With an ear for American primitive songcraft, a vocal delivery reminiscent of Tom Waits and a childhood split between Detroit and Alabama, Tim Higgins is the kind of artist music journalists are drawn to. Phrases like “Southern Gothic poetry,” “dark cabaret” and “Rust Belt” burn brightly from within his press kit—springing from the page like road flares on a pitch black country road. One imagines his dusty, down-and-out acoustic ballads would pair perfectly with such a drive. Better still are those songs that have been fleshed-out with warm horns, plaintive fiddle and barrel-aged, reverberant slide guitar lines.

Tim Higgins
Sat, 8pm, Free
Camino Brewing Company, San Jose

Homegrown musical acts Socorra and Adira Sharkey are headed to the Pacific Northwest with new tunes in tow, just a few months after Socorra’s release of a socioeconomic fight song. “Believe” is an indie-rock offering of hope in the face of a dream-crushing cycle of poverty so many local artists know too well. Adira Sharkey has settled into a sound of deep, soulful hooks, rumbling vocals and rattling acoustic tones. This show also features Santa Cruz native “soul and roll” musician Taylor Rae.

Socorra & Adira Sharkey
Wed, 7pm, Free
Camino Brewing Company, San Jose