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Shy Boys

Kansas City brothers Collin and Kyle Rausch, along with their roommate Konnor Ervin make up Shy Boys, a band that started playing together promptly after switching to unfamiliar instruments. Ervin, a guitarist, took up the drums, Kyle moved from drums to bass, and Collin switched from electric guitar to bass guitar. This fun, fumbly, imprecise style of playing seems to be working in their favor as Pitchfork picked up their second single “Is This Who You Are” in December, before they’d even released their first album, which came out Jan. 21 of this year. A DIY pop band that’s getting quite a bit of attention, they’ve kept a minimalist style and humble attitude. Shy Boys will also be joined by local favorites OILS and CS Luxem.
Friday, March 7, at Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St., 10 p.m., $3.

Drakkar Sauna

Jeff Stolz and Wallace Cochran, with Jeff Dearinger on bass will be playing the music live for “Pinocchio” at the Arts Center as vaudevillian folk duo Drakkar Sauna. Represented by Third Man Records — label founded by Jack White and also represents The White Stripes, Willie Nelson, The Shins and Jack Johnson, to name a few–Drakkar Sauna have released five full-length records. Cochran is the author of the novel “The Moon For Its Citizens” published in 2009, and the director of 2003 film “The Blood Feud,” which multi-instrumentalist Stolz had a featured role and composed most of the score.
Friday, March 7-9, at Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire St., $20 adults, $17 seniors, $14 student/child

Diane Birch

Singer-songwriter from Detroit, Diane Birch spent most of childhood traveling with her preacher father to Zimbabwe, South Africa, Australia and Oregon. Embracing her love for Motown, blues and old-fashioned pop, Birch put out a unique retro sound on debut album Bible Belt, which featured cameos by members of The Patti Smith Group, Galactic, The Roots and the Jive Five. Its success and large body of work led to extensive touring, and now she stopping in Lawrence to support second album Speak A Little Louder. Writing with Homer Steinweiss (Dap Kings-drummer-turned-producer) on much of this new record, Birch writes on the emotional heartbreak she experienced from the ending of a long-lasting relationship and the death of her father to cancer. In just her late 20s she is self-described as an “old soul” and that maturity shines through in her songwriting and voice.
Saturday, March 8, at The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St., 7:30 p.m., $11-13.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

It’s rather appropriate that their latest album is called Give the People What They Want, as this funk/soul outfit knows exactly how to do this. With collaborations with various artists from Amy Winehouse on several songs on Back to Black (and then becoming her backing band on her first U.S. tour) to Michael Buble to Prince, this band has garnered quite the fanbase and continue to grow in popularity with each record they release. The soulful passionate singing by the queen herself and her supporting men playing grooving funky parts are known to get you on your feet and straight to the dancefloor. Valerie June will be the opener.
Saturday, March 8th, at Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts St., 8 p.m., $21-26.

Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr

Detroit-area natives Joshua Epstein and Daniel Zott record and release music under the name Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr, and it has nothing to do with NASCAR despite the offbeat band name (they emailed the race car driver to assure him they weren’t actually making fun of him). An indie-pop duo that has progressed much quicker than anyone anticipated, the project grew from basement recording project to media curiosity to an international touring ensemble. Along with synthy tracks and catchy hooks, the lyrics on latest full-length, The Speed of Things, takes us on a satirical journey through personal and collective societal trends and culture. “Run” a critique on excess consumption with the line, “She was always buying things she had to have, but you’ll never see them.” In “If You Didn’t See Me” the duo speaks on many bothersome things, one of which our generation’s obsession with being younger than we are, particularly reflected in the line “You’re supposed to roll your hips in time, you’re supposed to see your age rewind.”
Monday, March 10, at The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St., 9 p.m., $13.

Mike Gordon

Founding member and bassist of Phish, Mike Gordon is touring to support fourth solo album “Overstep,” released at the end of last month. He wrote the record on weekend retreats in New England in unusual places, one example being the MASS MoCA museum, where he and longtime collaborator guitarist Scott Murawski wrote poems based on paintings. Gordon, Murawski, drummer Todd Isler, percussionist Craig Myers and keyboardist Tom Cleary make up the band coming through Lawrence this Wednesday on their four-year-old tour, where they roll covers, Gordon’s solo songs, and a few Phish tracks all into a night’s set.
Wednesday, March 12th, at Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts St., 8 p.m., $24.