Cynthia Nelson has had a long and storied indie-rock career stretching back to Retsin and continuing through her incarnations as Ruby Falls and the Naysayer. Our favorite album of hers was The Ida Retsin Family, which found her teamed up with the New York indie-folk band. Nelson’s newest album, credited to the Sophie Drinker, teams her with former Ida (and current White Magic) member Miggy Littleton. Nelson will play some tunes from the disc on some solo gigs she’s doing with Dear Nora, the superb indie-folk outfit of Portland’s Katy Davidson; the latest Dear Nora album, Mountain Rock (Magic Marker), has some of the prettiest lullabies about caribou and bear we’ve heard all year, plus the Neutral Milk Hotel–ish "Love Song for My Friends," which sums up closing-time sentimentality in six words: "You’re the best dudes I know." Tonight (September 23), Sophie Drinker and Dear Nora are at Zeitgeist Gallery (617-876-6060) in Cambridge; Lovers frontwoman Cubby Berk headlines. On Saturday, Nelson and Davidson move on to Flywheel (413-527-9800) in Northampton with Tizzy.

Davidson poached the Mountain Rock rhythm section from a former incarnation of her fellow Lewis and Clark College alum Jason Anderson’s indie-pop group Wolf Colonel. As it happens, Anderson is bringing a new batch of Wolf Colonel tunes to the All Asia (617-497-1544) in Cambridge tonight (September 23), the New Arts Cinema (508-487-4269) in Provincetown on Sunday, Local 188 (201-761-7909) in Portland on Monday, and Flywheel on Wednesday.

Memphis’s Lucero are emo the way Springsteen was emo, country the way Wilco are country, punk the way the Replacements were punk, and folk the way Nirvana’s Unplugged was folk — their most recent release, last year’s That Much Further West, might’ve been the best roots-rock album since Whiskeytown went belly-up, and this week they’re in the area opening up for the Weakerthans at Toad’s Place (203-624-TOAD) in New Haven on Tuesday, at the Call (401-751-2255) in Providence on Wednesday, and at the Middle East (617-864-EAST) in Cambridge next Thursday, September 30.

The Central Mass metalfest Locobazooka! has introduced the world to all manner of hard-rock heroes (some, like Limp Bizkit and Godsmack, we wish it hadn’t). The 13th annual version of the event takes place Sunday at the Fitchburg Municipal Airport (617-423-NEXT) with a line-up including Tesla, Shinedown, Saliva, Pantera survivors Damage Plan, former Buckcherry frontman Josh Todd, Monster Magnet, Kittie, British raggametal faves Skindred, and home-turf metalcore destroyers Shadows Fall (whom Sean Richardson discusses on page 21 of Arts). The ferociously political, female-fronted death-metal outfit Otep play the official post-Loco blast at Club Liquid (978-840-3500) in Leominster on Sunday night. And many of the acts are warming up with pre-Loco gigs. On Friday, Tesla and Josh Todd are at Hampton Beach (603-929-4100) in New Hampshire and Monster Magnet are at Club 125 (978-521-0099) in Haverhill. Kittie play the Palace (781-321-1660) in Saugus on Saturday. And Skindred follow up with a post-Loco bash at Lupo’s at the Strand (401-272-5876) in Providence on Monday.