Picks

Peterson Brothers

8pm, 512 Rooftop A hit at the 2013 Austin City Limits Music Festival, the Peter­son Brothers play the blues well beyond their years. They've been voted Best Under 18 in the Austin Music Poll for the past two years and have held down a Monday night happy hour residency at the Continental Club for equally as long. Look out, Gary Clark Jr. – Jim Caligiuri

Black Books

8pm, Dirty Dog Bar The humming around gravity-defying indie rockers Black Books, now celebrated but originally slept on, began building last year when they opened for the Flaming Lips and dropped their eponymous, four-star debut. At once grounded and celestial, the five friends cultivate soul-bearing lyrics, spacey riffs, and hypnotizing percussion. – Nina Hernandez

Syd Arthur

8:45pm, Haven Young UK quartet Syd Arthur nods to several progressive traditions with On an On: Canterbury, home of Caravan, Soft Machine, etc.; recording for revived prog label Harvest; named to recall psych/prog legends Syd Barrett, Arthur Lee, and Arthur Brown. Their whimsical, psych-pop upholds those traditions nicely. – Michael Toland

Bobby Patterson

9pm, 512 Rooftop A veteran Dallas soul auteur, Patterson's résumé is as colorful as his stage patter, from his classic Sixties/Seventies sides and exploits as a songwriter/producer/record company promo man to his years as jive-talking DJ on hometown R&B station KKDA. With Austin's scrappy Disciples backing him and a new album in the can, this ageless pro is overdue for rediscovery by a new generation. – Scott Schinder

Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis

9pm, the Main; Wed., Victorian Room at the Driskill, 11pm The longstanding marital duo of honey-voiced alt.country chanteuse Willis and ace tunesmith Robison struck gold last year with their first collaborative album, Cheater's Game. Onstage, the pair channels the same unpretentious charm and easygoing rapport that makes the album such a gem. – Scott Schinder

Ume

9:30pm, Cheer Up Charlie's Ume hits SXSW with a new fire in its belly: third LP Monuments, which dropped March 4. The Austin trio rode last album Phantoms for 200 tour stops, and true to form, they hit the road starting with the West Coast next week. Catch the massive sound of hurricane frontwoman Lauren Larson while they're contained in Austin. – Abby Johnston

Nakia

10pm, the Main Austin's soldier of soul has been all over the music universe since Cee Lo picked him for his team on The Voice. He came back down to Earth with an EP of original tunes, the Southern rawk and soul of Drown in the Crimson Tide. His powerful voice aims for the stars but wafts down to us folks below with emotional resonance. – Rob Cohen

The Autumn Defense

10pm, Red 7 Patio; Thu., Continental Club, 8pm; Fri., Maggie Mae's Gibson Room, 8pm When not busy with their regular gig as members of Wilco, John Stirratt and Pat Sansone make stirring, sensitive art-pop as the Autumn Defense. Over the past decade and a half, they've found time to make five impeccably crafted, emotionally affecting albums, the latest being the numerically accurate Fifth. – Scott Schinder

Zorch

11pm, North Door This Austin duo, consisting of keyboarder Zac Traeger and singer/drummer Sam Chown, specializes in experimental, lo-fi spazz attacks. Playing for a good handful of years, the pair didn't release its first proper LP, Zzoorrcchh (Sargent House), until last year and what it lacks in restraint, it makes up for in pure joy. – Melanie Haupt

Amy Cook

11pm, Stephen F's Bar Local folk muse Amy Cook turns winter alabaster into Summer Skin, also the name of her LP from 2012. In her decadelong career in Austin, Cook's caught the eye of everyone from longtime resident Ben Kweller to Robert Plant. Her live show is typically stripped and simple, with little more needed than Cook and her guitar. – Abby Johnston

Carolyn Wonderland

11pm, the Main The reigning queen of Austin blues, Carolyn Wonderland sparks fire on guitar and soulful fury in the force of her vocal grit. Since 2011's Peace Meal, reveling in Wonderland's rough and raw Janis Joplin-esque howl and burn-down blues, she's lent her impeccable riffs to a number of albums, including the upcoming LP from the Stooges' James Williamson, Re-licked. 2014 promises a necessary live album. – Doug Freeman

