Big Gigs: The best Twin Cities concerts Dec. 13-19

With only one new album from its roster in 2013 (Dessa's "Parts of Speech"), Doomtree's Blowout IX concerts could've just turned into a rehash of past years. Yeah, right. To keep things fresh, the hip-hop crew collaborated with "videoptical" wizards Playatta for a special visual element. The rappers — Sims, Cecil Otter, P.O.S., Mike Mictlan and Dessa — are nailing down their verses from a few new songs to be premiered at the shows, for another all-crew album next year. They're also revisiting songs they haven't done in a while. No openers are expected, but "special guests" are certainly waiting in the wings. (9 p.m. Fri., 8 p.m. Sat., 7 p.m. Sun., First Avenue. Sold out except Sun.) Chris Riemenschneider

POP/ROCK

An underrated Americana tunesmith from Akron, Ohio, Tim Easton has been championed by the likes of Lucinda Williams and our own Gary Louris. He recorded part of his memorable 2006 album "Ammunition" in Minneapolis with Louris and Ed Ackerson producing, and he continues to move around and record with different backdrops/producers. His (erroneously named) new effort, "Not Cool," features some of the best purveyors of vintage rockabilly and cow-punk in his newly adopted hometown of Nashville. Rogue Valley frontman Chris Koza opens. (11 p.m. Fri., Icehouse, $8.) Riemenschneider

Wrapping up a year that saw them take home a Grammy (for best children's album) and take off on the Appalachian Trail (the subject of a CD/DVD due next year), bluegrassy folk-picking duo the Okee Dokee Brothers return to the best all-ages venue in town for their second annual pre-holidays family concerts. The Colorado-reared, Twin Cities-based duo will have a full band and some of their new songs in tow, along with the summer-warm outdoor anthems off last year's album "Can You Canoe?" (11 a.m. & 1 p.m. Sat., Cedar Cultural Center, both shows sold out. Also: 1 & 4 p.m. Sun., Paramount Theatre, St. Cloud, $6-$10.) Riemenschneider

After opening slots with Trombone Shorty and Bonnie Raitt earlier this year, American music treasure Mavis Staples will get her own Twin Cities headline concert to promote her latest Jeff Tweedy-produced delight, "One True Vine," which just received a Grammy nod and includes some gems penned by the Wilco leader. In concert, this soul/gospel great offers distinctive interpretations of songs associated with the Band, Buffalo Springfield and other stars as well as material that landed her in the Rock Hall of Fame with the Staple Singers. I will lead a discussion about Staples one hour before showtime. (8 p.m. Sat., Hopkins Center for the Arts, $34.) Jon Bream

An in-demand violinist who co-founded the Music Lab school and has played around town with the Blackberry Brandy Boys, Brian Just Band, Brass Kings and Killer Hayseeds, Jillian Rae finally takes a bow — get it? — as a singer/songwriter and frontwoman. Her solo debut, "Heartbeat," features jangly folk-pop tunes laden with bouncy piano and twangy guitar, and some impressively rocky ballads that show off her vocal talents. Adam Levy's Honeydogs and one-man band Gallupstar support Rae's release party. (8 p.m. Sat., Cedar Cultural Center, $12-$15, all ages.) Riemenschneider

Tina Schlieske, of Tina & the B-Sides fame, returns home for her annual holiday rock 'n' roll revue as Lola & the Red Family Band. She's a knockout singer whether doing the Stones, Aretha or holiday chestnuts. Maybe she'll throw in a tune or two from her compelling new EP, "Pinned Up," featuring covers of Minnesota icons — Soul Asylum, Hüsker Dü, the Jayhawks, Prince, the Replacements and Bob Dylan — from a female perspective. Throwback twangers the Saddle Sores open. (9 p.m. Sat., Cabooze, $15.) Bream

