Fri. music picks: Hurray for the Riff Raff

Hurray for the Riff Raff

8 p.m. • Cedar Cultural Center • sold out

With their Cajun- and swing-infused brand of folky Americana rock, New Orleans upstarts Hurray for the Riff Raff stole more than a few hearts in the afternoon sun last September at Trampled by Turtles' Festival Palomino. They should sound equally warm inside the Cedar. Singer/songwriter Alynda Segarra went on to earn year-end praise from NPR and others for her elegantly haunting song "Body Electric" — which flipped traditional folk music's knack for harming women on end. Juno-nominated Canadian alt-twanger Daniel Romano opens. Chris Riemenschneider

Joe Louis Walker

8 p.m. • Dakota Jazz Club • $25

"Hornet's Nest," Walker's 10th album of this century, is a real barn-burner. The San Francisco blues guitar vet with the rough and ready voice tears it up on the Rolling Stones' "Ride On, Baby," the classic "Don't Let Go" and the title track, which he wrote. Determined to turn Minneapolis' swanky downtown club into a roadhouse, Walker is one veteran bluesman who knows how to rock you all night long. Jon Bream

Drive-by Truckers

It's hard to argue with the high-revving, 2½-hour-plus chug-athons they usually turn in at First Avenue, but Drive-by Truckers are promising something different this around. The kings of modern Southern rock are a few weeks into their Dirt Underneath Tour, a "Storytellers"-type show that involves chairs, acoustic instruments and stage banter along with deeper-reaching set lists. Frontmen Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley both spin some pretty good yarns. This should be a good test of their band's tight threading, too. The shows are split into two sets, so no opening act. C.R.

Bobby Bare Jr.

9 p.m. • Turf Club • $10