Rating: NNNNN
NICOLE ATKINS
Reverb, Friday (June 8), 10 pm
Jersey girl turned Brooklyn brawler whose songs sound like the haunted hallucinations of Roy Orbison’s sister walking home after last call at a bar in David Lynch’s fantasies. She might steal a lock of your hair and sleep with it under her pillow – or use it for a voodoo doll.
PRIYA THOMAS
Bovine, Friday (June 8), 11 pm
Gravel-throated Toronto rocker who talks trash (and spits curses) over beats and a swirling torrent of snarly guitars. Could easily knee you in the balls (or ovaries) and leave you gasping in an alley.
KATHLEEN EDWARDS
Lee’s Palace, Thursday (June 7), 10 pm
Any girl who used to drive drunk to the Vesta Lunch is a force to be reckoned with. Canadian alt-country queen rough enough to play hockey with the boys, then spill their secrets in plaintive steel guitar-buoyed ballads after post-game beers.
TARA SLONE
Lee’s Palace, Saturday (June 9), 11 pm
All black eyeliner, tattoos and power chord muscle, this ex-Joydrop frontwoman turned Rockstar: INXS contender turned straight-up solo rock ‘n’ roller is charismatic enough to make you pledge your heart to her forever after seeing five minutes of her live show… but she’ll beat the crap out of you if you ever cross her.
MEGAN HAMILTON
Dakota Tavern, Friday (June 8), 1 am
Underrated local singer/songwriter who trades in ragged roots-rock set in shadowy barns and desolate prairie expanses. She may eviscerate every detail of your failed relationship, but the raw bourbon-and-soda echo of her voice will make it sound like the prettiest, saddest thing you’ve ever heard.