Wednesday
Chapel Hill
Mount Moriah
The Cave
A Chapel Hill five-piece that drifts on extended waves of steel-shaped guitar reverb and shifts on rock drums done down in the country doldrums, Mount Moriah sounds as old as the name suggests, buried in a deep, dark hole where abandoned love and dubious doppelgängers fester like open wounds. The Misra, Drag City and Overcoat camps would do well to hear this, as it’s for fans of Will Johnson’s solo records or his elegantly broken South San Gabriel work. –Grayson Currin

Thursday
Chapel Hill
Jane Francis CD Release party
The Cave
Come out to celebrate the release of Skeletons for Tea, the homegrown solo debut from Velvet’s Jane Francis and a record that’s natural, comfortable in its skin (ironically enough for a record with skeletons in its title), wide open and accordion blessed. As a writer, Francis is gifted enough to share both a near-giddy recollection of young lust and a finely detailed portrait of magazine-spine dust. The show starts at 10 p.m. –Rick Cornell

Raleigh
Story of a Fructiferous Society
Bickett Gallery
The latest show sponsored by the AV Geeks requires a disclaimer due to its graphically strange content: “This show isn’t for the kiddies or passive adult viewer.” And they mean business. tENTATIVELY A. cONVENIENCE, an experimental musician from Pittsburgh, Pa., will bring his latest film to the Bickett tonight at 8 p.m. Story of a Fructiferous Society is a feature-length film utilizing word games, performance art and a few freak-out tactics. Admission for the one-time screening is $3. –Jon Ross

Friday
Chapel Hill
Regina Hexaphone
The Cave
The Hex, as they are lovingly called, often defy genre, residing in that comfortable place between American rural music–folk, country, string bands–and harmony-rich rock. Organ, violin and varying string instruments coalesce with mellifluous melodies that hover just around ceiling level. At The Cave, that means they’ll be hovering at perfect ear level for many. Sharing the bill is Hard Times Family, which includes ex-Lou Ford-er Chad Edwards. The late show starts at 10 p.m., and the 7:30 early show is John Andrews and Dave Jimenez. –Chris Toenes

Raleigh
The Machine
Lincoln Theatre
Did you feel that chill a few weeks back? It was hell freezing over at sight of Roger Waters returning to Pink Floyd for London’s Live 8. If the post-Syd Floyd is going to reunite, they should at least keep it real: play as a quartet and venture back to Obscured by Clouds for set list fodder. As doubtful as that is to happen, there is a backup in The Machine, possibly the world’s premiere Floyd cover band. You may not hear “Wots…uh the Deal,” though the four-piece does Barrett tunes to The Final Cut and specs their stage show, complete with light/video projections, on the ’70s era. It’s almost as if the freeze was still on. $12 welcomes you to the machine at 9 p.m. –Eric Weddle

Saturday
Raleigh
The Dragonflys
The Pourhouse
It’s a testament to the work The Pour House has done for seven years that the other venues on this Dragonflys tour include words like Fillmore, Fox and Exit/In. The folk-rock manifestation of producer Rob Friedman and Dead sidemen Rob Baracco and Jimmy Herring, the band’s sophomore album was written by legendary scribe Robert Hunter. Get that, and you get this: A wanderer’s songs about a lust for life, companionship and some elusive, mercurial higher meaning with snippets of banal idealism, done by an ensemble that, at its weakest, sounds like unrealized Eagles outtakes, and at its best like sonorous instrumentalists doubling as understudies of CSNY. Star-studded and pleasant, but certainly not as challenging as one would hope. $12 gets you in for a 9 p.m. landing. –Grayson Currin

Earth, Wind & Fire, Chicago
Alltel Pavillion
Few bands have reached the levels of success in their respective genres attained by Earth, Wind & Fire and Chicago. Both bands have undergone cosmetic changes, from monikers (The Elements and The Big Thing, respectively) to ever-evolving rosters. What remains constant is the talent and signature performances that made them the shining stars of ’70s funk, R&B and rock fusion. Tickets start at $23.50; the show’s at 7:30 p.m. –Antonio Wallace

Sunday
Raleigh
Destiny’s Child
Alltel Pavillion
Their reunion record screams player-lover rather than their early, more defiant songs, but Destiny’s Child have come a long way since their debut and Beyonce’s supersonic ascension, with a little help from beau Jay-Z. Raise your hands in the air during “Is She the Reason” and “Girl,” both produced by 9th Wonder of Durham hip-hop group Little Brother. The show starts at 7 p.m. and tickets costs $32 or $65. –Chris Toenes

Monday
Hillsborough
Old-time music session
Blue Bayou
Consider this open mic night, communal style. Fiddlers tend to be the stars of these sessions (with the alpha fiddler the star of stars), but there’s plenty of room for banjos, guitars, harmonicas, mandolins and the like. Similarly, traditional songs typically rule, but some newer tunes have been known to sneak in. Free sessions will also be held the second and fourth Monday in August. Things start at 7:30 p.m., with under 21ers welcome until 9. –Rick Cornell

Tuesday
Raleigh
Scott McCurry Band
The Pour House
The Houston native has an easy-going rock sound that draws on classic late-’60s pop, sounding a lot like the power pop of Matthew Sweet. McCurry’s still a student at Texas Tech where the band’s bright, bouncy sound has made them a campus favorite. He’s got one prior release under his belt and is hawking his latest, Like the Sun. McCurry also plays The Cave on July 23. –Chris Parker

Wednesday next
Chapel Hill
Brain Surgeons
Local 506
Even if the résumé of Brain Surgeons didn’t include credits for founding members of Blue Oyster Cult (drummer Albert Bouchard, immortalized by SNL), Flaming Youth (Bouchard’s wife Deborah Frost), The Dictators and Manowar (NYC guitar-dude Ross The Boss), the band would still deserve ink for its sound: scorching, riffed-out rock thick on the orthodox rock beats that marked BOC and high on Crazy Horse stampede-ability, with a smidgen of Iron Maiden’s mythical mass and a lofty Led Zeppelin lyrical mysticism. Somehow, proto-glam rock isn’t an insult here. Bang the bell at 9 p.m.; bring $8. Nearing a platinum anniversary, Snatches of Pink opens. –Grayson Currin