The Preatures

11:05pm, Haven Australian fivepiece the Preatures looks composed of 20-year-olds, but its members are old enough to remember the Eighties. The band's Missing Persons update scored it a couple of hits Down Under, winning the Vanda and Young Songwriting Competition in the bargain. The group's Harvest Records debut arrives later this year. – Michael Toland

Dana Falconberry

11:10pm, Javelina With 2012's Leelanau, local songstress Dana Falconberry found the right mix she's been developing since 2006's Paper Sailboat, expanding her sound into more orchestral folk-pop while maintaining the ethereal vintage air of her vocals and meticulous, imagistic songwriting. Given her burgeoning band, Falconberry's delicately detailed harmonies get a fuller backing that touches on psychedelic to balance her mesmerizing folk. – Doug Freeman

Quiet Company

11:40pm, the Main II After sweeping the 2012 Austin Music Awards behind third LP We Are All Where We Belong, Quiet Company took control of their label-stuck 2006 debut by re-recording Shine Honesty. The retreading emphasized just how far forward the local quartet has pushed, their anthemic indie pop tightly controlled but eruptive with unsettled edges. They began 2014 in the studio for Belong's much anticipated follow-up. – Doug Freeman

Amplified Heat

12mid, Metal & Lace Lounge Too often overlooked in Austin's hard rock pantheon, band of brothers Amplified Heat ignores trends, buzz, and any and all artificially induced industry manipulation to keep faith with its ear-bleeding blues rock. The trio's most recent full-length, On the Hunt, will be a hard act to follow, but the forthcoming Madera, Volume 1 will do its damnedest. – Michael Toland

Madi Diaz

12mid, Buffalo Billiards Recently signed to the Nettwerk Music Group, L.A.'s Madi Diaz both confounds and appeals with a range that allows her to slip easily between genres. While the singer-songwriter started as more of an alt.country diva, she's ranged into jazz and pop of late, all with remarkable strength while crafting lyrics that belie her youth. Nettwerk hopes for a new album this summer. – Jim Caligiuri

The Octopus Project

1am, North Door Austin's psychtronica quartet has been bleeping it weird for 15 years now with a hypnotic blend of dance, pop, and psych. The quartet released fifth LP Fever Forms (Peek-A-Boo) last summer, and because the group's performances rely on a heavy visual element, it's fitting they just won a Musical Score jury award at Sundance for soundtracking Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter. – Melanie Haupt

Gripin

1am, Dirty Dog Bar Istanbul rock act Gripin celebrates the 10th anniversary of debut album Stories Are Told by bringing a grooving blend of guitar-based pop/rock and Turkish traditional music to SXSW for the third time. The band's hits and awards in its home country could fill a bank vault, so it comes well-fortified to win over stateside crowds the way it caught Billboard's attention as a breakthrough act last year. – Michael Toland

Avi Buffalo

1am, Buffalo Billiards Just after the release of an eponymous debut, Avi Zahner-Isenberg, the brainchild behind SoCal quartet Avi Buffalo, told NME that Dr. Dre was the inspiration for its second album. While that hasn't come to fruition, we're still enjoying the guitar-heavy folk teased on its first outing. Hard to imagine The Chronic 2001 as interpreted by folksters, but we're open. – Abby Johnston

Chance the Rapper

1am, Red 7 Patio "I ain't really been myself since Rod passed," spits Chancelor Bennett in the midst of the schizophrenic "Juice." Rod's a childhood friend and Chance was born in '93, so you can understand why his ghost might die hard. Acid Rap, the MC's breakout mixtape, is obsessed with the space between death and life, far more than any 20-year-old should be, but I guess you can't blame anyone growing up on the wrong side of Chicago. – Luke Winkie

Sleepers

People of Letters

9pm, 18th Floor at Hilton Garden Inn Another SXSW for this companion ensemble to the Women of Letters project, a Melbourne outfit bringing together writers, comedians, poets, and musicians to celebrate the lost art of letter-writing. Emily Kinney, Thor Harris, and Steve Roggenbuck are scheduled to appear. – Richard Whittaker

Spaceship Aloha

9pm, Old School Bar & Grill Philly's Man Man remains a very weird band despite career high LP On Oni Pond last year. Now, the solo debut from Christopher Powell, Spaceship Aloha, steps away from that aggressive weirdness a bit. Sure, he named his latest album Universe Mahalo: Volume 1, but it's defined by dusty, Dilla-esque beats. Nothing bizarre, and nothing gross. – Luke Winkie

