Crucial Concerts for the Coming Week

"The Pre-Roll" Open Mic Showcase

J Soulja's hat collection will soon rival that of a Lids store if he continues creating opportunities for his peers. His latest endeavor, an open mic and networking mixer called "The Pre-Roll," hits on the first and third Tuesday of each month at Flamingo Cantina. The East Austin emcee wants the new live show series to differ from typical open mic events by emphasizing the presence of a dedicated space for hip-hop creatives to mingle. Soulja also hopes that some of the artists that come through for the biweekly showcase can eventually graduate to performing on one of his quarterly Smoke Out concert bills.

"When people walk in, you can expect a very welcoming energy for creatives to come in and break the ice with each other," the 28-year-old tells the Chronicle. "The goal is to bring creatives into a space where they can meet people who can facilitate their careers to different avenues."

Sign-up for the showcase begins on-site at 7:30pm, and registration, maxing out at 25 artists, usually fills up within 10 minutes, according to its host. Artists each perform one song, receive feedback from a panel of noteworthy judges – last month's panel featured the Teeta – and either move on to another phase of development or garner advice on how to improve. – Derek Udensi

Money Chicha, Superfónicos

Between the virtual Wepa Cumbia Roots Festival earlier this month and the in-person Road to River Revival Music Festival in Houston next month, Money Chicha transitions from isolation to adulation live on Red River. Spellcasting psychedelic, Peruvian, cumbia-chicha slink, the ATX Grupo Fantasma/Brownout offshoot teams with the Afro-Colombian funk of Superfónicos, led by Dripping Springs curandero Nicolas Sanchez Castro. A two-band skank-down outside-n-dizzy? ¡Pues sí! "A lot of funk and psychedelia," checked in Money Chicha jefe Beto Martinez about his lockdown playlist last summer. "And of course heavy doses of chicha from Los Orientalis, Los Destellos, and Manzanita." – Raoul Hernandez

We Are the Asteroid, Sabbath Crow, Amaru

With all of its membership drawn from veteran – hell, legendary – Texas noise, psych, and power rock bands like Ed Hall, Chaindrive, Daddy Longhead, Moist Fist, Pain Teens, and Texacala Jones Pony Island Express, there's no way We Are the Asteroid isn't the ultimate power trio. Latest album Wonderful World proffers waves of weirdo grunge that will hit full capacity for what will be WATA's last show in Austin for an unknown period. Cowpokin' metalheads Sabbath Crow and political thrashers Amaru lay waste to the Lost Well's beloved stage beforehand. – Michael Toland

Chase Weinacht, Good Looks, Claire Puckett

Saturday, a powerhouse trifecta of Austin's serious songwriter acts blesses Long Play Lounge East. Supporting enchanted solo album Dust, virtuosic six-stringer Claire Puckett unleashes her angelic voice over guitar work so delicate and soothing as to feel piped in from God's waiting room. Chase Weinacht, co-frontdude of Austin indie essentials Marmalakes, mines his own rich songwriter stash for what's sure to be a master class in indie emotional eloquence, now and for the first night ever with six players on Long Play's golden glitter-draped stage. Good Looks, formerly Tyler Jordan & the Negative Space, bring arresting, sensitive Southern rock. – Christina Garcia

Jaime Wyatt, Jamie Lin Wilson

After a county jail stint for robbing her heroin dealer, Jaime Wyatt's 2017 debut Felony Blues branded the one-time jailbird a walk-the-walk outlaw revivalist. 2020's Neon Cross again finds the Nashville crooner on the search for redemption. Producer Shooter Jennings molds honky-tonk pedal steel, Wyatt's timeless timbre, and throaty guitars into lyrical salves for Wyatt's hard living and harder truths: life after relapse, divorce, and coming out as gay. It's a sonic testament that salvation is more of an odyssey than a destination. Coming off the heels of her Mickey Newbury's "T. Total Tommy" cover recorded at Austin's Arlyn Studios, Jamie Lin Wilson brings her poetic, Lone Star picking to the stage. – Beth Sullivan

Elliott Smith Tribute

When the L.A. music scene gathered to celebrate and mourn Elliott Smith at the Henry Fonda Theatre in 2003, Tito Larriva could barely make it through his two songs in honor of his friend. On the eve of what would have been Smith's 52nd birthday Larriva's daughter, Lolita Lynne, gathers a new generation of ATX indie artists influenced by the troubadour's devastatingly raw introspection woven in immaculate melodies. Moving Panorama's Leslie Sisson and Sun June's Laura Caldwell are among those joining the free tribute, as well as Dan Duszynski (Loma), Jennifer Moore (Deep Time), and Spencer Carter (Gilded Lows), plus band sets from Slomo Drags and Daphne Tunes. – Doug Freeman