The Big Gigs: 10 top concerts to see in the Twin Cities this week

This earthy but elegant Tennessee singer/songwriter sits squarely at the intersection of white mountain twang and Black Southern roots music. She has already made strong impressions here opening for Yola and Larkin Poe. Her third album, 2024’s “Still + Bright,” was produced by Green Day and Pink collaborator Butch Walker and features guest appearances by Billy Strings and Avi Kaplan. She’s making a brave winter trek through the Upper Midwest before a U.K. tour, including both a Duluth and Minneapolis gig, the latter with opener Anna Graves. (7:30 p.m., Parkway Theater, 4814 Chicago Av. S., Mpls., $35-$45, theparkwaytheater.com)

At 98, the bluesy/jazzy piano legend is still finding new ways to promote himself. He’ll step away from his usual Minneapolis dive-bar milieu for an evening at a cozy suburban supper club, accompanied by vocalist/saxophonist Maurice Jacox and saxophonists Steve Clarke and Sam Brooks, among others. (7 p.m. Crooners, 6161 Hwy 65, Fridley, $25-$35, eventbrite.com)

Add another one to the list of great Upper Midwest songwriters hunkering down and stretching out musically in town over the course of the coldest month of the year (see also: Lissie, Charlie Parr, Cactus Blossoms). Known from the harmonious alt-country duo Dusty Hearts — which is serving as Week 1’s opening act — the Minneapolis singer showed off a more ethereal and experimental sound on her 2025 solo album, “Interwoven,” a dramatic and personal collection that sounds as much like Poliça as it does Patsy (Cline) with songs as icy and dramatic as the Alaska landscape she used to call home. Her set lists and setup will change each week, and subsequent openers include (in order) Hemma, the Laurels Strings Quartet and a special guest TBA. (7 p.m., Starlight Room at Icehouse, 2528 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls., $15-$22, icehousempls.com)

This powerhouse Twin Cities singer is equally at home in a dramatic vehicle and on a nightclub stage. She sparkled as Billie Holiday in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” at the Jungle Theater in 2018, and she’s proved her bona fides with the Selby Avenue Brass Band as well as her own jazzy, Holiday-loving repertoire. She’ll be singing with her own group and then turn the mic over to a special guest, Noamz, a soulful beatboxing, flute-playing newcomer from Wisconsin. (7:30 p.m. Berlin, 204 N. 1st St., Mpls., $15-$20, berlinmpls.com)

Also on Thursday:

*Prolific teen rocker Finick is home from college and playing a gig with Natl Prk Srvc (8 p.m., 7th St. Entry).

*Outlaw/old-school countryman Cole Diamond returns for his monthly gig at Animales BBQ (7 p.m., free).

*Kung Fu Hippies lead another Grateful Dead tribute (7:30 p.m. Parkway Theater, $20-$30).

*Twin Cities barroom vet GB Leighton goes acoustic (7 p.m. Crooners, $32.31 and up).

There are Twin Cities tribute shows saluting baby-boomer soul stars like Aretha Franklin, Etta James and Earth, Wind & Fire. What about the next gen? Sounds of Blackness lead vocalist Bennett is honoring two Gen X stars, Monica and Brandy. They had thriving solo careers in the ‘90s, collaborated on the 1998 Grammy-winning smash “The Boy Is Mine” and toured together in 2025. (Did you see them on New Year’s Eve with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen?) Each also amassed acting credits, Brandy notably on TV’s “Moesha” and Monica on the reality show “Monica: Still Standing.” Similarly, Bennett has distinguished herself as an actor (Penumbra, Park Square, Ordway productions) as well as a sparkly, powerhouse vocalist oozing soulfulness. She will be joined by “American Idol” finalist Paris Bennett, her daughter, and Chicago songstress Mon’Aerie. (7 p.m. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $47.10 and up, dakotacooks.com)

You can hear the wide-open spaces and gravel-road grit of Woods’ rural North Dakota roots in her raw but expansive songs. The St. Paul strummer has spent several years crafting her new album, “When the Day Breaks,” which was heavily inspired by a loved one’s death to addiction. It’s being sold as a fundraiser for Southside Harm Reduction Services. Twin Cities guitar ace Taylor James Donskey produced it, and violinist Rosie Harris and cellist Jake Johnson play all over it. In conjunction with the release party, she’s issuing an alternate hip-hop version of its title track with rapper Dakota Faye and rocker LowJam, who will also perform. Navajo-rooted poetic rocker Laura Hugo opens. (8 p.m. Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Av. S., Mpls., $15-$20, thecedar.org)

Seven years since they first hit the First Ave stage as part of the Best New Bands of 2018 lineup, the nice-guy, feel-good pop-rockers from Hudson, Wis., are returning for another early-January gig to cap off a prolific stretch of writing and recording. They dropped two EPs last year and squeezed in one more single just before Christmas that’s one of their best yet, “Ain’t Dead Yet,” a misty-eyed, Lord Huron-flavored serenade that suggests there’s a lot more life left in the hard-working band of high school chums, who are also lined up to play the Minnesota Yacht Club festival in July. Laamar opens. (8 p.m. First Avenue, 701 1st Av. N., Mpls., $31, axs.com)

*After years at First Ave, the annual all-star Janis Joplin birthday celebration (she would have been 83) is at the sit-down Fitzgerald Theater for “Ball and Chain,” “Heartbreaker” and those rock ‘n’ blues classics delivered by powerful Jill Mikelson and others for the 19th time (7:30 p.m., $25 and up).