The Rich Hands

9pm, Lit Lounge Upstairs From San Antonio arrives this threepiece sugar-riff machine. They come on like an Alamo City Buzzcocks that own more Fifties and Sixties 45s. Now and again, someone stomps a fuzz pedal and they evoke a Southern Jesus & Mary Chain who own more Duane Eddy records. High-energy punk rock carrying tunes catchier than an Indonesian flesh-eating virus. – Tim Stegall

Jesse Dangerously

10:55pm Flamingo Cantina Nerdcore's GOAT? Original hoodie ninja MC Chris says the hefty Halifax, Nova Scotia, rapper is the only geek in the game who can touch him. The self-declared GIRL (Genuine Independent Rap Legend) and heir to Buck 65's Canadian crown melds literate lyrics, pop-culture name drops, and snow-covered street savvy beats with anti-homophobic, anti-racist, anti-sexist politics. – Richard Whittaker

Akina Adderley & the Vintage Playboys

11pm, 512 Rooftop Granddaughter of jazz trumpeter Nat Adderley and daughter of Nat Jr. (bandleader for Luther Vandross), Akina Adderley leads one of Austin's biggest and best soul bands. Sometimes in excess of 10 members, they make it smooth or funky. Missing in action for most of 2013, the little woman with a huge voice gets back to business with a stylized brand of rock, funk, and contemporary R&B. – Jim Caligiuri

She Sir

11pm, Lit Lounge Upstairs We once called the sprightly, warm shoegaze of Austin's She Sir shimmer-pop, but on its new album Go Guitars, the foursome goes from glimmer to blinding. Go Guitars is louder, bolder, and full of rich texture, a new direction that bodes well for their already powerful live show. – Rob Cohen

Pack of Wolves

11pm, Dirty Dog Bar It's been a while since Austin's Pack of Wolves released a new batch of cubs on the world, and the band has only grown since then. Adding former members to the current lineup for a pack six strong, three guitars and two basses generate quite a din. Regardless, the group keeps its corrosive black metal raging at a fever pitch. – Michael Toland

Archie Powell & the Exports

11pm, Red 7 Patio They don't sound like graduates of the Elvis Costello and Dave Edmunds school of songwriting. The Windy City denizens sound like delinquents who were kicked out of said school. Expect more dark lyrical humor on top of the brash musical bash and pop on (ahem) Back in Black, due out later this spring. – Michael Bertin

Jerome LOL

11:45pm, Barcelona We're just now entering a period where it's possible to remember former eras of the Internet. The one Jerome LOL worships is stacked with AOL trial discs, and encrusted with the residue of AIM chat rooms. The Angeleno's white-guy funk stands as a tribute to the wonders of an impressionable teen on the big, scary World Wide Web. Growing up is hard to do. – Luke Winkie

Low Cut Connie

1am, Headhunters Patio You can practically smell the well liquor and pheromones wafting off of Low Cut Connie. The Philadelphia quintet puts the roll back in rock by pumping a lurid, hip-shaking groove driven by Jersey boy Adam Weiner's roadhouse piano. Throw in a little tongue-in-cheek nasty talk and disinhibition comes easily on tunes like "The Cat and the Cream." Daptone-approved producer Thomas Brenneck produced their forthcoming third LP. – Greg Beets

Leopold & his Fiction

1am, Soho Lounge; Wed., Karma, 9pm Mustachioed, muscle-bound, rock-star-in-progress, Daniel James exercises his impressive Les Paul chops while a lean rhythm section and a recently bulked-up girl choir aid his fuzzed-out Motown-meets-Americana routine, which often features an amplified reworking of Leadbelly's "When I Was a Cowboy." A contrived effort perhaps, but for James, with hypnotic eyeballs and a voice tantamount to Jack White, it's his rock & roll fantasy come to life. – Kevin Curtin

Carper Family

1am, Stephen F's Bar They're not related, but when Melissa Carper (bass), Beth Chrisman (fiddle), and Jenn Miori (guitar) sing, a familial thing happens. A throwback to mid-20th century vocal styles tweaked just a bit, Austin's Carper Family honor the roots of country music with great range and arresting simplicity. A recent appearance on A Prairie Home Companion and regular international tours have expanded the trio's reach and popularity. – Jim Caligiuri