JASON ISBELL & THE 400 UNIT
Revention Music Center, July 18
Six albums deep into Jason Isbell’s solo career, his peers and critics alike are running out of positive superlatives to describe his music. The raw tools were already there when he was penning songs like “Outfit” and “Goddamn Lonely Love” as a member of the Drive-By Truckers; the maturity and sense of his rightful place in the world (musically and otherwise) perhaps was not. In any case, new album The Nashville Sound (Thirty Tigers/Southeastern) should lay to rest for good any lingering doubts about Isbell’s rep as a once-in-a-generation talent, particularly as a songwriter. Besides tapping his able band the 400 Unit (often including Isbell’s wife, fiddler Amanda Shires) to the full extent of their considerable aesthetic capabilities, together Sound’s ten songs constitute the compelling testimony of a family man of relatively recent vintage reckoning with his responsibilities as a husband, father, citizen, reformed addict and — certainly as far as the realm of roots-rock/Americana is concerned — bellwether. Such a task requires exceptionally broad shoulders, but Isbell emerges unbowed. CHRIS GRAY

LOGIC
Revention Music Center, July 21
Not many rappers cite Frank Sinatra as a primary influence, but Logic isn't a typical rapper. The Maryland-born artist even refers to himself as "Young Sinatra" and boasts his own "RattPack," which is comprised of three of his closest associates. On top of his affinity for classic pop music, Logic — born half-white and half-black — further distinguishes himself by exploring our nation's race issues from both sides. His latest album and first to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Everybody, discusses the complexities of bearing the burden and sharing the privilege, depending on the crowd, serving as both a catharsis for Logic and a lifeline for his fans. Equal parts spoken-word and hip-hop, it boasts a single named for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. But despite being occasionally longwinded, Everybody connects with its audience in the exact way Logic intended. MATTHEW KEEVER

94.5 THE BUZZ WEENIE ROAST
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, July 22
At this point, you should know what to expect when local rock station 94.5 The Buzz puts on one of its many music festivals in The Woodlands. If you’re in for such a thing, you’re all-in. And if it’s not your thing, “outright disgust” might be an apt term. Personally, there’s something to festivals like Buzzfest and this month's Bud Light Weenie Roast. It provides mainstream bands like Chevelle, Blue October and 10 Years, bands that – contrary to many naysayers – have actually put out some pretty quality music over the years. Blue October always has a great live show, and Chevelle has an underrated catalog with tunes like “Shameful Metaphors” and “The Red.” So brave the heat and have a little fun. CLINT HALE

MATTHEW SWEET
The Heights Theater, July 23
Matthew Sweet is probably best-known as the man behind the power-pop force of nature that was the 1992 hit “Girlfriend” and the previous year’s album of the same name, but over the years he’s also distinguished himself by keeping some pretty good company: ace NYC guitarists Robert Quine and Richard Lloyd (the Girlfriend years); Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles (the decade-combing Under the Covers series); and even, after a fashion, noted painter Margaret Keane of Big Eyes fame (Sweet is reportedly one of the country’s foremost authorities on her work, and consulted on Tim Burton’s 2014 film). For his latest album, last month’s reliably eclectic Tomorrow Forever (Honeycomb Hideout/RED Distribution), Sweet holed up in his Omaha home studio — he recently relocated back to his native Nebraska — and patched together his bandmates’ parts largely via email, relying on his fans to foot the bill via Kickstarter and rewarding them with an album that’s as sharp and tuneful as anything he’s ever done. CHRIS GRAY