Hot Concerts

Rhythm is the focus as Asheville steel pan player and jazz/funk innovator Scales teams with drummer Robert “Scut” Scutright (Snarky Puppy, Kendrick Lamar), bassist MonoNeon (who played with Prince), and djembe master Weedie Braimah (of Nth Power) for what’s sure to be a loose, improvisational and funky performance.

Prolific band leader Strauss releases his new album, “Lone Sweet Heart.” The nine brass-filled new songs defy classification – there are elements of folk, country, jazz, blues and a psychedelic slow burner at the end – and blend Strauss’s low, gravely delivery with surprising vocal foils like Benji Hughes and David Childers. The latter plays the Waylon to Strauss’ Willie (more like Tom Waits/Mark Knopfler actually) in a full-on duet.

Sirius/XM AltNation’s Advanced Placement Tour features three rising rock acts. Fresh off touring with Jimmy Eat World and the Struts, the Hunna have already conquered its homeland – the U.K., where it played the Reading and Leeds Festivals. Night Riots, which scored an alternative No. 1 with “Consequences,” combines the dreaminess of the Cure, the pop appeal of Neon Trees, and an occasionally aggressive streak.

Before she had her own band, Charlotte blues siren Duncan was part of rhythm & blues unit Skatfish, which went on to open for James Brown and John Lee Hooker. This weekend she and the rest of the original lineup, founded in 1988, reunite to perform one last time on the stage they played so often together decades ago as the Double Door sadly nears its 2017 expiration.

This story was originally published November 16, 2016 at 10:08 AM with the headline "Hot Concerts."