OUR TOP PICKS
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiuqP51iDpQ&w=492&h=307]
Friday: Oddissee and Good Company at Empire. We need to talk about 32-year-old Sudanese-American rapper Oddissee in the same breath as Kendrick Lamar. Like his West Coast counterpart, the D.C.-based Oddissee is a standard-bearer for modern political hip-hop. In a prolific three-year stretch he’s dropped three excellent albums, plus an EP. On the latest, “The Iceberg,” which came out earlier this year, he pushes the space where hip-hop fuses with jazz, icy soul and danceable grooves, and for this tour he’s traveling with a live band. $15-$17 (advance). 9 p.m. 606 E. Seventh St. empireatx.com. — D.S.S.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZShm-MBwO40&w=492&h=307]
Mavericks frontman Raul Malo. Jay Janner/American-Statesman
Friday: Mavericks at Waterloo Records. It’s a rare opportunity when a band that usually plays ACL Live makes its only Austin stop at the city’s flagship record store. Singer Raul Malo’s eclectic rockin’ country outfit is stopping by en route to a Whitewater Amphitheater gig in New Braunfels on Saturday. Malo will return for two nights of sold-out solo shows May 11-12 at the Saxon Pub, and he’ll also be back this fall to help induct Roy Orbison and others into the “Austin City Limits” Hall of Fame on Oct. 25. Free. 5 p.m. 600 N. Lamar Blvd. waterloorecords.com. — P.B.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8gCayvwZKw&w=492&h=307]
Saturday: Alejandro Escovedo, Minus 5 at Paramount. The latest chapter in native Texan Escovedo’s odyssey of a music career has taken him away from Austin to a new home in Dallas, along with a new record that features perhaps the most high-profile backing band he’s ever had. Guitarists Peter Buck of R.E.M. and Kurt Bloch of the Fastbacks wowed the crowd at Escovedo’s “Austin City Limits” taping last fall; they’re back for this show, along with Decemberists drummer John Moen and multi instrumentalist Scott McCaughey, whose ever-entertaining Minus 5 outfit opens. $22-$42. 8 p.m. 713 Congress Ave. austintheatre.org. — P.B.
» RELATED: Why did Alejandro Escovedo leave Austin for Dallas? It’s complicated
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWCsS72tIG0&w=492&h=307]
Saturday: Capyac presents Club Zaza #1 at Sidewinder. Local electro funk kingpins Capyac describe their new quarterly series as a “curated dance experience brought to you by your local fish summoners and amateur sound surgeons.” They promise pop-up parties in Austin’s “venues, warehouses and underground spaces” showcasing artists working in the funk, house or world music realms. The kickoff features afrobeat/latin/funk project Continental Drift and Lambda. Costumes are encouraged. $10. 8 p.m. 715 Red River St. thesidewinderaustin.com — D.S.S.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90vlRmhkFrE&w=492&h=307]
Saturday: Longhorn Network free tapings at Cactus Cafe. Live music tapings for TV generally have been absent from the University of Texas campus since “Austin City Limits” moved downtown, but now there’s a new outlet. Cactus Cafe, the long-running venue in the Texas Union Building, has been doing occasional tapings for shows that air on the Longhorn Network. The three on this day spotlight different facets of Austin music. Longtime indie-scene fixture John Wesley Coleman plays at 2 p.m., followed by folk-Americana artist Daisy O’Connor at 4 p.m., and then under-18 singer-songwriter Christina Cavazos at 8:30 p.m. 2247 Guadalupe St. cactuscafe.org. — P.B.
ALSO PLAYING
Friday-Saturday
Renee Woodward CD release, Kacy Crowley at Townsend
Friday
State Champs, Against the Current, With Confidence, Don Broco at Emo’s
Bob Schneider & Mitch Watkins at One World Theatre
Chris Knight, Kody West (late); Sonny Landreth (early) at Antone’s
Wayne Hancock, Two Tons of Steel, Jason James at Barracuda
Jad Fair, Blue Dolphin, Nosferatu, Mental Abortion, Cracked Skulls at Hotel Vegas
Peter Bradley Adams at Cactus Cafe
Bluebonnets at Continental Club
Ruby & the Reckless, Trouble in the Streets, Coattails at Mohawk indoor
Sour Notes, Go Fever at Stubb’s indoor
Ter’rell Shahid, Blind Black Rooster at Flamingo Cantina
La Frenetika, Tio Chico at Sahara Lounge
Full Service at South Austin Brewery
Saturday
Trey Anastasio Band at Stubb’s outdoor
Arijit Singh at Cedar Park Center
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness at Emo’s
Miles Davis tribute with Jeff Lofton at Stateside at the Paramount
Peelander-Z, Residual Kid at Barracuda
Junior Brown & Tanya Rae, Heybale, Tailgators at Continental Club
Mike Flanigin Trio with Jimmie Vaughan & George Rains at C-Boy’s
Ray Bonneville, Gurf Morlix, Eve & the Exiles at Sam’s Town Point
Moving Panoramas, Mean Jolene at ABGB
Midnight Stroll, BLXPLTN, Darkbird at Hotel Vegas
Shelley King, W.C. Clark, Bobby Whitlock & CoCo Carmel at Saxon Pub
Gary Allan at Nutty Brown Amphitheater
Gary P. Nunn at Broken Spoke
Jai Malano at Geraldine’s
Emily Bell & the Talkbacks EP release, Zeale, Warplanes at 3Ten
Sunday
Brandy Clark, Charlie Worsham at Antone’s
Jesse Cook at One World Theatre
Sinkane, Eric Slick at Empire
Elijah Ford, Harvest Thieves, Jonathan Terrell, John Evans, Kevin Galloway at Barracuda
Growl at Waterloo Records
Soul of a Musician series with Seela at Iron Cactus North
Antara School of Indian Classical Music presents Evening of Ragas at Equina Tango
Henry Roland (of Henry & the Invisibles) at Kebabalicious
Monday
Samantha Fish, Blue Monday Band at Antone’s
Tje Austin Band at Geraldine’s
Finite Fidelity, Empty Trails, Spaces at Mohawk indoor
Open mic with Kacy Crowley at Cactus Cafe
Dale Watson, Peterson Brothers at Continental Club
Cory Reinisch, Ricky Espinoza at Blackheart
