Big Turn Festival: Red Wing's unlikely answer to South by Southwest keeps getting bigger, with around 200 Midwest acts spread between 23 hoppable downtown venues in its third year. Friday's lineup includes such familiar singer/songwriters as Charlie Parr, Lydia Liza, Nicholas David, Trapper Schoepp, Mark Mallman, Mother Banjo, Ben Weaver and Katy Vernon along with buzzing newcomers like Nur-D, Gully Boys and Static Panic. Saturday is even crazier, with jamming mainstays the Big Wu, Bon Iver associate S. Carey, Trip Shakespeare vet Matt Wilson's new "orchestra," heavy rockers Porcupine and the Shackletons, rapper Sean Anonymous, bluegrassy pickers Barbaro and Pistol Poppin' Penguins, songwriters Mason Jennings, Pieta Brown, David Huckfelt and Actual Wolf, and dozens more to discover. (5 p.m. Fri., 3 p.m. Sat., downtown Red Wing, $40 or $75/two-day, bigturnmusicfest.com.)

Big Head Todd and the Monsters: After playing the Minnesota Zoo again last summer, Colorado's "Bittersweet" '90s hitmakers return to champion 2017's "New World Arisin'," one of their heaviest efforts, featuring the funk-rock jam "Trip," the Hüsker-ish post-punk "Detonator," and a trippingly psychedelic reading of Hendrix's "Room Full of Mirrors." (8 p.m. Fri., Palace Theatre, St. Paul, $35-$80)

Ben Noble: The Denver-reared, Minneapolis-based singer/songwriter crafted a fantastical, synth- and electronics-laden backdrop for his second album, "Where the Light Comes In," full of sweetly sung, dramatic, bright-eyed ambient-pop that is weirdly but convincingly equal parts Bon Iver and Owl City. Maple & Beech open his release party. (8 p.m. Fri., Parkway Theater, Mpls., $15-$20)

Yung Gravy: This Minnesota rapper deals in sleazy and sexist faux-pimp cliches that seem extra laughable considering he's from Rochester. He's gotten a big enough viral following to play Minneapolis' new 1,850-capacity venue, though, so who's laughing now? DJ Tiiiiiiiiiip opens. (8 p.m. Fri., Fillmore Minneapolis, all ages, $32.50)

Natty Nation: Madison's veteran reggae groovers are putting on their fifth annual Twin Cities tribute to Bob Marley following what would've been his 75th birthday. (9 p.m. Fri., Hook & Ladder, Mpls., $12-$15)

Echosmith: Seven years after their debut album, this trio of siblings offered their second full length last month. Produced by their dad, "Lonely Generation" is a solid pop collection, with echoes of Carly Rae Jepsen, Taylor Swift and vintage new wave. Considering that the Sierota sibs were teenagers when they dropped their debut, this is a step forward. Lead singer Sydney Sierota sounds more mature, notably on the ballad "Everyone Cries," a duet with her brother Noah, and on the title track about coming of age, a logical follow-up to their 2013 hit "Cool Kids." With Weathers and Jayden Bartels. (7 p.m. Fri., Fine Line, Mpls., $25)

Bluegrassy pickers Barbaro are one of the bands from down river performing at the Big Turn Festival in Red Wing this weekend.

The Cedar Commissions: What happens when six genre-busting Twin Cities musicians get Jerome Foundation grants to create meaningful new music? Find out at this ninth annual showcase, starting Friday with inspiring piano song looper Freaque's topical riff "Fury," neo-classical composer Anat Spiegel's ode to her inspirators "My Four Mothers" and guitarist Ilan Blanck's saga about his refugee great-grandparents "La Primera Vez Que Me Siento Seguro." Saturday has buzzing electro-rapper Dua Saleh's Afrodiasporic collage "Strings and Heart Beats," Tensae Fayise's East African-rooted "Ye Terrarou Tenfash" and multidisciplinary artist Rebecca Nichloson's trilogy "Multicolored Musings: Jewels of Love, Loss & Triumph." It's truly something you've never heard before. (7:30 p.m. Fri. & Sat., 416 Cedar Av. S., Mpls., all ages, $10 or $15/two-night, thecedar.org).

