Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum

Laurie Lewis has long been a key figure in bluegrass and folk circles, what with being a member of Good Ol’ Persons in the 1970s, The Grant Street String Band in the ’80s and the all-woman act Blue Rose in the ’90s. The fiddler/vocalist also has a long-standing partnership with mandolin wizard Tom Rozum, which led to a Grammy nomination in the traditional folk album category for their collaboration, “The Oak and the Laurel” in 1996. The California-based pair performs 7:30 p.m. today at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, 5700 W. Sixth St.

Pat Metheny

Jazz is often divided into the traditionalists and the risk-takers. Pat Metheny is a proud member of the latter set. The Lee’s Summit, Mo., native has been releasing albums for nearly 30 years, each one a new wrinkle in the development of jazz. His latest effort, “The Way Up,” further showcases why the guitarist has earned 15 Grammys during his career. Metheny performs 8 p.m. today at The Uptown Theater, 3700 Broadway St., Kansas City, Mo.

Mahjongg

Chicago’s Mahjongg cooks up some infectious grooves with an avant-garde edge that likens the band to dance-hall exotica like James White and the Blacks. The band employs a Chinese fire drill approach to its live shows, switching up instruments and dancing along to the polyrhythmic grooves it creates. Recently signed to Cold Crush Records (run by members of Pretty Girls Make Graves), the act is touring in support of its first full-length “RaYDONcoNG.” The group joins Swayback, Atlas and Davan 10 p.m. Saturday at The Replay Lounge, 746 Mass.

Road-trip exhibition

If you’re up for a short trek down Interstate 70, two Lawrence artists are part of an exhibition opening today in Manhattan. Louis Copt and Stephen Johnson both will show figurative paintings through April 23 at the Strecker-Nelson Gallery, 406 1/2 Poyntz Ave. Copt and Johnson recently spent a few months painting together from a model at Copt’s Lecompton studio. “It is very interesting to see the vastly different paintings we have come up with using the same model and poses,” Copt says. Among the other area artists in the show are Jane Pronko, Kim Casebeer and Brent Watkinson. An opening reception will be from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. today.

‘The Lichtenberg Figures’

Ben Lerner’s first book of poetry, “The Lichtenberg Figures,” won the Hayden Carruth Emerging Poets Award, given by Copper Canyon Press. Open Books says, “Mr. Lerner’s aesthetic seems to range from Dada collage to Berryman-esque crackling confession, often within one poem. His writing can be hyper-ironic, at times bordering on the non sequitur, and is just as frequently grimly funny.” The Topeka native and son of Lawrence psychologist and author Harriet Lerner will give a poetry reading and book signing at 7 p.m. today at the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt.