,” off their September release, Wake Up, Sinners! Nashville-based upright bassist Mark Robertson keeps time amid J.D. Wilkes’ throaty growling and Jessica Wilkes’ frantic strumming. Pretty stuff.

Mom & Dad, Photo by Jessica Pace

A smaller crowd than expected showed up at Walnut House for JEFF the Brotherhood’s label chat/last local show before heading across the pond. Courtesy of Youth Empowerment through Arts & Humanities (YEAH), the Q&A with Infinity Cat was an intimate and subdued half hour, taking place in the performing area of the Murfreesboro venue.

The pre-performance seminar was recorded as Kelley Anderson (YEAH founder and member of Those Darlins) guided the Q&A, which featured Jake and Jamin as well as their manager, Holland Nix, who runs Infinity Cat with the brothers. The seminar primarily focused on three major aspects of running a label: marketing, financing and distribution. It was a pretty laid back affair; one person asked a question. Regardless, they provided some insight into the now-thriving Nashville label that’s produced more than 60 releases to date.

There was little screwing around afterward – Seafood Hotline set up and promptly drowned the place with a heavy clatter bearing the slow-fast-slow dynamic of the ’90s. Mom & Dad followed with trim yet noisy indie melodicism. It must also be noted that one half of the band dresses like ’80s hipsters, which is as fun as the simplistic but tasty bass lines reminiscent of Pixies’ Kim Deal.
 

JEFF closed out, projecting new tunes (they start recording their next album in January) and tattered favorites of Heavy Days and We Are The Champions over an overexcited hodgepodge of an audience. They answered a request for “The Tropics” and did an especially charged rendition of “Whatever I Want.” They even busted out “Cancer Killer” from a dusty 7”. The crowd, meanwhile, never failed to keep ramming into one another and bang their heads in slow unison (“Ripper”) like it’s brand new to them every time. – Jessica Pace