ON STAGE THE WEEK’S BEST
MICHAEL MCDERMOTT
Style: Folky rock.
Backstory: In the 1990s, Michael McDermott was playing Chicago coffeehouses. Stints with bands and higher education hadn’t worked out, and early albums like 1993’s “Gethsemane” reflected how the budding songwriter and singer was following, knowingly or unknowingly, the paths laid out by Dylan, Cohen et al.
Why you should go: McDermott has now been around too long to be the “new Dylan” he used to be tagged as, and 2016’s “Willow Springs” revealed his current maturity. The follow-up, this year’s “Out From Under,” has a classicist folk-rock bent and a roots-rock yen that helped McDermott get away with influential echoes.
Opener: Heather Horton, a violinist, singer and songwriter who co-founded the Westies in Chicago with her husband, one Michael McDermott.
Time and place: 8 p.m. Friday, Shank Hall, 1434 N. Farwell Ave.
Price: $15 at the box office, (866) 4683401 and shankhall.com.
— Jon M. Gilbertson, Special to the Journal Sentinel
STRAND OF OAKS
Style: “Indie meets Springsteen” doesn’t cover it, but it’s not a bad start.
Backstory: Originally from Indiana, Timothy Showalter left that state for Pennsylvania and stayed there despite undergoing a wife’s infidelity and the destruction, by fire, of his house. Eventually, he found a geographical and spiritual home in Philadelphia, and found a larger audience with the 2014 fulllength “HEAL,” an intelligent modernization of folk and rock tropes.
Why you should go: Starting a collaborative “Spring Classic” event in Milwaukee the way he has done the “Winter Classic” in Philly, Showalter is performing two solo shows off “Harder Love,” his odds-’n’-sods version of last year’s “Hard Love.” He’s promised an interactive and collaborative experience with the fans of a city he loves.
Openers: Solid local acts Chris DeMay on Friday and Schleicher on Saturday.
Time and place: 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Cactus Club, 2496 S. Wentworth Ave.
Price: $15 each night at cactusclubmilwaukee.com and etix.com, $15 at the door day of show.
— Jon M. Gilbertson
JUSSIE SMOLLET
Style: Fluidly loving modern R&B. Backstory: As a child actor, Jussie Smollett showed up in commercials and movies both loved (1992’s “The Mighty Ducks”) and best forgotten (1994’s “North”). As an adult in 2014, he drew raves as Jamal Lyon, a gay musician, on the TV series “Empire.” Perhaps as a result of his performance, he signed a contract with a major label by 2015.
Why you should go: After co-writing songs for “Empire,” Smollett showed wider range with this year’s debut LP, “Sum of My Music,” which amalgamates R&B from the early 1970s to the present with skill that Childish Gambino might appreciate. Smollett’s a talented singer who doesn’t let slick production overwhelm him, so he’ll likely come across just as well on the stage.
Time and place: 10:10 p.m. Saturday, Miller Lite Mainstage, PrideFest. Price: $13 to $250.
— Jon M. Gilbertson
TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE
Style: Mississippi Delta heritage that has entered the 21st century.
Backstory: Even in musically saturated New Orleans, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews stood out a bit, leading bands before he was even a preteen and jumping into a horn section for a Lenny Kravitz world tour when he was 21. His appearances on the HBO show “Treme” and albums like 2010’s “Backatown” proved he was more than a prodigy.
Why you should go: Trombone Shorty’s latest LP, 2017’s “Parking Lot Symphony,” is marinated in at least much classic rhythm and blues, funk and soul as it is jazz (which can encompass so many things anyway). On the road with his touring group, Orleans Avenue, Trombone Shorty can really swing.
Time and place: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Turner Hall Ballroom, 1040 N. 4th St.
Price: $30 at the door and in advance at the Pabst Theater box office (144 E. Wells St.), the Riverside Theater box office (116 W. Wisconsin Ave.), (414) 2863663 and pabsttheater.org.