Weekly Music Agenda

WEDNESDAY
>> The Whigs barely have an hour's worth of released music under their belt, but the Athens, Georgia trio are some of the hardest working men in rock and roll these days. I'd need two hands to count the number of times they've passed through D.C. in the few years I've lived here, and they return to the Black Cat. It's been two years since the higher-fi Mission Control followed up their absolute-ass-kickin' garagey debut, Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip, so check out what Julian Doro and Parker Gispert have been working on of late. Opening up for them are heavy psych-purveyors and fellow Athenians Dead Confederate, as well as Trances Arc. Tickets $12, Doors 8 p.m.

>> The Arabesque Festival at the Kennedy Center is ongoing, and here's the absolute pick of the week: B'net Houariyet, a group of Berber women from the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, who play a number of different North African (primarily Berber) musical styles. As reported in the Post, the Festival's director got dragged to one of their concerts and fell immediately in love, but the only way to reach them was by fax to a local shopkeeper who acted as the go-between. I know what you're thinking, and the answer is yes -- they may break out into an ahaouch jam at some point. Best of all, it's free. 6 p.m. at the KenCen's Millenium Stage.

>> Lucinda Williams and her wrecking crew, Buick 6, are back at the 9:30 for a second night. Tickets $40, Doors 7 p.m.

>> Justin Townes Earle may have a famous father, and like said father, he may also be a troubadour of the alt.folk.country.rock variety, but he's been out blazing his own mavericky (is it safe to start saying "maverick" again?) trail. Like his father. Nah, but seriously, Earle has a strong, wise-beyond-his-years voice and has toured with some of the best of alt-country. He's breaking out on his own at the Birchmere in Alexandria. Tickets $22.50, Doors 7:30 p.m.

THURSDAY
>> Nascent flower punks The Black Lips caused a ruckus on their last trip through town, this time last year. It was nasty. Since then, they escaped from Indian police in a mad dash for the border after an unfortunate episode on tour this winter and released a new album, 200 Million Thousand. The lead single, "Starting Over", is considerably more tuneful than the fuzzy psych of the rest of the album, but it's still the Black Lips being the Black Lips. Even better, they've got Atlanta's own Gentleman Jesse and His Men -- one of the first truly dynamite power pop bands to come out since Philly's Bigger Lovers called it quits -- opening up for them at the Black Cat. Not to be missed. $13/15, Doors at 8 p.m.

>> MySpace band genre tags are usually either an exercise in cred-claiming or drenched in sarcasm, but in the case of NYC's duo Pete and J, "Melodramatic Popular song" is actually pretty apt. Most of their tunes play like McCartney with a Heartbreakers kick, and while there have been literally thousands of acts in a similar vein before them and there will be thousands more, Pete and J do the quasi-genre a service with an energy, fine enough harmonies, and a couple melodic twists lying around the corner. They play at the Rock and Roll Hotel with openers Chris Cubeta and the Liars Club, who will fill your weekly Ben Folds fix, should you have one. Also local folkies Kashgar, $10/12, Doors at 8 p.m.

Lucinda Williams plays at the 9:30 Club, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Photo from her website.

FRIDAY
>> The Rock and Roll Hotel's upstairs bar features Disco City. We can virtually guarantee you that this guy knows more about disco than you do. Whether that's a plus or deal-breaker is up to you. Free, 9:30 p.m. - 2:30 a.m.

>> You all may have heard of a little singer-songwriter named Ani DiFranco. Perhaps your freshman year roommate spun her compact discs endlessly? Or perhaps you dig her latest, Red Letter Year, which she recorded on time off after having a baby. It came out last fall to generally favorable reviews. We here in the District get her for a two night stand at the 9:30, starting on Friday night. Friday's tickets are sold out, but some are still left for the Saturday show. Doors 8 p.m.

SATURDAY
>> Few artists seem to divide opinion quite like ex-Moldy Peach Kimya Dawson. Weird, endearing, cute, or cloying, she's been a pretty steady presence in D.C. ever since her breakthrough on the Juno soundtrack. Don't buy the anti-folk label: check out her set Saturday night at the Black Cat. She's performing with Jeffrey Lewis for a meager $13. Doors at 9 p.m.

>> Ani DiFranco's back at the 9:30 for Part Deux. She's got Chad Stokes in support this time, and unlike Friday night's show, tickets are still available. Doors at 8 p.m., $40.

SUNDAY
>> It's that time of year again when everyone becomes Irish for the ten days leading up to St. Patrick's Day and any band with a vague claim to Irish-ness gets trotted out for an annual tour. The Tossers are actually pretty damn solid though, covering some old-timey favorites with zeal and demonstrating that the distance between punk, Irish folk, and country music just isn't that big. They kick off the holiday season with Dublin's own Mighty Stef Band. Tickets $10/12, Doors 8 p.m.

>> Pretty cool event going down at DC9; if you needed a real excuse to go see live music on a Sunday, this might be it. The club is putting on their quarterly singer-songwriter showcase, The Nine, which features (you guessed it) NINE different musicians from the area: Justin Trawick, Victoria Vox, Vince Scheuerman (from Army of Me), Rana Mansour, Justin Jones, Laura Tsaggaris, Jason Ager, Molly Hagen, and Laura Brino. All that for $8, which is, yes, less than one dollar per quality singer-songwriter. Doors at 7 p.m., showtime 7:30.