POP & JAZZ
A look ahead at the concerts and albums The Times’ music staff — Chris Barton, August Brown, Gerrick D. Kennedy, Randy Lewis, Randall Roberts and Mikael Wood — are most looking forward to.
MARCH 19-20 The Internet
Once a subset of L.A.’s Odd Future collective, this young electro-soul outfit broke out on its own in 2015 with “Ego Death,” a gorgeous, trippy set of songs about modern love. Now, three members — frontwoman Syd, beat-meister Matt Martians and 18year-old guitarist Steve Lacy — have released strong solo records, which they’ll pull from during a two-night stand at the Fonda that the band is referring to as “The Internet Presents the Internet.” (M.W.) Fonda Theatre, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., www.fonda theatre.com
MARCH 27-28 Terrace Martin Group
A first-call producer for his work with Kendrick Lamar even before his 2016 album “Velvet Portraits” earned a Grammy nod, this saxophonist appears for two nights at the Little Tokyo jazz spot. Details are scarce for who will be joining the restless Martin, but factor in his longtime friendship with Kamasi Washington and the tightly knit crew of musician-friends who have played a key role in shaping the sound of L.A. over the last couple of years and you have what qualifies as appointment viewing. (C.B.) Blue Whale, 123 Astronaut E S Onizuka St., Suite 301, www.bluewhalemusic.com
MARCH 30-APRIL 2 Drill Festival
The post-punk band Wire has a special niche in experimental rock. The act never went pop like New Order, nor did it hit the grungy commercial highs of Sonic Youth. Instead, it soldiered on for 13 albums of restless, deconstructed rock that wrung more imagination from one chord than most bands find on a whole record. Wire hosts and perform at this mini-festival featuring an intriguing array of acolytes: Julia Holter, Mikal Cronin and Hüsker Dü’s Bob Mould, among others. (A.B.) The Echo, 1822 Sunset Blvd. www.theecho.com
APRIL 3 Welcome! A Fundraising Concert for the ACLU
L.A. has seen a slew of activist-benefit shows in wake of the presidential election, but the one Zedd is throwing at Staples may be the biggest. The EDM producer has wrangled some of his largest-name peers in rock, pop and EDM — Skrillex, Halsey, Imagine Dragons, Incubus, Macklemore, Miguel, Camila Cabello and more — to benefit the American Civil Liberties Union. (A.B.) Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St. www.staples center.com
APRIL 7 The Chainsmokers, ‘Memories … Do Not Open’
Last year’s biggest singles act is getting into the album business with this 12-track set, which promises 10 new songs from the EDM duo, in addition to the recently released “Paris” and “Something Just Like This.” What might the Chainsmokers do with that room to sprawl? Don’t look for any radical moves: If anything has propelled the group’s quick success, it’s been a sonic and thematic consistency to rival the way McDonald’s makes French fries. (M.W.) Disruptor/Columbia
Father John Misty, ‘Pure Comedy’
Leave it to Father John Misty to finally go serious on an album called “Pure Comedy.” The ex-Angeleno singer-songwriter was renowned for the selfeffacing wit and gimleteyed libertinism on his first two albums in that project (and he had a genuinely tender side too). Now, however, his mood matches that of many in the nation. Anxiety and a longing for easier times hang over his third LP, but those troubles are tempered with some of his most beautiful writing and singing. (A.B.) Sub Pop
APRIL 8 Nels Cline
Cline’s 2016 release “Lovers,” a lush two-CD collection of self-described mood music released on Blue Note, reveled in Cline’s love of orchestral jazz as well as the music of Henry Mancini, Jimmy Giuffre and Arto Lindsey. The album gets a live airing as the Wilco guitarist brings a 17-piece band with expert hands from both Royce Hall, 340 Royce Drive. www.roycehall.org APRIL 9 Sleaford Mods If the notion of two hardened British blokes standing onstage while the scarier one rants into a microphone about working class England and the skinnier one works a rhythm box doesn’t appeal to you, skip the Sleaford Mods. The Nottingham team takes a minimalist approach to synth-punk, creating brutally uncompromising work that suggests the angular British band the Fall, without the musicians. (R.R.) Echoplex, 1154 Glendale Blvd. www.attheecho.com
APRIL 14 Sam Outlaw, ‘Tenderheart’
The L.A.-based country singer and songwriter just got an important career boost from, of all places, England, where the Americana Music Assn. U.K. — yes, there is such a thing — named his debut album, “Angeleno,” Americana album of the year. He’s readying the follow-up, “Tenderheart,” which finds him exploring further the common ground among such influential Southern California musicians as Merle Haggard, Buck Owens and Ry Cooder. (R.L.) Six Shooter Records
APRIL 21 Sheryl Crow, ‘Be Myself’
Nashville wasn’t terribly interested when Crow tried to go country with 2013’s largely ignored “Feels Like Home.” Yet the singer’s early pop work has become a touchstone recently for adventurous country acts like Maren Morris and Little Big Town. So it makes sense that Crow would return to the detailed, groove-heavy sound of “All I Wanna Do” Warner Bros.
APRIL 27-28 Magnetic Fields
For his new album, “50 Song Memoir,” songwriter and Magnetic Fields founder Stephen Merritt composed just that: 50 songs, one for each year of his life. Merritt, who is a master songwriter, revels in his autobiographical challenge. Starting in his birth year of 1966, he pens songs about being born and the darkness that preceded it, about his early obsession with a starlet, his financial struggles and beyond. (R.R.) Royce Hall, 340 Royce Drive. www.roycehall.org
APRIL 28-30 Stagecoach
There’s a reason Stagecoach has become the best-attended, highestgrossing and overall most satisfying country music festival in the world: Regardless of whether you’re a fan of country’s biggest contemporary acts, honored veteran musicians, rising stars or its most significant cult heroes, you’ll find all of the above in each year’s lineup. This year’s highlights beyond high-powered headliners Shania Twain, Kenny Chesney and Dierks Bentley: Jerry Lee Lewis, Willie Nelson, Maren Morris, Margo Price, Los Lobos, Terry Allen and “The Hillbenders Present The Who’s Tommy: A Bluegrass Opry.” The latter figures to be a real Whoot. (R.L.) Empire Polo Club, 81-800 Ave. 51, Indio. www.stage coachfestival.com
MAY 20 Chris Stapleton’s All-American Road Show
Stapleton’s career explosion in the two years since the release of his debut solo album, “Traveller,” proves that justice does still prevail in the music biz. He had worked for years mostly behind the scenes, his extraordinary gravelly voice first coming to light when he fronted the bluegrass group the SteelDrivers. Fueled by his star-making performance at the 2015 Country Music Assn. Awards with Justin Timberlake, he’s now headlining arenas. That’s the all-American way. (R.L.) The Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood, www.fabulousforum.com
MAY 28-29 John Legend with Gallant
For his latest album, “Darkness and Light,” Legend tossed aside his smooth-talking romantic side for a topical offering inspired by a divisive political season. Instead of overt songs of protest, Legend used his newborn daughter as a muse, crafting tender songs integrated with a social worldview. (G.K.) Greek Theatre, 2700 N. Vermont Ave. www.lagreektheatre.com