Emmylou Harris, Big Sky Tribunal, Alena Diane, Pink Mountaintops & Little Sap Dungeon 

• Emmylou Harris

Thursday 11.19
EMMYLOU HARRIS
Earlier this fall, Rosanne Cash released The List, an album of songs her father, the late-great Johnny Cash, believed to be essential contributions to the country canon. In 2008, Emmylou Harris embarked on her own quest to gather material she’d long hoped to record and laid down tracks to form All That I Intended to Be, starting with the song that set the journey in motion, “Shores of White Sand,” originally performed by Karen Brooks. Other highlights include a version of Tracy Chapman’s “All That You Have is Your Soul” and the Billy Joe Shaver’s “Old Five-and-Dimers Like Me.” Not surprisingly, Harris manages to be both passionate and composed in her treatment of the material (including an original number), demonstrating why she matters—perhaps more than ever—after all these years. Don’t miss her performance tonight with the Red Dirt Boys and opener Buddy Miller (a legend in his own right!). Kingsbury Hall, 1395 E. Presidents Circle, University of Utah, 7 p.m. All-ages. Tickets: KingsburyHall.org

Friday 11.20
BIG SKY TRIBUNAL CD RELEASE
“The cold has been wearing on me,” Brian Oakley sings in a melancholy drawl on Big Sky Tribunal’s debut full-length, casting a lonesome shadow that lurks across the 10-track album. Recorded first at Jay Henderson’s Feral Frequency studios followed by six months of weekend sessions at Jesse Ellis’ Salt Lake City home, the LP reflects painstaking attention to detail and creative instincts that summon moments of brilliance—like placing a microphone on the windowsill to capture a surprise rainstorm for beautiful closing remarks. The album—featuring Oakley, Ellis, Sarah Sundahl, Ben Kilbourne, Evan Anderson and Tyler Ford (Jordan Badger plays drums live)—is mostly heartbreaking, mostly stripped-down and punctuated by rousing flourishes of fiery guitar, futuristic moog, organ, fiddle and harmonies bracing for disaster. The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 10 p.m. (with Vile Blue Shades and Giant)

Saturday 11.21
ALELA DIANE
Alela Diane Menig is one of those rare individuals who manages to remain relevant while opting out of our increasingly fast-paced society, driven by shortattention spans and insatiable lust for Tweeted gossip. The Portland, Ore. resident admits she’s not very up on pop culture, instead existing and creating in a pastoral bubble similar to where she grew up in Nevada City, Calif.—home to a surprising number of new folk artists including Joanna Newsom and Alina Hardin, the latter of whom appears with Menig on Alela and Alina on a haunting limited-edition EP featuring traditional standards and a haunting cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “Rake.” Arguably, Menig’s voice, which sounds like an ancient storyteller reborn as a young, vibrant woman, is more a product of her old soul than of her surroundings. Either way, her music is beautiful and timeless. Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, 7 p.m. All-ages. Tickets: 24Tix. com (with Marissa Nadler)

Monday 11.23
PINK MOUNTAINTOPS
Where does Pink Mountaintops end and Black Mountain begin? Well, it depends on the track. Both of Stephen McBean’s projects journey along the vast and wonderful psychedelic spectrum, lingering in trippy, distorted, shoegaze territory. Black Mountain tend to focus more on epic, heavy/stoner rock as on their self-titled album’s “Don’t Run Our Hearts Around,” but Pink Mountaintops are hardly meek (see: “New Drug Queens”). Both bands are also equally skilled at stirring up intense, primal feelings of lust, love, hope and despair (particularly when Amber Webber, also of Lightning Dust, commands the moment). So why have two groups? Why ask why? There’s something in the water up in Canada and I want to mix some with my whiskey. It’s not enough to just soak up the magic through sound. The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 9 p.m. Tickets: 24Tix.com (with The Black Hens)

Wednesday 11.25
LITTLE SAP DUNGEON CD RELEASE
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