Blowfly Saturday, February 9, at Club Dada, $11-$15 Through a bizarre friend-of-a-friend scenario, Observer Arts & Culture editor Jamie Laughlin and our former music editor Audra Schroeder found themselves in a Fort Lauderdale recording studio in the early 2000s, getting stoned with rappers Afroman, Shaggy and Blowfly, and doing back-up vocals on an update of the track "Blowfly for President." So there's that. In other news, the gold-spangled, cape-wearing rapper is on tour and headed to Dada this week after his 2012 release, Back in the Sack. If your interest in Blowfly is any bit as piqued as mine, go to Hulu, where you can watch 2011's hour-and-a-half documentary about his contributions to music history, called The Weird World of Blowfly. Surely a film about a former spiritual songwriter turned X-rated senior citizen superhero rapper can't disappoint. -- Rachel Watts
Balmorhea Friday, February 8, at Dan's Silverleaf, Denton, $10/$13 Since 2006, Austin's Balmorhea have been mining the ground of minimalistic post-rock to much critical acclaim. Throughout their career the band's music has always had a strong narrative. Each track feels as if a short story is being told. The band's latest, Stranger, sees the group stepping away from minimalism and ratcheting up their classical and rock influences for a record that feels as if it was tailored to serve as the backing to a late-period Terrence Malick film. -- Jaime-Paul Falcon
Murs Friday, February 8, at The Prophet Bar, $15/$18 The Definitive Jux crew is having a pretty good year. The latest from the collective to touch down in Dallas is underground rap king Murs. Murs' name -- "Making the Universe Recognize and Submit" or "Making Underground Raw Shit" -- has changed over the years, but his lyrical prowess and eye for niche concepts have always been consistent. In 2012, his release Yumiko: Curse of the Merch Girl combines the album narrative with a graphic novel that tells the story of Yumi Morales, a girlfriend enduring the tour life while working the merchandise table for her boyfriend's band Murder Acts. I mean, we have all been there, right? -- Deb Doing Dallas
Loretta Lynn Saturday, February 9, at Arlington Music Hall, $45-$75 While George Strait and George Jones recently garnered headlines for their announcements that they would be retiring from the road soon, Loretta Lynn keeps rolling. Last year, the 80-year-old daughter of a coal miner told the Observer that the secret to an artist's longevity is "how hard they're willing to work." As is the case with only a small number of artistic geniuses, Lynn continues to win new generations of fans thanks to her willingness to keep working and to keep performing. Perhaps this is selfish of us, but here's hoping that a retirement announcement from Lynn isn't coming anytime soon. -- Kelly Dearmore
Telegraph Canyon, Glossary, Quiet Company Saturday, February 9, at Live Oak Music Hall & Lounge, $12 Fort Worth's Telegraph Canyon are heading out on the road with Tennessee's Glossary for much of January and February, and we can't think of a more inspired pairing. The local Southern folk group is working on finishing up a new single in the new year, as a possible taste of a new album to follow 2009's The Tide and the Current. Glossary are still rocking jams from 2011's Long Live All of Us, but frontman Joey Kneiser just released an excellent new EP, Moonlight for the Graveyard Heart. Add in Austin pop-rockers Quiet Company, lather, rinse, repeat. -- Audra Schroeder