Raphael Saadiq: Since leaving the hitmaking R&B trio Tony! Toni! Toné! in 1997, Saadiq has taken many unpredictable turns as a singer, songwriter and producer. His most fascinating diversion yet may have been last year's underrated album "Jimmy Lee," his first solo effort in nine years. The record was based on his older brother's death from addiction and other family traumas, with dark and heartwarming elements around deep and infectious grooves, all in the spirit of Prince's "Sign o' the Times." Opener Jamila Woods was Chance the Rapper's co-vocalist on "Sunday Candy." (8:30 p.m. Sat., First Avenue, Mpls., $35, first-avenue.com)

James McMurtry: The son of an award-winning novelist/screenwriter and an English teacher, he fits in neatly with the Texas troubadour tradition. Like Guy Clark, he etches vivid character portraits with a plain-spoken voice. Like Steve Earle, he asks questions about the world and himself. For three decades now, McMurtry, who has a weekly gig at Austin's famed Continental Club, has been delivering compelling Americana tunes. (7 & 9 p.m. Sat., Dakota, Mpls., $20-$35)

Woody Guthrie tribute: Minnesota music mainstays Pop Wagner and Charlie Maguire salute the great American balladeer, 80 years after he wrote "This Land Is Your Land." "All you can write is what you see," Guthrie scribbled on the bottom of the finished manuscript originally titled "God Blessed America for Me." (6 p.m. Sat., Crooners, Fridley, $25)

Stacey Kent: "I Know, I Dream," the latest album by the delicately elegant New Jersey-born, London-based jazz vocalist, is her first effort with an orchestra. No, she's not touring with an orchestra but with her husband, saxophonist Jim Tomlinson, who connected with this Sarah Lawrence College grad in comparative lit when she came to pursue a master's degree in England. (7 p.m. Sun., Dakota, $30-$50)

Dorian Electra: After touring with Charlie XCX and guesting on her hit "Femmebot," this gender-fluid electro-pop performer is bubbling under with a series of colorful and campy videos for songs off last summer's debut album "Flamboyant," including "Daddy Like" and "Career Boy." (8:30 p.m. Mon., 7th St. Entry, Mpls., sold out)

Jill Scott: The Philly force focuses on love, found and lost, whether she's doing spoken-word, soul, jazz, rock, hip-hop or R&B. Not only has the Grammy winner has been a mainstay on the R&B charts for 20 years with such hits as "A Long Walk," "Hate on Me" and "Blessed," but she's an in-demand collaborator who's teamed with the Roots, Anthony Hamilton, Erykah Badu and others. Plus, she's a sometimes actress, most recently on "Black-ish" and "Black Lightning." (8 p.m. Tue., Fillmore, $70 and up)

Dashboard Confessional: One of the biggest fixes yet in the growing wave of nostalgia for Y2K-era emo, Chris Carraba and his "Screaming Infidelities"-hitmaking band are marking their 20th anniversary on tour and bringing along Kansas City's Get Up Kids to open Midwest dates. The latter have their first album in eight years to promote, "Problems," but Dashboard is going back to early-era tunes on this trek, in particular tracks off their second and third records. (8 p.m. Tue., First Avenue, $35)

Buddy Guy: The 83-year-old Chicago blues legend continues to command respect for his recordings (2018's "the Blues Is Alive and Well" won him another Grammy) and his live performances. He's a chatty, showy entertainer who can pull off impressions of Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King and Eric Clapton and deliver his own blues with passionate vocals and flashy fretwork. (8 p.m. Thu., Fillmore, $80 and up)

Curtis Stigers: The '90s soft-rock singer (remember "I Wonder Why"?) turned to jazz in this century. On his latest, 2017's "One More for the Road," he affectionately mimics Frank Sinatra. (7 p.m. Thu., Dakota, $30-$40)