Live Music Picks: April 13-19 

THURSDAY 4/13
Real Estate, Mary Lattimore
This is not Sunny Day Real Estate but, in their own way, this New Jersey band is as tuneful as that '90s not-Nirvana outfit. They also apparently can't get you a good deal on a three-bedroom rambler or, as the swanky hand-written signs on traffic islands say, help you earn up to $100K a year selling their namesake. And for a band from the land of Springsteen, mobsters and self-made Oompa-Loompas, this ensemble is of a more English mien. First, there's the absurd humor of a horse just chilling on the soundstage, not the least bit spooked by the cameras, lights or lip-syncing band members in the video for the "Darling"—the first single from their new album In Mind (Domino Records). They even give their temporary equine bandmate acting credit, under the stage name "Like No Other aka Moose." Also, in the video, they all wear blue shop-class coats, a unity in apparel that's a nod to the early Beatles, whom they also resemble in their slightly quirky melodicism—as well as that of XTC, with heaping helpings of the breezy alt-jangle of The Railway Children. Classically trained Philadelphia harpist Mary Lattimore opens. (Brian Staker) The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 8 p.m., $18 presale, $20 day of show, 21+, theurbanloungeslc.com

THURSDAY 4/13
Jana Kramer
Jana Kramer had a steady acting career before she became a star country singer. One of her more famous roles was for playing Alex Dupre on the hit television show One Tree Hill, and that's where the actress-turned-songstress signed her first music contract. While on the show, she released promotional songs such as "Holding Out for a Hero," "I Won't Give Up" and "Whiskey." She released her self-titled debut album via Elektra Nashville in 2012, which yielded her first hit single "Why Ya Wanna," nominations for three American Country Music Awards in 2012—New Artist of the Year, Single by a New Artist and Music Video by a New Artist—and an ACM win for Top New Female Artist in 2013. Since then, Kramer has had several hit singles and released a second album, Thirty One (Warner Music Nashville, 2015) and appeared on Dancing with the Stars. Kramer was originally slated to perform in SLC last October, but the show was rescheduled for this week. (Hillary Reilly) In the Venue, 219 S. 600 West, 8 p.m., $27 presale, $30 day of show, 21+, inthevenueslc.com

FRIDAY 4/14
DJ Quik
You gotta wonder how many millennials think this is a new EDM artist with an affinity for flavored milk who kicks out jams that sound like lactose intolerance. You know, instead of a dude from Compton who's logged three decades in the rap game—since dropping his first mixtape in eighth grade—and worked with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Eazy-E, Tupac Shakur, Suge Knight, Ice Cube and Bizzy Bone. Quik's also worked with Wiz Khalifa, but we won't hold that against him, 'cause the man's a double-threat, armed with bars and studio skills that he's wielded on nine of his own albums as well as albums by Ludacris (The Red Light District) and Jay-Z (The Black Album). Anyway, Liquid Joe's has Quik on their outdoor stage—as the bumpin' old-school jam from Quik Is the Name (Profile, 1991) goes—"Tonite." (Randy Harward) Liquid Joe's, 1249 E. 3300 South, 7 p.m., $25 presale, $30 day of show, all ages, liquidjoes.net

SATURDAY 4/15
Brant Bjork, Royal Thunder, Black Wizard
What happens when the drummer for several highly successful stoner-rock bands goes solo and records an album singing and playing guitar? You might assume the result is some kind of Spinal Tap-esque joke, but Brant Bjork, founding member of Kyuss and Fu Manchu, has membership in a kind of weed 'n' wah-wah brain trust. As a key part of the evolution of the genre, he knows how to keep it from getting bogged down in unmelodic ruts and, on occasion, add a little humor. Since he's from SoCal, there's a concern with partyin', never taking anything too seriously and kneeling at the altar of the '70s: "Keep keepin' gone," he preaches on "The Greeheen" from his eighth solo release, Tao of the Devil (Napalm Records), which hit the streets last September. Accompanied on tour by his Low Desert Punk Band, Bjork is heavier than thou. (BS) In the Venue, 219 S. 600 West, 7 p.m., $15, 21+ inthevenueslc.com

SATURDAY 4/15
Nellie McKay
LGBTQ rights—and the fight for trans equality especially—sometimes get unfairly dismissed as asking for too much too soon. But that only makes sense if you assume that LGBTQ folks have only existed for as long as they have publicly demanded society's recognition. That's why stories such as Billy Tipton's are so important, and singer/pianist Nellie McKay tells his tale well. Tipton was a jazz bandleader in the mid-20th century who lived his public life as a man, but only after his death was discovered to have been born biologically female. Although Tipton wasn't particularly well-known during his career, A Girl Named Bill—McKay's cabaret-style show about his life—illuminates his music, career and the time in which he lived. Buy an extra ticket and take a bathroom warrior you know from the "too much too soon" crowd. Maybe they'll learn something. (Kimball Bennion) George S. & Dolores Doré Eccles Center Theater, 1750 Kearns Blvd., Park City, 7:30 p.m., $29-$79, all ages, ecclescenter.org

TUESDAY 4/18
River Whyless, Y La Bamba
Folk band River Whyless makes a stop in Utah with a new appreciation for the wilderness just across the border. The Asheville, N.C., band spent a week last year at the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Wyoming in a partnership with the federal government that produced their latest single, "Hold Me to Ya." Like any good folkie, River Whyless communicates a reverence for public land with a personal touch that eludes the trap of propaganda, a possible liability when artists team up with the feds. They even used a mason jar filled with water as an instrument to recreate the sage grouse's mating call, a natural oddity that comes from the way a male undulates his chest to impress the ladies of his species. For those not as into sage grouse, River Whyless happens to play an interesting bluegrass variation with a futurist bent that sounds great live and on their latest album, We All the Light (Roll Call). They're joined tonight by Portland indie folk-pop band Y La Bamba, touring in support of Ojos Del Sol (Tender Loving Empire). (KB) The State Room, 638 S. State, 8 p.m., $15, 21+, thestateroomslc.com