XPN welcomes The Bacon Brothers to the Keswick Theatre tonight. The Philadelphia natives were playing music together long before Kevin’s acting and Michael’s composing careers took off, though their last album of new material was 2008′s New Year’s Day.  Tickets and information for tonight’s show can be found here.  Watch a video of the brothers and their band performing live below.

XPN welcomes The Smithereens to the Landis Theater tonight.  After putting out their tenth studio album in 2011, the New Jersey rock band has continued to tour steadily and will join Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers on the road this summer.  Tickets and information for tonight’s headline show can be found here.  Below, watch the video for 2011 single “One Look at You.”

XPN welcomes Steve Earle & the Dukes to the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville.  Modeling himself after famed singer-songwriters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, Earle has released fourteen records over the course of his career.  The Low Highway was released this month through New West Records.  Tickets and information for tonight’s show can be found here.  Below, watch the video for “Invisible.”

UK alt folk trio Daughter headline Union Transfer tonight.  Building buzz off of two EPs, the London outfit have finally released a hauntingly emotional debut album this week called If You Leave.  Tickets and information for the show can be found here.  Below, watch the video for “Still.”

Grandchildren celebrate their album release at Johnny Brenda’s tonight.  Golden Age will be released on May 7th, and you can get an in-depth look at the orchestral pop band’s world surrounding the album in this week’s Unlocked series.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show with The Lawsuits, Laser Background and DJ POW POW can be found here.  Watch the video for “Sunrise” below.

Local quartet Divers perform at The Fire tonight.  Comprised of Emily Ana Zeitlyn, Ross Bellenoit, Todd Erk and Thomas Bendel, the young band of seasoned Philly musicians has been steadily packing shows under their belt in recent months.  The three songs posted on Divers’ website offer up some post punk / dark wave sensibilities at certain points and catchy indie pop at other points, with Zeitlyn’s vocal delivery evoking a female Morrissey.  Tickets and information for tonight’s show with Paper Castles, Brad Hinton and Todd Henkin can be found here.  Below, stream “Wild Thing.”

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R&B performer Janelle Monae will take part in Penn’s Spring Fling tonight.  The Kansas City native caught the attention of Diddy’s label Bad Boy Records after the independent / self release of The Audition in 2003.  Monae’s breakthrough effort The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III) was released via Bad Boy in 2010 and featured the instant hit and Grammy nominee “Tightrope.”  Monae will be joined by mash-up artist Girl Talk and rapper Tyga at Franklin Field tonight.  Tickets and information can be found here.  Below, watch the video for “Tightrope.”

David Bromberg Quartet performs at the Landis Theater tonight.  Bromberg has been a mainstay of the music scenes in Philadelphia, New York and Wilmington since his days at Columbia University thanks to his skilled guitar playing and humorous lyrics.  Over the  years, the Philadelphia-born multi-instrumentalist has recorded on albums by Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan, Jorma Kaukonen and more.  Tickets and information for tonight’s show in Vineland, NJ can be found here.  Below, watch the David Bromberg Quartet perform “Fifty Dollar Wig” live at the 2012 Byron Bay Bluesfest.

Netherfriends stops by Church of the Advocate tonight.  Spearheaded by Chicago resident Shawn Rosenblatt, Netherfriends is a melodic indie pop project that embarked on a “50 Songs 50 States” project recently, which will be presented on July 4th as an interactive map.  Last spring, Rosenblatt joined Norwegian Arms and other Philly area bands for a show benefiting Calcutta House, a resource for homeless men and women suffering from AIDS.  Tonight, Netherfriends will be joined by DC’s Drunken Sufis and local bands Rasputin’s Secret Police and MOSS.  Admission is at the door; more information can be found on the Facebook event page here.  Below, watch Rosenblatt perform “St. Louis, MO” from his recent Middle America LP.

The Great Unknown are also celebrating a record release tonight over at Johnny Brenda’s.  The local five-piece are setting forth So Strange and Loud into the physical world, following the album’s digital release last May.  With reflective melodies and intricate arrangements, the The Great Unknown strive to make connections with their audiences both through live performance and recorded material.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show with KC Jones and Ali Wadsworth can be found here.  Below, stream “The Laws of Energy” from So Strange and Loud.

