OUR TOP PICKS
Friday: DJ Mark Farina at Empire Control Room. The Chicago DJ was an early house music innovator, dropping snippets of hip-hop, disco, Latin sounds and other unexpected styles into club mixes. He honed his signature style, Mushroom Jazz, a modification of acid jazz with a more organic feel, over the course of eight mixtapes that brought him international acclaim. $10-$15. 9:30 p.m. 606 E. Seventh St. empireatx.com — D.S.S.
Saturday-Sunday: Mike Cooley at Cactus Cafe. A charter member of the Drive-By Truckers, one of the great American rock bands of the past 20 years, guitarist Cooley sometimes falls in the shadow of larger-than-life band leader Patterson Hood. But he’s become increasingly central to the band’s identity in recent years, contributing more songs to the DBTs’ albums as well as issuing a live record under his own name. $20. 8:30 p.m. 2247 Guadalupe St. cactuscafe.org. — P.B.
Chris Porter at SXSW 2015. Sharon Alagna/chrisportermusic.net
Sunday: “It’s Gonna Get Weird Without You:” A Fundraiser for Chris Porter at C-Boy’s. When Austin songwriter Chris Porter died in a highway crash on tour in October, he’d almost completed a new album. A bunch of his musician friends want to get it finished up and released, so they’re playing this show to help cover the expenses. It’s an amazing lineup for one of the city’s coolest small venues, with Alejandro Escovedo, the Mastersons, Aaron Lee Tasjan, John Moreland, Will Johnson, Shonna Tucker, John Calvin Abney and Sara Green all on board. $30. 8 p.m. 2008 S. Congress Ave. cboys.com. — P.B.
» RELATED: Two Austin musicians killed in car crash while on tour
ALSO PLAYING
Friday-Saturday
Alejandro Escovedo at Continental Club
International Pop Overthrow at Empire
Friday
Amanda Shires at Cactus Cafe
Al Jarreau Duo at One World Theatre (two shows)
Howard Jones at 3Ten
Ginger Leigh’s Love at the Stateside at the Paramount
Cody Canada & the Departed, the O’s at Antone’s
Flowtribe at Parish
Erin McKeown at Strange Brew
Calliope Musicals, Trouble in the Streets, Henry & the Invisibles at North Door
Megafauna, Patrimony, Otis the Destroyer, Levees at Hotel Vegas
Hard Candy Christmas Show with Sunny Sweeney, Brennen Leigh, Courtney Patton and Jamie Lin Wilson at Saxon Pub
Paul Cauthen & the Texas Gentlemen at Stubb’s indoor
Don Harvey & A Is Red, Sam Baker at Townsend
Tameca Jones at C-Boy’s
Clay McClinton, Graham Weber at Driskill Lobby Bar
Rick Broussard’s Two Hoots & a Holler at ABGB
Possessed by Paul James at Spider House
Saturday
Mstrkrft at Empire
A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Music of Vince Guaraldi at Stateside at the Paramount (two shows)
Black Fret Ball at Paramount (members only)
Shearwater, Cross Record at 3Ten
Cracker, Ramsay Midwood at Antone’s
Animals As Leaders, Intervals, Plini at Mohawk outdoor
CRX, Streets of Laredo, Hideout at Emo’s
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club at Sidewinder
Mickey & the Motorcars at Parish
Pleasant Grove, Major Major Major at ABGB
Eliza Gilkyson at Strange Brew
Jake Penrod & the Burning Angels at Little Longhorn Saloon
Dale Watson at Broken Spoke
Big Cat, South Austin Moonlighters at Saxon Pub
Churchwood at Carousel Lounge
Grapes & Friends eighth annual Xmas Extravaganza at the Hole in the Wall
Sunday
Riders in the Sky at One World Theatre
Thor & Friends, Little Mazarn at Radio Coffee & Beer
Christeene, Brown Whornet, Graham Reynolds at North Door
Soul of a Musician series with the Peterson Brothers at Iron Cactus North
Rosie Flores at Strange Brew
Jackie Venson, Miss Lavelle White at Antone’s
Dallas Moore at Little Longhorn Saloon
