John Egan The Big Easy, January 13

Solo bluesman John Egan sings in a tone that suggests someone is constantly walking over his grave, and his lyrics are loaded with bad mojo like nature gone haywire and apocalyptic visions. All he needs live is his National Resonator, one of those shiny silver guitars that sting and snarl. Egan has begun mastering the followup to his last album, 2012's spare and sinister Phantoms, and after advancing to the semifinals of the solo competition last year, later this month returns to Memphis to compete with bluesmen and women all over the planet in the International Blues Challenge. CHRIS GRAY

New Politics Warehouse Live, January 14

You may already know who New Politics are, even if you don't recognize the name. The Danish dance-rockers toured alongside Pink, Panic! At the Disco, and Fall Out Boy for most of 2013, helping pump up the audience for those big-name headliners. Their punk-pop mix is anything but low-energy, full of songs like "Harlem" that will make you wish you'd worn your orthopedics. With Sleeper Agent and Magic Man. ANGELICA LEICHT

Little Joe Washington Boondocks, January 14

Out of a Third Ward blues guitar school that has now graduated to the great beyond Albert Collins, Johnny Clyde Copeland, Johnny Guitar Watson and Joe Guitar Hughes, Little Joe Washington is the last man standing. And he's hardly standing still: before his recent health difficulties, he would often pedal his Schwinn from gig to gig, Fender strapped to his back, doing things with it you've never heard before and never will again, and then passing his hat around for tips. After Joe's hospitalization last fall for liver and kidney trouble, he's back playing gigs... again. JOHN NOVA LOMAX/CHRIS GRAY

More shows on the next page.