*“When I’m Alone” hitmaker Lissie continues her January residency at the Parkway Theater with a stripped-down trio set (7:30 p.m., $44-$59).

*Minneapolis hip-hop vet Sean Anonymous has assembled another large cast of rappers and singers for his birthday blowout with a live backing band, including P.O.S., Lady Midnight and Mike Mictlan (8 p.m. Fine Line).

*A late-’90s fixture at the 400 Bar and other joints whose members include the Suburbs’ Jeremy Ylvisaker and E.L.nO’s Jeff Ham, Detroit is reuniting with Dosh opening (8 p.m. Turf Club).

*Ex-Hovercraft indie-rock vet Jay Hurley leads the fuzzed-out band Manias, celebrating its new album with an afternoon party also featuring Rebecca Fritz (1-4 p.m. White Squirrel Bar, free).

*Calling themselves the Infidels, Dan Israel, Terry Walsh and an all-star Twin Cities band pay tribute to Bob Dylan (7 p.m. the Dakota, $25 and up).

*Judy Garland-loving local diva Jennifer Grimm joins the Adi Yeshaya Jazz Orchestra (7 p.m. Crooners, $37.89 and up).

*The Smokin’ Section with local sidemen Kai Brewster and Taylor James Donskey is playing twangy afternoon grooves (3 p.m. Animales BBQ, free).

The alto saxophonist bandleader has a long history in modern jazz, having worked with Gil Evans, Donny McCaslin and Maria Schneider, among others. Since 1990, he has delivered more than 30 albums under his own name, including 2023’s “Action,” which will be the focus of his current trio. Joined by drummer Louis Cole and bassist Pera Krstajic, Binney offers wide ranging electro-acoustic jazz with hints of prog rock, with his saxophone at turns melodic and serrated, his music at turns structured and adventurous. (7 p.m. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $47.10 and up, dakotacooks.com)

This local chamber music supergroup includes most of the string section leaders from the Minnesota Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. They’ll be joined by an outstanding pianist, Anne-Marie McDermott, whose local visits usually find her soloing with one of those two orchestras. She’ll perform a set of romances by Clara Schumann, then join Accordo for an Antonin Dvorak quintet after a performance of Maurice Ravel’s marvelous String Quartet. Tuesday’s club gig at Icehouse is a one-hour abbreviated version. (7:30 p.m. Jan. 12, Westminster Hall, Nicollet Mall and Alice Rainville Place, Mpls., $26-$36; 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13, Icehouse, 2528 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls., $25-$28, students and children free; schubert.org)

*The Cactus Blossoms are bringing out torchy roots-rockers Betty Won’t for the second week of their January Turf Club residency (7:30 p.m., $33).

*Strangers in the Nacht is a jazzy lieder cabaret featuring the works of Frank Sinatra and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, curated by Bradley Greenwald (7 p.m. Crooners, $52.40 and up).

*K-pop star Junhee of the group A.C.E. is out on his first U.S. solo tour (7 p.m. 7th St. Entry, all ages).

*Led by the local jazz pianist, Travis Anderson Trio interprets the music of animated films from Pixar, Disney and Studio Ghibli (7 p.m. the Dakota, $25.47 and up).

This is a reschedule from a Dec. 13 postponement by the much-lauded, well-connected guitarist from Australia. She was hired by Michael Jackson for his This Is It Tour that never happened. She joined Alice Cooper’s band for a couple of tours. She saluted Carlos Santana when he received his Kennedy Center Honors. And she’s gigged with the Hollywood Vampires and collaborated with, among others, Richie Sambora, her former beau. Her solo career has been a bit hit and miss, as her 2025 disc “Some Kind of Feeling” demonstrates. While she tries for some radio-friendly songs, Orianthi is more compelling when she gets more emotional, especially on the bluesy, dreamy “What I’ve Been Looking,” the slow-burn “Ghost” and the explosive blues-rocker “First Time Blues” featuring Joe Bonamassa. (7 p.m. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $74.91 and up, dakotacooks.com)

*Twin Cities gypsy-jazz mainstays Mississippi Hot Club unchain their Django at Berlin (7 p.m., $15).