The big gigs: 10 concerts to see in the Twin Cities this week

1. Mark O'Connor: The Grammy-winning strings master, who has dazzled in country, jazz and classical settings, has undertaken a special tour, involving a set of music with his wife, Maggie O'Connor, and then a Q&A. It's all to celebrate his new memoir, "Crossing Bridges: My Journey From Child Prodigy to Fiddler Who Dared the World," in which he writes about his phobia of buttons and how, as a young guitarist, he was so anxious to get a fiddle that he made one out of cardboard and colored it with brown crayon, with multiple colors for the inlays. (7 p.m. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $45-$60, Dakotacooks.com)

2. Adeem the Artist: As they moved around from rural North Carolina to Syracuse to the hills of Tennessee, the singer-songwriter felt the weight of various cultural forces. They (preferred pronoun) eventually emerged as an outstanding songwriter, part John Prine, part Guy Clark and all about identity and empathy. The late 2022 album "White Trash Revelry" is a revelatory reflection about Southern culture, be it guns, religion, patriotism, racism or tolerance. The country-blues "Redneck, Unread Hicks" spells out the cultural divide. The gently twangy "Middle of a Heart" is a second-generation soldier's PTSD tale that'll break your heart. "For Judas," a Tom Waits-meets-Billy Joel breezy piano ballad, is about stealing a kiss with a man in the rain in the Northeast Minneapolis arts district. Dan Rodriguez and Humbird open. (7 p.m. Margie's, 13735 Round Lake Blvd NW, Andover, $15-$30, resy.com)

Also: Hardy, the Nashville force who offers a two-fisted shot of country and metal, wraps up his two-night stand before opening for Morgan Wallen at a Milwaukee stadium (6:45 p.m. Fillmore Minneapolis, $175 and up); Gao Hong, the Chinese pipa virtuoso who teaches at Carleton College, will present her Asian Fusion program with musicians Vân-Ánh Võ of Vietnam, Issam Rafea of Syria, Masayo Ishigure of Japan and Leonard Jacome of Venezuela (7 p.m. MacPhail Center for Music, $15); Canadian indie-folk tunesmith Field Guide, aka Dylan MacDonald, is garnering a buzz with a lo-fi sound led by fingerpicked bass and drum machine (8 p.m. 7th St. Entry, $17-$20); surf-rocky Twin Cities instrumental trio the Black Widows top a Mid West Music Fest promo lineup with Timisarocker, the Reach Outs and Big Salt (7:30 p.m. Hook & Ladder Theater, $10-$15).

3. Aoife O'Donovan: While Bruce Springsteen is sounding bigger than ever on tour with the expanded E Street Band, this venerable Boston folkie is on tour emphasizing the stripped-down beauty of his "Nebraska" album. The "Prairie Home" regular and I'm With Her bandmember livestreamed and recorded a song-for-song performance of the 1982 LP during the pandemic, and it was such a hit she has taken the show on the road in 2023 after spending much of last year promoting her new Joe Henry-produced album, "Age of Apathy." Brass quartet the Westerlies open. (8 pm. Turf Club, 1601 University Av. W., St. Paul, $25, axs.com)

4. Avery*Sunshine: The Atlanta neo-soul singer/actress/pianist came up with a novel concept for her 2022 album, "Four Songs & a Bootleg." In other words, she introduces four new tunes and then offers six live songs, including a rollickingly spirited rendition of the hymn "Praise Him." There's some church blended with soul, jazz and pop in just about every song she sings. Relationships are her subject of choice, discussed with a passionate, expansive voice that can go from a sultry purr to an ecstatic scream. (7 p.m. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $50-$55, dakotacooks.com)

Also: After a stint living in the Twin Cities in recent years, Eric D. Johnson is back to fronting his elegant Americana-tinged indie-rock band the Fruit Bats and is back in Minneapolis for a release-day gig celebrating the group's new album for Merge Records, "A River Running to Your Heart" (8 p.m. First Ave, $25-$30); Kansas city indie-rap titan Tech N9ne is back playing his regular suburban Twin Cities tour stop (8 p.m. Fri., Myth, $45); singer/actor Tony London, whose film credits include "Sid and Nancy," interprets songs associated with Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett (6:30 p.m. Crooners, sold out); there's no hologram of their namesake singer this time, but members of Dio are back with a new singer as Last in Line (8 p.m. Medina Entertainment Center, $28-$44).

5. Yeat: He's the balaclava-wearing, AutoTune-adorned rapper young kids know from Minion memes, and older kids from TikTok. Raised in Portland, Ore., as Noah Olivier Smith, the 23-year-old had a breakout hit last year with "Rich Minion" and cracked the Top 10 of Billboard's album chart this year with "AftërLyfe." He now has a second hit with the intense rant "Talk" — all leading up to his first major headlining tour. (8 p.m. the Armory, 500 S. 6th St., Mpls., all ages, $57-$67, ticketmaster.com)

Also: Dawes, the Los Angeles roots band beloved in the Twin Cities, stretched out on last year's expansive, experimental "Misadventures of Doomscroller" with longer songs featuring jazzy jamming that's part prog rock and part singer-songwriter on steroids (8 p.m. Palace Theatre, $35-$55); the Huntertones, the brassy Brooklyn funk ensemble will feature guest vocalist Akie Bermiss of Lake Street Dive and Twin Cities guitar star Cory Wong (6:30 & 8:30 p.m. the Dakota, $20-$35); St. Olaf Jazz I, the college ensemble directed by Pete Whitman, gets a rare club gig (4 p.m. Crooners, $15-$25); Twin Cities songbird Maud Hixson explores the underappreciated repertoire of Doris Day, who would have turned 101 this month (6 p.m. Crooners, $20-$30); Brit-poppy Montreal band Stars returned from a five-year lull and shone bright again on last year's album "From Capelton Hill" (9 p.m. Fine Line, $25); Nashville-based fiddler/singer Rachel Baiman, whose second album was produced with Mandolin Orange, is back out with a new LP inspired by modern economic woes (8 p.m. Cedar Cultural Center, $20-$25); Twin Cities vocalists Bradley Greenwald, Prudence Johnson and Liz Hawkinson salute 1966 with a repertoire including "Monday Monday," "Sound of Silence" and "God Only Knows" (8 p.m. Crooners, $30-$40).

