FRIDAY, NOV. 7
Marco Benevento
The last time Marco Benevento came to Cleveland, he played an exciting version of “At The Show,” a new original tune that actually had lyrics (a Benevento non-entity at the time) and one that would eventually show up on his new album, Swift, released back in September. It’s a great song and it fits in perfectly with the lineup of other piano-, bass- and drums-driven songs released on that album. “Witches of Ulster,” which just got the video treatment a few weeks ago, spotlights Benevento’s newfound penchant for brooding atmosphere and his constant compositional skills. A couple of years ago, Benevento released TigerFace, which really upped the ante laid down on previous albums. Collaborations with Rubblebucket’s Kalmia Traver opened the album, foreshadowing vocal excursions on this new one. (“Limbs of a Pine” remains among Benevento’s greatest songs.) (Eric Sandy), 8:30 p.m., $15. Beachland Tavern.
Dirty River Boys
For the Dirty River Boys —Marco Gutierrez, Colton James, Travis Stearns and Nino Cooper — El Paso has been an inspiration. Now based in Austin, the alt-country band formed about five years ago and has been steadily touring (it’s logged some 200,000 miles in the past few years) in the attempt to expand its fan base. Recorded at Sonic Ranch, a studio bordered by the Rio Grande and Old Mexico, its new self-titled album alternates between hard rock and bluegrass and draws equally from the Stones and Willie Nelson. (Jeff Niesel) 8:30 p.m., $10. Beachland Ballroom.
An Evening with Ginger Papas
Ginger Pangas, 19, started singing with School of Rock in Cleveland a few years ago, when she was still in her mid-teens. It was a bit of shock to go into local bars and clubs. "It was very different for me," she says. "I was used to being in choirs and things like that. I started performing in bars, and I wasn't used to it." But she gravitated toward rock and pop, and during her senior year of high school she released "Believe," her first single, which she recorded in New York with producer Arty Skye at a studio in Times Square. This year has been a good one for Pangas. She released her third single, "Country Beach," a track she describes as a "strong, upbeat summertime song." It's her first collaboration with songwriter and producer Allan Licht who recorded the tune locally at the Reel Thing studio. Pete Tokar, a Grammy-winning engineer who worked with the late Gerald Levert, engineered the song. (Niesel) 7:30 p.m., $15. Alex Theater.
