The Blackberry Bushes String Band/Thursday, March 29
Multi-instrumentalist and K Records solo artist Kendl Winter’s quick picking and warm vocals leads this five-piece string band from Olympia—a seasoned group in its own right. Fusing lively bluegrass with elements of indie rock, jazz, and pop, the band’s three-album discography combines technique and experience (two members have working ties to bluegrass father Bill Monroe) with soulful harmonies, tender ballads, and rollicking Americana roots, and their live show radiates spirit. With Dead Winter Carpenters. Nectar, 412 N. 36th St., 632-2020. 8 p.m. $6. GWENDOLYN ELLIOTT
Kithkin/Thursday, March 29
In just a year, this youthful local quartet went from being one of the many groups of unknowns competing in last year’s Sound Off! to one of Seattle’s most buzzed-about bands, particularly after a popularly praised performance opening for Los Campesinos! at the Neptune last month. Kithkin’s debut EP, Takers & Leavers, is exuberant and thunderously percussive in a way that recalls tribally tinged rock bands like Yeasayer and Friendly Fires, and also those blithesome hippie drum circles that hit the beach every summer. With Ambulance, Ghost Animals, Cat From Hue. Comet Tavern, 922 E. Pike St., 322-9272. 9 p.m. $7. ERIN K. THOMPSON
THEESatisfaction/Thursday, March 29
To celebrate the release of their highly anticipated Sub Pop debut awE naturalE, this local duo headlines a showcase of some of the brightest lights in Seattle’s next generation of hip-hop and beyond. No filler here, but expect awE naturalE to hold the spotlight with ease. At under a half-hour, the LP nonetheless covers much ground, distilling the duo’s unique blend of spacey hip-hop beats, jazzy singing and samples, and fiercely feminine rapping into 13 of their strongest, deepest-hitting tracks to date. Come early to see multifaceted musician/rapper/producer OC Notes and young beatmaker Chocolate Chuck do their things. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9467. 8 p.m. $10. ERIC GRANDY
Count Basie Orchestra/Thursday, March 29–Sunday, April 1
Though the band’s namesake has been gone almost 30 years, some of these players—such as Clarence Banks (trombone), John Williams (sax), and musical director Dennis Mackrel—were on the bus with the Count and know the charts better than any other players still drawing breath. After playing a couple of high schools around the state, the Basie band settles in at Benaroya for a four-night stand. Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., 215-4747. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. $17–$93. All ages. CHRIS KORNELIS
***EDITOR’S PICK
Carolina Chocolate Drops/Saturday, March 31
This young string quartet out of North Carolina is intent on keeping the tradition of African-American Americana music alive. The band occasionally reworks modern pop songs into their old-time stylings (their banjo-picking, fast-fiddling, beatboxing version of Blu Cantrell’s “Hit ‘Em Up Style,” sung by the fantastic Rhiannon Giddens, is particularly delightful), but mostly stick to playing revivalist blues, ragtime, early jazz, and roots to great acclaim. Their 2010 album Genuine Negro Jig won a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album, and their original song “Daughter’s Lament” appears on the much-ballyhooed T Bone Burnett–produced Hunger Games soundtrack. With Shook Twins. Showbox at the Market, 1426 First Ave., 628-3151. 7 p.m. $21 adv./$25 DOS. ERIN K. THOMPSON
John K. Samson & The Provincial Band/Sunday, April 1
Samson’s recent solo album, Provincial, is largely quieter and more stripped-down than his main gig with the Weakerthans, heavy on the acoustic folk and balladry, but his smart lyricism and simply affecting songwriting shine even at their most unadorned. His concerns are, as ever, both nerdy (“When I Write My Master’s Thesis”) and Canadian (hockey trivia), but his trick is to find the emotional core of these things and expand them into everyman anthems. “Thesis,” especially, is a killer: a hopeless wish that everything will change set to Provincial‘s most amped-up power pop. With Shotgun Jimmie. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-3599. 8 p.m. $12. ERIC GRANDY