6. The War and Treaty: On their just-released third album, "Lover's Game," the Michigan-reared husband-and-wife Americana duo of Michael and Tanya Trotter has fully absorbed the influences of Nashville, where they now live. "Yesterday's Burn" is a George Jones-like piano ballad looking to ease the pain, "That's How Love Is Made" is country-gospel with some churchy testifying and the title track is a spirited, Southern fried barroom romp a la Delaney & Bonnie. Nashville ace Dave Cobb, who has produced Chris Stapleton and Brandi Carlile, among others, answers the challenge of how to present the emotionally charged, genre-blending the War and Treaty. (8 p.m. Fine Line, 318 1^st Av. N., Mpls. $26-$56, axs.com)

7. The Nude Party: Three albums in, this loose and rowdy New York garage-rock sextet continues to enamor record-collector nerds and other musicians with its throwback sounds yet fresh and earnest energy. The latest LP for New West Records, "Rides On," sounds more Big Star-like and Stones-y compared with the past channelings of Velvet Underground territory, which should make the live show even livelier this time. (8 p.m. Turf Club, 1601 University Av. W., St. Paul, $20, axs.com)

8. Beatrice Rana: When this Italian pianist won "Young Artist of the Year" from England's Gramophone magazine in 2017, she'd already been soloing with orchestras since age 9. Now she's one of the most talked-about musicians in the classical sphere, not only a renowned soloist, but the founder of a chamber music festival and artistic director of the Orchestra Filarmonica di Benevento. She'll close the Schubert Club International Artist Series season with a J.S. Bach French Suite, a work by Claude Debussy and Beethoven's dauntingly difficult "Hammerklavier" Sonata. (3 p.m. Ordway Music Theater, 345 Washington St., St. Paul, $75-$36, schubert.org.)

Also: Atlanta blues guitar star Tinsley Ellis and Louisiana/Texas high-energy piano maven Marcia Ball, who both record for Alligator Records, team up for Acoustic Songs and Stories Tour (6 & 8 p.m. the Dakota, $25-$40); Connecticut-based arty jam band Goose has been endorsed by both Dead & Co. and Trey Anastasio amid its seemingly nonstop touring (8 p.m. Palace Theatre, $33.50-$70.50).

9. Wiz Khalifa: Before a summer package tour with Snoop Dogg and Too $hort, the Pittsburgh hip-hop mainstay is playing solo headlining dates touting a message of "Peace and Love." That's the tile of his new single and the post-pandemic vibe he's going for, also including his turn on the big screen playing George Clinton in the new Casablanca Records biopic "Spinning Gold." There always was a feel-good element to Wiz's early '00s hits ("Black and Yellow," "Roll Up") and in his memorable past Twin Cities appearances at the State Fair and Soundset. Openers this time include Joey Bada$$ and Berner. (7:30 p.m. the Armory, 500 S. 6^th St., Mpls., $53-$63, ticketmaster.com)

Also: Morgan James, who has toured with Postmodern Jukebox and appeared on Broadway in "Godspell" and "Motown: The Musical," is promoting this year's pop/soul/jazz solo effort, "Nobody's Fool" (7 p.m., also Tue., the Dakota, $35-$45); rootsy roadhouse-flavored mainstays the Band of Heathens returned to their native Austin, Texas, to record their newest album, "Simple Things" (8 p.m. Turf Club, $20).

Freakishly hyper St. Louis rap-rock/roar-pop duo 100 gecs is still a love-or-hate kind of band but is earning a little more respect with its second album, "10,000 Gecs," which features L.A. rock vet Josh Freese on drums (8:30 p.m. the Armory, $32.50); Latin Grammy-nominated rapper Snow Tha Product, aka San Jose, Calif., native Claudia Madriz Meza, has Santa Fe Klein and other guests on her new album, "To Anywhere" (8:30 p.m. First Avenue, $27.50); Twin Cities Americana twang-rock groover Erik Koskinen and his band return to Icehouse (8 p.m., $15).

10. Loudon Wainwright III: On his aptly titled 26th album, "Lifetime Achievement," the veteran singer-songwriter, 76, contemplates mortality and his legacy. He's fathered three noteworthy music makers, Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche. The sometimes actor also has created a collection of quirky, often humorous songs like "Dead Skunk" and "Inaugural Blues" as well as deeply personal pieces like "That Hospital" and "A Father and a Son." This time around he's strumming and warbling about "Fam Vac" (a vacation away from the family), "Hell" (someone welcomes you on your first day in hell) and the twangy "Lifetime Achievement" (a love song in which "the biggest prize is I managed to win you"). He is a prize. (7 p.m. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $40-$50, dakotacooks.com)

Classical critic Rob Hubbard contributed to this column.