The 8 best concerts in Charlotte this week

The Latin American Coalition’s eighth annual celebration of Brazilian Carnaval – which brings the music, dance and tastes of Rio to NoDa – has sold out the past four years. Guests can enjoy dance performances, or show off their own moves during concerts by Malandro Soul and Caique Vidal & Batuque. Get there early for Samba lessons.

Like the famed boxer with whom he shares a name, the band leader comes out swinging with spirited funk featuring jumping guitar, hopping horns, and a voice and presence that channels Iggy Pop as much as it does James Brown. Lewis released his fifth album, “Backlast,” last week and it’s a riotous rock n’ roll romp.

The soul siren, jazz-pop stylist and sassy interpreter of classic jazz and blues artists is capable of Andrews Sisters-style retro polish or Ruth Brown-style grit. She returns on the heels of 2016’s “Til They Bang on the Door” – her first new album in six years, which finds her again collaborating with members of Grammy-winning Snarky Puppy.

Mixing hip-hop and indie rock, Kristine Flaherty brings a fresh perspective and self-aware wisdom to songs like “Blood in the Cut.” Her voice – like peers Kate Nash, Lydia Loveless and Melanie Martinez – is that of a generation of blunt female songwriters who wear their failures and individuality like a crown. With Paper Route and Daye Jack.

L.A.-based Michael and Carissa Alvarado first wooed Vine users with quick acoustic covers that attracted 5 million followers; last July, the married songwriters released “Just Love,” the indie follow-up to its major-label debut. The show is a homecoming for Michael, who grew up in N.C. and graduated from Appalachian State in 2010.

The Charleston duo of Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent – which has turned heads opening for the Avetts and at taste-making festivals – dug deep while writing the new album, “Little Seeds.” Written around the time they were having their first child while caring for Trent’s Alzheimer’s-stricken father, it’s their most personal record thus far.

This Nashville three-piece may be the girl group you didn’t know you’d been missing. The trio trades in methodical sludgy stoner rock riffs and bluesy Thin Lizzy-schooled hard rock, and spikes their videos with humor while playing on sexual tropes – claiming them as their own with a blatantly feminist/queer approach.

“The Voice” alum (best known to viewers for covering Nirvana’s “Come As You Are”) celebrates the release of her new album, “Blink,” which stems from a prolific period where she wrote to keep her mind off an IRS tax audit. The Atlanta-raised, now-Austin-based Americana singer-songwriter returns to the Muse to celebrate its release.

This story was originally published February 15, 2017 at 7:53 AM with the headline "The 8 best concerts in Charlotte this week."