Courtney Barnett

Escaping Australia's summer heat to come to the American tundra in January, Barnett offers a cool batch of sun-baked, laid-back songs on her latest album, "Things Take Time, Take Time." The content-sounding collection furthers her cool, Velvet-y guitar stylings and witty wordplay first heard in her 2015 hit "Avant Gardener." Should make for a nice midwinter warmup. New York opener Cassandra Jenkins has toured in Craig Finn's band and others'. (9 p.m. Sat., Palace Theatre, 17 W. 7th Place, St. Paul, $40-$50, first-avenue.com)

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

Winter Kite Festival

Colorful kites of all shapes and sizes will once again fly over a frozen Lake Harriet. The winter outdoor experience is in partnership with the Art Shanty Projects, the four-weekend art festival where artists create temporary structures and interactive art experiences. The event includes games, activities, food trucks and a bonfire perfect for free s'more-making. New this year is a shuttle to avoid traffic congestion, which will run Saturday only from the Calhoun Executive Center to the lake. (Noon-4 p.m. Sat., 43rd St. and E. Lake Harriet Pkwy., Mpls., minneapolisparks.org)

MELISSA WALKER

Gerald Finley

This Canadian bass-baritone was pushing 40 when his opera career truly took flight, and closer to 50 when he started singing lead roles at London's Royal Opera House and the Vienna Staatsoper. Now 61, Finley has also become a celebrated recitalist in the company of pianist Julius Drake. The two will perform a Schubert Club International Artist Series recital of songs by Franz Schubert and Hugo Wolf, the U.S. premiere of a song cycle by Mark Anthony Turnage, and song settings of Shakespeare. (7:30 p.m. Jan. 27, Ordway Music Theater, 345 Washington St., St. Paul, $36-$75, 651-292-3268 or schubert.org)

ROB HUBBARD

Lisa Fischer

A former backup singer for the Rolling Stones and Tina Turner and a star of the Oscar-winning doc "20 Feet From Stardom," this mesmerizing vocalist combines the emotionalism and grace of R&B, the energy and abandon of rock 'n' roll, the warmth and intimacy of folk, the artfulness and grace of jazz, the pain and liberation of the blues, and the drama and soaring highs of opera. Backed by the simpatico combo Grand Baton, she reimagines classic songs and usually offers her lone hit, 1991's "How Can I Ease the Pain." (8 p.m. Sat., Hopkins Center for the Arts, 1111 Mainstreet, Hopkins, $45-$55, hopkinsartscenter.com)

JON BREAM

Winter Sound Garden

Wavelets Creative concludes its nature-inspired series of outdoor dance and music events this weekend on West River Parkway in Minneapolis. Previous iterations of the pop-up project took place in the spring, summer and fall of 2021 with recorded music composed by JG Everest lofting through the natural landscape. Live musicians and dancers add another layer to the performance. For this round, dancers Leslie O'Neill, Sarah Baumert, Erika Hansen and Megan Mayer perform in parallel with a second dance score by Super Group. They are accompanied by live music by Blue Lady and the roving Free Range Orchestra and Choir. (Noon-3 p.m. Sat., limited capacity, reservations required at waveletscreative.org)

SHEILA REGAN

Two views of the Black experience

The Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery is currently showcasing work by two artists-in-residence. Kehayr Brown-Ransaw's exhibition "To Have Never Known" focuses on quilts made in response to his research about the transatlantic slave trade. In "Abstracproseality: Visual Notations From Dark to Light," artist Sean Garrison uses acrylic paintings and mixed media to portray pain, anger, joy and love in the African American experience. The artist is interested in people's initial take on it, and then how they feel later after deciphering the work's layered iconography. (1-5 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sat. through June 30, free, 1256 Penn Av. N., fourth floor, Mpls., maahmg.org)

ALICIA ELER

Patty Griffin

Overdue for another Twin Cities date even before COVID, the golden-voiced, redheaded Texas folk-rock singer bounced back strong from a bout with cancer to release her rootsy 2019 eponymous album. On tour, she and her stellar band are pulling out songs from throughout her 25-year career, including ones covered by the Chicks, Emmylou Harris and Miranda Lambert. Cult-loved Oklahoman Parker Millsap opens. (8 p.m. Tue., Pantages Theatre, 710 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., $45, first-avenue.com)

C.R.

'An Officer and a Gentleman'

The Oscar-winning "Up Where We Belong" is included in this stage musical adaptation of the 1982 Richard Gere-Debra Winger movie, but the rest of the songs are ripped from a mid-'80s jukebox: Pat Benatar's "Invincible," Wilson Phillips' "Hold On," Yes' "Owner of a Lonely Heart." Somehow, those hits fit into the story of a Navy trainee whose romance with a feisty factory worker carries them "where the eagles cry on a mountain high." Perhaps the show will tell us why those eagles are crying? (7:30 p.m. Fri., 2 & 7:30 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., Ordway Center, 345 Washington Av., St. Paul, $44-$117, 651-2224-4222 or ordway.org)

C.H.

Punch Brothers

Former "Live From Here" radio host Chris Thile returns to St. Paul to celebrate his progressive bluegrass group's sixth album, "Hell on Church Street." Rehearsed during the pandemic by the five members who live in three different cities, the record reinterprets a 1983 album, "Church Street Blues" by the late bluegrass guitarist Tony Rice, that was a big influence on these next-gen pickers. Featuring songs associated with Bill Monroe, Jimmie Rodgers and Gordon Lightfoot, this song-by-song re-creation is less wildly adventurous than usual for the Punch Brothers but a nice, intimate homage. (8 p.m. Tue., Palace Theatre, 17 W. 7th Place, St. Paul, $30-$55, first-avenue.com)

J.B.