8 buzzworthy concerts coming to Charlotte in the next week

The folk singer-songwriter celebrates a 25-year music career, which has yielded 19 albums, more than 300 songs, 5,000-plus shows, and three books. It’s quite a legacy for an artist who’s as much a literary storyteller as he is a confessional wordsmith, delicately balancing the personal and universal.

In 2010, the New Familiars opened for Levon Helm; since his death in 2012, the long-running Charlotte folk-grass combo has organized this annual tribute. This year marks its expansion to two nights. Based on the original concept of the Band’s legendary “Last Waltz,” there are guest musicians and a setlist that draws on his entire career.

By day, Dave Smith is a trombone player who has worked with TV on the Radio, Phish, the Dap Kings, Sufjan Stevens, and in the orchestra for “Fela!” Yet this alter-ego – who has a holiday single and a new album on the horizon – keeps his shirt unbuttoned and makes sultry bedroom soul with a wink (a la vintage Prince). Hometown trio Miami Dice opens.

With his September release “The Bigger Artist” (which hit No. 4 on the Billboard 200), the Bronx-raised rapper/singer delivered on the promise of early buzz with accolades in Rolling Stone, Forbes, and as a 2017 member of XXL magazine’s distinguished “Freshman Class.” He steps away from that guest-heavy environment on stage, sailing on the strength of his lead single “Drowning.”

Surviving Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart, Bob Weir and Bill Kreutzmann re-team with John Mayer to return to Charlotte for the first time since launching their 2016 summer tour here. Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti return to fill out the lineup, which revisits and honors the legacy of The Dead.

With his musical fingerprints all over albums by Lorde, Taylor Swift and Pink – and a celebrity girlfriend in Lena Dunham – it might be easy for the indie pop act (aka Jack Antenoff) to be overshadowed by the ladies in his life. But his latest CD, “Gone Now,” proves he can stand on his own. He headlines Night 1 of WEND’s annual Not So Acoustic Xmas concert, with returning favorite J. Roddy Walston & The Business.

Night 2 of the Not So Acoustic Xmas concert welcomes this collab-friendly outfit, which followed up hits “Renegades” and “Unsteady” with four singles this year. They’ve yet to release a new album, although newer songs like “Hoping” and “Torches” may make the cut. Newcomer the Aces (which takes a page from L.A. pop-rock band HAIM) opens the show.

Charlotte’s Jaggermouth finishes out its month-long residency at the Plaza-Midwood venue with support from IAmDynamite, a greatly underrated pop-rock duo that divides its time between the Triangle and its native Michigan. Whether writing snappy rock anthems with the charm of early Weezer or the Hall and Oates-style, harmony-driven soul-pop of its latest, “Wasatusa,” it remains a top-notch live act.

This story was originally published November 21, 2017 at 8:19 AM with the headline "8 buzzworthy concerts coming to Charlotte in the next week."