Walters Downtown, May 9
One of the real workhorse bands on the local scene, Another Run is also one of the most musically adventurous. Since forming around 2009-10, the multiple Houston Press Music Award winners – including last year for Best Modern Rock – have secured a sizable local fan base with funk-friendly alt-rock that mixes in more progressive and post-hardcore textures; in concert, few bands in town can match their sheer kinetic energy. Saturday night is the release party for Another Run's latest EP, Be Honest, a reliably eclectic offering whose standouts include the skyscraping “Hunt Me Down” and the acoustic-soul surprise “Knock Me Out.” With Buhu, Ava Luna and Whit.
TX Fest
Hermann Square Park, May 9
No one seems to know exactly where this TX Fest came from, and there hasn't been much promotion (that we can tell), but the lineup alone – spread over three stages – makes it worth a look this weekend. Texas country big hat Kevin Fowler tops the bill above Austin indie-pop ingenues Wild Child, the red-dirt boys in the Scooter Brown Band, ATX hyper-soul crew Not In the Face, and Beaumont buzz band Purple. There's also more than a few local acts that should make TX Fest worth your while, starting with Wild Moccasins, Young Mammals, Young Girls, New York City Queens, thelastplaceyoulook, BLSHS, We Were Wolves, and a handful of local acts you don't see at festivals very often; take a bow, Vanilla Whale, Downfall 2012 and Guitarzza and Hounds of Jezebel. If that's not enough, a “Texas Beer Garden” will be stocked with Karbach, 8th Wonder, Saint Arnold, Lone Star, Pearl and more. TX Fest starts early – gates open at 10 a.m. – and tickets start at $35; beer-sampling cards not included. See txfest.com for more details.
William Clark Green
Firehouse Saloon, May 9
At least William Clark Green is up front about it: “everybody's saying I'm the next big thing,” he sings on the opening cut of his latest album, Ringling Road. Actually, the Tyler-area native has racked up more than a decade in the Texas-country scene since graduating from Texas Tech in 2004, notching albums like Misunderstood and Dangerous Man along the way. Now Ringling, supposedly so named because Green's current home of Eastland (west of Fort Worth) is a stop on the circus-train route, is poised to bump him to the head of the line thanks to longneck-waving anthems-in-waiting like “Sticks and Stones,” “Sympathy” and the Cajun-flavored “Creek Don't Rise.” With Cody Bryan.
Warehouse Live, May 9
One of the new breed of rappers raised on the Internet and the rest of contemporary dysfunctional American society, Earl Sweatshirt has no compunctions about detailing exactly what that means in his songs. One of the higher-profile members of the infamous L.A. collective Odd Future, Sweatshirt spits lyrics that are a sometimes head-scratching collision of raw social commentary, intense self-examination and a nearly unchecked id, a potent combination that makes his albums like this year's compelling I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside really hit home. With Remy Banks.
SIX MORE SHOWS WORTH CONSIDERING
Johnny Gill, Dru Hill: “Just Got Paid” + Babyface-approved Baltimore new jacks = a '90s R&B dream come true. (Arena Theatre, May 8)
Two Star Symphony, MyDolls, Say Girl Say: Girls rule with classical, punk and ukuleles. Great “Only In Houston” local bill. (Continental Club, May 8)
Lord Huron: L.A. indie-folk foursome press on behind this year's Strange Trails. (House of Blues, May 9)
Nic Armstrong & the Thieves: Austin rocker has vintage '90s Britpop down to a science. (Continental Club, May 9)
Mojo Nixon: Two hours of gonzo solo Mojo madness; should be a hoot. (Natachee's, May 9)
Two Gallants: Fiesty San Francisco folk-punk duo considers its ever-changing hometown on new LP We Are Undone. (Fitzgerald's, May 10)