Weekly Music Agenda
MONDAY
>> What better way to spend St. Patrick's Night than pummeling your liver with the Pogues at the 9:30 Club? Sorry, Boyo; that show was last Monday. And this here Monday, well . . . Critically regarded "folkabilly" songbird Nanci Griffith kicks off a three-night residency at the Birchmere. With Peter Cooper. $45, 7:30 p.m.
>> DJ Shane Rock spins an indie/electro cocktail at DC9 for your wistening & damping pweasure.
>> Two weeks ago a few DCists went out to Iota for the Federal Reserve collective's monthly show. We were absolutely blown away by the folky talents of Rose, John Bustine and Brandon Butler. The three of them are helping the Velvet Lounge celebrate St. Patty's day tonight, so you can have your chance to be impressed too. $7, 9 p.m.
TUESDAY
>> To hear them tell it, the Virginia Beach quintet Mae just want to rock and roll all night and party ev-er-y day. Making their Capitol Records debut, Singularity, they had U2, Pearl Jam, and the Smashing Pumpkins on their minds -- bands that make big tunes for big rooms. Find out how their stadium-sized ambitions translate to the sweaty confines of the Black Cat mainstage. With the Honorary Title and Between the Trees. $15, 8:00 p.m.
>> I know I'm getting old, because I really do feel like acts' names are getting dumber all the time. Take the Artist Formerly Known as John Vesely, who records and performs as Secondhand Serenade. That's like calling your band "Cover Band" or something. Anyway, if you were in high school -- or anywhere near a high school -- during the first Clinton administration, then surely you remember "More than Words" by Extreme, an amazingly communicable hair ballad wherein a girl is gently persuaded to surrender her virtue. Every Secondhand Serenade song -- okay, every 30-second excerpt of a Secondhand Serernade song that I've secondhand-sampled on iTunes -- reminds me of "More than Words." Which is to say that All the Young Dudes would be well advised to keep their enemies close but their girlfriends closer when this guy brings his musical Rohypnol to Jammin’ Java. (Rescheduled from Feb. 25; tickets from the original date will be honored.) With Making April, Automatic Loveletter and White Tie Affair. $13 in advance, $15 at the door, 6:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
>> Kingmaking Santa Monica public radio station KCRW -- home of "Morning Becomes Eclectic" -- lends its hipper-than-thou imprimatur to Sons and Daughters at the Rock and Roll Hotel. With Holy Fuck and A Place to Bury Strangers. $13, 8:30 p.m.
>> Milton, Ontario septet the Most Serene Republic continue to tour their ambitious sophomore album, Populations. They're at DC9 with Miracle Fortress . . . and son-of-Neil Liam Finn.With Sting and Eddie Van Halen bringing their male heirs out on the road with them, you can't really blame Neil Finn for making Liam a member of the reunited Crowded House for last year's tour. Not to mention the fact that I'll Be Lighting, Liam's debut album, offers strong evidence that the gift for strong pop melodies may in fact be hereditary. $10, 9:00 p.m.
>> Ashville, NC's Toubab Krewe bring their Southern-rock-by-way-of-Mali to the State Theatre. We're fairly certain that they'll be the only act bringing a 21-string kora with them to the State this week. The Krewe allows audience taping -- if you're on the fence about whether to go, you can (legally) download recordings of the Krewe's live shows here. $10 in advance, $12 at the door, 8:30 p.m.
>> Meanwhile, up I-95 a piece in Balmer, Stars - yet another KCRW-endorsed, Pitchfork-approved indie pop collective out of Montreal -- play Sonar, with Washington Social Club frontman Martin Royle opening. $20, 8 p.m.
THURSDAY
>>Portland's Panther stalks the Red and the Black. $8, 9:30 p.m.
>> Sweet Teeth -- an amalgam of local acts Black and White Jacksons and Wild Fictions -- take a bite out of DC9. With Mumpsy and Tiger & the Snow. $10, 8p.m.
FRIDAY
>> Paste calls her "a force to be reckoned with as a singer and a songwriter in any genre she approaches." Across the pond, Uncut says she's "the most accomplished new american female songwriter to emerge in a decade." So clearly the weight of critical opinion compels you to check out Tift Merritt at the Birchmere. She's a little bit more country than Sheryl Crow; a little bit more rock and roll than Emmylou Harris. With the Everybodyfields. $25, 7:30 p.m.
>> Three Stars and Unbuckled alums Le Loup return to the Black Cat mainstage. With the Ruby Suns and Bellman Barker. $10, 9:00 p.m.
>> In the 60s, Leon Russell was a member of Phil Spector's studio group, and he arranged Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High." In the 70s, he toured with the Rolling Stones and made a record with Willie Nelson. In the 80's, he rested. But about a decade ago, this roots-music workhorse began steadily releasing albums again. He plays the State Theatre. $19, 7:00 p.m.
SATURDAY
>> The uber-prolific Mountain Goats will probably have recorded four more albums of low-fi indie folk by the time they show their frightening, Bruce Campbell-like chins on the Black Cat mainstage. With the Moaners. $15, 9:00 p.m. Sold out.
>>Silver Spring power trio the Jet Age (nee the Hurricane Lamps) are enjoying a wave of favorable press for their recent What Did You Do During the War, Daddy? album, a concept record about a guy who (SPOILER WARNING) becomes a suicide bomber. Yeah, we hear it's a great record. But we also think they're getting some good ink because they have one of the coolest band logos we've see since we got in trouble for drawing Aerosmith's winged badge of rockitude on the inside cover of our algebra textbook. Watch them fire up their afterburners to rock the Red and the Black. $8, 9:30 p.m.
>> Hardworking local faves Exit Clov shake it on over to IOTA. Let's hope the Hsu sisters leave their cover of Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" at home this time and focus on their fine original material instead. With Pretty and Nice and the Cobra Collective. $10, 9:30 p.m.
>> The night after Leon Russell, the State gets a visit from another grizzled, long-lived road warrior. Johnny Winter has been carrying the blues-rock torch for four decades, so another two hours shouldn't even faze him. $26, 7:00 p.m.
SUNDAY
>> San Diego singer/songwriter Gary Jules had already been performing professionally for more than a decade when his cover of Tears for Fears' "Mad World" showed up on the soundtrack of the cult film Donnie Darko and became a U.K. hit, reinvigorating his career. And now that his "Falling Awake" has been featured in an episode of Grey's Anatomy, he never need worry again. Let Gary sing your hurt away at IOTA. With Los Angeles folk-rocker AM and Mando Saenz. $12, 8:30 p.m.
>> DJ Nitecrawler spins Funk-Soul-Disco-Afrobeat-Breaks at Marvin. No cover, 10 p.m.