Raised in Tennessee but a New York City resident for the past two years, twangy charmer Valerie June melds gospel, blues, folk, soul and Appalachian with a front-porch vibe. Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys produced her "Pushin' Against a Stone," one of the overlooked treats of 2013. In her Minneapolis debut in August, June was retro yet disarmingly fresh. Minneapolis duo the Sudden Lovelys opens. (7:30 p.m. Sun., Cedar Cultural Center, $12-$15.) Bream

Before Bon Iver, Bonnie "Prince" Billy was the best-known pseudonym in indie folk. It belongs to Kentucky cult hero Will Oldham, whose songs have been covered by the likes of Johnny Cash (the stunning "I See a Darkness"), Marianne Faithfull ("A King at Night") and Mark Lanegan ("You Will Miss Me When I Burn"). His are not tunes for the fainthearted, in other words. He's on his first solo tour in six years behind another highly praised collection of low-down songs, this one entirely self-made and thus self-titled. Opening act is ambient, instrumental Chicago tape-loop act Bitchin' Baja, which sounds akin to local favorite Dosh. (7:30 p.m. Mon., Cedar Cultural Center, all ages, $30.) Riemenschneider

Remember that night in August when Norah Jones, Gary Louris and Jonny "Corndawg" Fritz all took the Entry stage? That was fun, but the biggest stars of the show were "Born Again" folk-rocker Cory Chisel, his Wandering Sons co-vocalist Adriel Denae and Jones' backing band the Candles. That same core bunch is coming around as an extension of the holiday show Chisel has been hosting in his hometown of Appleton, Wis. "Special guests" are promised again, but who cares? (8 p.m. Sun., Turf Club, $15.) Riemenschneider

The most unabashed throwback to '80s hair bands since that really really bad big-screen musical with Tom Cruise, Steel Panther has left the confines of the Sunset Strip to "spread the disease" — which sounds less ishy than its outing's official name, the S.T.D. Tour. These guys brandish what Cruise's "Rock of Ages" and fellow flashbackers the Darkness sorely lacked: a good sense of humor. Started as a weekly gig at the Viper Room to honor the Strip's Spandex era, they've churned out three albums that prove they are serious about their music. Or as serious as one can get singing such songs as "It Won't Suck Itself." Fellow Angeleno rockers Hillbilly Herald and local mob-rockers the Oddfathers open. (8 p.m. Tue., First Avenue, $25-$27.) Riemenschneider

A Vermont songwriter who came to light on Ani DiFranco's label and is about to tour with Patty Griffin — and fits in somewhere between those two musically — Anais Mitchell should also fit in well amid the stacks of historic books at the monthly Real-Phonic Radio Hour. Her newest album, "Child Ballads," revives 19th-century folk ballads chronicled by Harvard scholar Francis Child. She also showed her literary flair on last year's acclaimed "Young Man in America." Michael Lewis of Happy Apple and Bon Iver notoriety will accompany her, and Erik Koskinen and the Real-Phonic house band provide the usual support. (8 p.m. Thu., James J. Hill Reference Library, 80 W. 4th St., St. Paul, $20.) Riemenschneider

BLUES

Johnny Rawls' new release, "Remembering O.V.," is a tribute to great soul singer O.V. Wright, who recorded a truckload of chitlin-circuit hits. Wright's last bandleader, the guitarist and singer features the cream of the oft-sampled Southern singer's catalog on his album ("Nickel and a Nail," "Aces of Spades," "Eight Men, Four Women") plus a new song inspired by Wright's untimely demise ("Blaze of Glory") as well as a guest appearance by the wonderful Otis Clay. (7 p.m. Thu., Minnesota Music Cafe, $10-$12.) Tom Surowicz

JAZZ

It's the last hurrah for the Tuesday Night Band, the organ-driven combo that packed the Artists' Quarter for years. "Downtown" Bill Brown, Billy Franze and Kenny Horst get down and dirty on a Saturday this time, and we'd be surprised if a special guest or three didn't hop onstage to help party hearty and stir up that Sasquatch of jazz instruments, the Hammond B-3. (9 p.m. Sat., Artists' Quarter, $10.) Surowicz

