CONCERT SAMPLER
Live music highlights from Jan. 21 to 27:
Thursday Harrow Fair, “Told a Lie to My Heart” Between Great Lakes Swimmers tours and just a few months removed from a solo tour in support of her own record Whipping Boy, Miranda Mulholland’s lengthy CV gets another entry with this newish pairing with Sunparlour Players’ Andrew Penner. Her fiddle and phrasing is a given, a real fiery delight it is, and off the evidence of this Hank Williams cover, theirs is a match that can pull out all the stops (heck, they wring ’em out, every last one). With Toronto’s Ben Hermann and Tim Hoxam also down for sets showcasing Mulholland’s Roaring Girl Records stable. (Burdock, doors 6 p.m.)
Friday Kygo, “Take on Me” An Ed Sheeran remix put him on the map at the end of 2013, and last year he finished with an appearance alongside Norwegian compatriots/ legends A-Ha of their big North American hit, bridging two eras of catchy Scandinavian pop. In between the young producer was a Lollapalooza headliner and his bubbly house confections earned Spotify’s breakout of 2015 status after hitting the platform’s billion-stream mark faster than anyone yet. The lineup on this Cloud Nine Tour includes Danish singer MØ who had a November show cancelled. Here’s your chance for a makeup date, and then some. (Enercare Centre, doors 9 p.m.)
Saturday Adam Rudolph, “Murmuration” Out of Chicago, the percussionist/ composer/conductor/teacher Rudolph is a protégé of the world, though to be specific, trumpeter Don Cherry and saxophonist Yusef Lateef, with whom he had a long association, loom perhaps largest. For this visit he’ll be playing with a group of AIMToronto locals for a night based on his “Organic Orchestra” approach in which he not so much leads the band as lets it shape itself: a community propelled by a massive, enveloping beat that lends structure and even grooves to their free flow. (Music Gallery, doors 7 p.m.)
Sunday Laura Swankey Group, “Autumn Woes” “Words have never been my friends,” the Vancouver native confides on this tune of her own, its yearning belied by her swinging, natural delivery — frustration rarely sounds so lovely. A relative newcomer to the local scene, she’ll sing and scat through originals and standards, counting Porter, Monk and Sofia Jernberg among the markers, with three bandmates supplying the tasteful atmospherics. Given her extensive all-round musical education and increasing work around town in jazz, rock and improv settings, Swankey is just putting down roots that have the look of big things to come. (The Rex, 9 p.m.)
Tuesday Tor Miller, “Carter & Cash” At just 20 years old, the young New Yorker edges away from the mopey emo balladry that got him noticed first in England, where his kind are in vogue, and gets quite effervescently indie on this latest single. He passed through here in June at the Horseshoe, and his cool charm ought to fill up this basement spot with facility. With New Jersey solo singer-songwriter Sean McVerry and the fine young locals Sun K. (Drake Underground, doors 8 p.m.)
Wednesday Vance Joy, “Fire and the Flood” Since the Aussie singer-songwriter, né James Keogh, debuted here in Toronto in September 2013 he’s been on a steady ascent that grew headier with 2014 hit “Riptide” and an ensuing tour support slot with Taylor Swift, and this single from the summer ups the earnestness. Having already played at an assortment of local venues — the Drake, the Phoenix, the late Kool Haus — this twonight stand beginning Tuesday continues his climb to the most storied of T.O. stages. With Reuben and the Dark. (Massey Hall, 8 p.m.)