XPN welcomes Martin Sexton to The Landis Theater tonight.  The singer-songwriter is a quintessentially American musician, blending a variety of traditional playing styles including country, rock, gospel and R&B.  Following up his 2010 LP Sugarcoating, Sexton released his Fall Like Rain EP last year.  Both efforts come after his commercial breakthrough with 2007′s Seeds, which debuted at #6 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart.  Tickets and information for tonight’s all-ages show with The Alternate Routes in Vineland, NJ can be found here.  Below, watch Martin Sexton perform “Can’t Stop Thinking ‘Bout You” with John Mayer.

Dave Hartley continues his busy start to the year with a Nightlands show at the Arden Gild Hall tonight.  The solo project of the War on Drugs’ bass player, Nightlands released its sophomore effort Oak Island last week.  The album fuses Hartley’s affinity for mystery and sci-fi with rollicking melodies and percussion, creating layer upon layer of rich textures through overdubbing and tape machine manipulation.  Hartley spoke with ArtInfo recently to share some of his recording techniques and tricks; read the full interview here.  Tickets and information for tonight’s show with School of Seven Bells can be found here.  Below, watch the video for “I Fell In Love With a Feeling.”

L.A. band Concrete Blonde play World Cafe Live tonight.  Now in the third era of the outfit’s career, Concrete Blonde was built around singer-songwriter/bassist Johnette Napolitano in 1982.  The alt-rock trio picked up again in 2010 following a couple of breaks and reunions in nineties and early 2000s, though the band’s last studio album was released in 2004.  Tonight, Concrete Blonde perform with Jim Bianco.  Tickets and information for the all-ages show can be found here.  Below, watch video of the title track from Bloodletting.

Philadelphia’s psych-rock project Ape School headlines Kung Fu Necktie tonight.  Led by local multi-instrumentalist Michael Johnson (Lilys, Kurt Vile and more), Ape School released its second LP Junior Violence in August on Hometapes.  Johnson and his band stopped by the station during the release of the record and recorded a Key Studio Session, which you can listen to here.  Joining Ape School tonight are labelmates The Caribbean and Leverage Models.  Tickets and information for the 21+ show can be found here.  Below, watch the video for Ape School’s “Weak in the Teeth.”

XPN welcomes singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin to The Landis Theater in Vineland, NJ tonight.  Colvin released her latest disc All Fall Down earlier this year, recorded in Nashville with Buddy Miller and a number of musician friends including Jakob Dylan and Parry Griffin.  All Fall Down is the first album from the Grammy Award-winning musician since 2006′s These Four Walls.  Shawn Colvin comes to The Landis Theater tonight with local duo The Royal You.  Tickets and information for the all-ages show can be found here.  Below, watch the video for Shawn Colvin’s “All Fall Down.”

XPN welcomes Jane Siberry to the Arden Gild Hall in Arden, DE.  The Canadian singer found success with her 1984 song “Mimi on the Beach,” positioning the performance artist to reach gold status with the follow-up The Speckless Sky.  Following a string of years performing and recording as Issa, Siberry is back in support of her 2011 record Meshach Dreams Back, the final installment in her “Three Queens Trilogy.”  Tickets and information for tonight’s all-ages show can be found here.  Below, watch Jane Siberry’s 1985 video for “One More Colour.”

York County indie pop group Kingsfoil is playing at World Cafe Live tonight. Kingsfoil became a band to watch after the 2007 release of their EP, Bear In The Attic. Their second full-length album, A Beating Heart Is A Bleeding Heart came out in September after adding Frankie Muniz to the crew on drums. The all ages show starts at 8 pm; tickets are available here. Below, check out the video for “What Your Mother Taught You” from A Beating Heart is a Bleeding Heart.

XPN Welcomes Loudon Wainwright III to the Landis Theater tonight. Wainwright, who was featured on the Grammy Award-winning Boardwalk Empire soundtrack, released his latest album Older Than My Old Man Now in April. The show tonight begins at 7 pm; tickets are available here. Hear “All In a Family” from Older Than My Old Man Now below.

The Black Landlord Halloween Extravaganza is happening tonight at Kung Fu Necktie. Black Landlord performed for us during a Key Studio Session last October after the release of their latest EP, What You Mean To We. The psychedelic rock trio St. James & The Apostles will also be performing with Black Landlord tonight. The Extravaganza kicks off at 7:30; tickets for the 21+ event are available here. Listen to St. James & The Apostles’ track “Kiss & Tell” below.

Metal group The Deftones will be playing tonight at the Electric Factory. Their sixth album, Koi No Yokan, drops on November 3rd. The show tonight begins at 8; tickets for the all-ages performance  can be found here. Below, check out the lyric video for latest single from Koi No Yokan, “Tempest.”