Born in Alaska, based in Dallas, schooled in Wisconsin and Indiana, trumpeter and composer Keith Karns is one of the bright lights of the national big-band scene. His 2012 album "Thought and Memory" is a thoroughly modern gem, influenced by Maria Schneider, Charles Mingus, Jim McNeely and latter-day Stan Kenton, all good models. Karns toured the Midwest with a big band in 2012, making a memorable stop in Minneapolis at cozy Jazz Central Studios. Now he's back for an encore, no doubt eager to show off new charts including an excellent nine-minute piece called "The Square," which you can stream at KeithKarnsMusic.com. (8:30 p.m. Thu., Jazz Central, 407 Central Av. SE., Mpls.)Surowicz

CLASSICAL

The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra concludes its Bach celebration with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th Brandenburg Concertos. These provide a chance to celebrate the SPCO's members, since each concerto is scored for a different combination of seven to 13 instruments. (7 p.m. Fri., St. Philip the Deacon, 17205 County Rd. 6, Plymouth; 7 p.m. Sat., St. Paul's United Church of Christ, St. Paul; 3 p.m. Sun., Trinity Lutheran Church, 115 N. 4th St., Stillwater. $5-$25, 651-291-1144, www.thespco.org) William Randall Beard

It's been 11 years since Eiji Oue left the Minnesota Orchestra after a rather tumultuous tenure as music director. He's returning to conduct the orchestra's locked-out musicians in an all-Tchaikovsky program. This is a composer for whom Oue has always had a special affinity. In deference to the season, the program opens with selections from "The Nutcracker." Then pianist Jon Kimura Parker, a frequent guest soloist in the Twin Cities, joins in for the Piano Concerto No. 1. The concert concludes with the popular Symphony No. 4. (8 p.m. Sat. & 2 p.m. Sun., Minneapolis Convention Center Auditorium, 1301 2nd Av. S., Mpls., $60-$20, www.minnesotaorchestramusicians.org) Beard

HOLIDAY

Now in its third year, "A Kinky Kristmas and Happy Hanukkah" stars the best cover band in town, Kinda Kinky, and a kronikally kool all-star kast of kronies, including Curtiss A, Brian Tighe, Kiki Lane, Something Fierce mainstays Jerry Lefkowitz and Dave Russ, and former Clams and Whoops Kitty frontwoman Cindy Lawson, who will likely rock your stocking off. 8 p.m. Fri., Minneapolis Eagles Club, $5, or $3 with nonperishable food item. Surowicz

Minnesota's favorite siren-voiced Irish transplant, Katie McMahon, once again brings together songs and traditions from her homeland for her "Celtic Christmas" concert. This year's show will include the Corda Mor Irish Dance Troupe. (7:30 p.m. Fri., O'Shaughnessy Auditorium, St. Catherine's University, $12-$27, 651-690-6700.) Riemenschneider

When you think of the great jazz labels, Blue Note, Verve and Savoy come to mind. But Marbles: The Brain Store? The national chain commissioned Laura Caviani and her trio — bassist Gordy Johnson and drummer Joe Pulice — to record an album of swingin' carols to play and sell at their mall stores. Caviani's "Holly, Jolly and Jazzy" should find favor with the legions of folks who spin Vince Guaraldi's great "Charlie Brown Christmas." It's similarly groovy. To celebrate, the trio will swing upon a midnight clear at one of our favorite venues to kill brain cells. (9 p.m. Fri., Artists' Quarter, $10.) Surowicz

Fans of underrated Twin Cities jazz pianist Larry McDonough know better than to expect a traditional Christmas disc from the former Bozo Allegro and sometimes Nova Jazz Orchestra member, and "Angels, Kings, My Favorite Things" is predictably quirky. McDonough's version of "Little Drummer Boy" has no drummer, his "Jingle Bells" is a tender solo piano ballad, and he tosses in some out-of-season selections (Beethoven's "Ode to Joy," an avant-leaning "Scarborough Fair"). His arrangements are nearly always provocative and sometimes terrific. (9 p.m. Thu., Artists' Quarter, $5.) Surowicz