What a stunning curiosity Joanna Newsom is; hard to believe Devendra is the one who ended up as the figurehead of “freak folk” when she’s up there with a harp, right? But acclaimed records like The Milk-Eyed Mender and Ys instead set her up as the indisputable princess of indie folk over the course of the mid-aughts (presumably those genres are mutually exclusive), her enthusiastic reception by fans and critics alike due roughly in equal measure to the bizarre medieval-Appalachia redneck-knight vibe her chosen instrument brought to the mixes and to her occasional fits of borderline-Bjorky chirps. When you get down to it, in fact, they’re actually used rather to rather similar effect, both expertly, which of course bodes well for the triple-CD album she has for us this time.

Phish bassist goes solo. Again. Come on, guys, are you doing this reunion thing or not?

Much has been made about Richmond celtic-rock fusion band Carbon Leaf’s song “The Boxer” around these parts ever since it soundtracked an ad for Cadillacs or some other similarly soul-sucking deathtraps years ago, but don’t let that little weenie number fool you — at the live shows it’s really “Desperation Song” and the old-school rollicking set-closer “Mary Mac” that get all the juice.

A big thumbs-up to the Tea House for this lineup and all (not to mention the startlingly inconsequential price they’ll be asking for it at the door), but unfortunately for poor Ernest Greene, precocious South Carolinian songwriter, his lo-fi home-recorded keyboards and hazy dreamscape atmospheres may well be on the edge of turning him into the poster child for another stupid navel-gazing genre that really shouldn’t exist in the first place. “Chillwave?” Come on, people. What, you couldn’t figure out how to squeeze a -core in there? We’re going to start making up genre names just to see if anybody notices. Should keep you on your toes.

But by all means, pick up a copy of his cassette-only EP and you’ll briefly be on the cutting edge of indie-pop hipness until the next thing comes around. Oh, hey, look, here it comes now. A fleeting reward, to put it mildly, but still.

The openers aren’t too shabby either: Casio-loving bubblecore-pop quartet Small Black, and Pictureplane, whose “Goth Star” was hands-down one of the very best porktronica releases we heard last year.

Rootsy rock band in which VCU music students perform Americana tunes written by Richmond songwriter Doug Fuller. One-man band Kristoffer Wright opens with loop-based Caribbean-flavored folk-rock.

Kristoffer Wright - Alaskan Wood

Mister Baby beefs up the tunes of local alt-country songwriter Megan Huddleston. Also featuring local Americana rock outfit Pantherburn and Asheville country-rockers Wooden Toothe. This show is a dual fundraiser for both the SPCA and Mister Baby bassist Jake Hopping’s ailing mother.

Pantherburn - The Octopus
Pantherburn - Mister Baby [demo]

Look, do you really need us to explain this?

Alt-country songwriter

Carlton James - St. Augy
Carlton James - Smile Boys
Carlton James - Dig A Hole
Carlton James - Blue Moon Please

Americana rock

Cover band

Reggae

The Greg Ward Project - Right Time

Roots-rock and Americana quartet

The Lost Souls - Wildflower
The Lost Souls - NJ Turnpike
The Lost Souls - Horseshoes

Roots-rock and Americana quartet

The Lost Souls - Wildflower
The Lost Souls - NJ Turnpike
The Lost Souls - Horseshoes

Husky-voiced local singer-songwriter and his backing band

Rock and blues covers and standards

Last seen around these parts opening for wrinkly old George Strait about three years back, Taylor Swift has since exploded into one of the biggest crossover stars to come out of Nashville since Shania Twain in the 90’s — and remarkably, she pulled it off largely while writing or co-writing her material in a corner of the country music world where that’s not the norm. But after closing the door on her teen years — she turned 20 in December — her whole “precocious youngster” angle might not be as viable anymore, and one also hopes it means she’ll finally stop writing about her breakup with Joe Jonas a couple years back.

As was the case with both Springsteen and Pink back in ‘06 and ‘07, respectively, there’s a local connection here — look for former Charlottesville guitarist Mike Meadows, alum of Small Town Workers and MoneyPenny, playing that banjo bit at the top of “Love Story”.

And that particular riff actually underscores Taylor’s whole deal, in a way — it was edited out and replaced with distorted guitars for an alternate pop mix which was delivered to more mainstream radio outlets. She’s not country, folks — not enough Miranda Lambert-style backwoods-bugshit crazy in there for that, thankfully, and it also takes more than just the occasional fiddle part. Rather, she’s just another regular pretty pop tart just like any of the others oh man it’s distressing how long this could go on. Nothing wrong with that, really, but make your plans accordingly.

John Mayer has come a long way since his student-baiting appearance in the back of the dearly-departed Corner location of Plan 9 a decade or whatever ago — multi-platinum albums, hopping from one paparazzi-fodder girlfriend to the next, etc. And yeah, he has a cornball schmaltzy side; “Say” is already pretty grating even before you realize it was written for The Bucket List, and the ol’ standby body-as-amusement-park metaphor is probably the all-time leader when it comes to enabling frat-house seductions. But the thing is, you have to adore his sense of humor about it all, and — consider the acoustic version of “Neon” or the solo-guitar cover of Radiohead’s “Kid A” on Heavier Things — the guy can seriously play. Hopefully we a) will see evidence of both here, and b) won’t have to sit through “Comfortable.” Socially conscious hip hop poet Michael Franti and his acclaimed 90’s funk and soul band Spearhead open.

Monthly choral Evensong performances directed by UVA professor Paul Walker

Southern rock and alternative

The Seedz - Hey You
The Seedz - Another Fool

Local rock band