Lifeline: 10 Cool Things To Do in Two Weeks

BOB DYLAN Photo by William Claxton 3/30

RASMUS LEON, CINDERS, JPH

Rasmus Leon is William Stephen Davis, purveyor of evocative, lush and labyrinthine melodies as deep and dark as a mountain holler. But as much as Davis’ songcraft reflects the rolling, ever-changing Appalachian foothills where he grew up, his cinematic songs point to an internal landscape as well, where memory, reverie, regret and acceptance collide. An accomplished music video producer, Davis partnered with producer/drummer/mixer Stephen Warwick (Ancient Cities) to record his debut EP and the Foothills as he dismantled his dilapidated childhood home. Davis and his band will preview new tunes from a forthcoming LP that’s in the works. More: $7; March 24, 8 p.m.; Petra’s, 1919 Commonwealth Ave.; petrasbar.com

COINED IN THE SOUTH 2022

Credit the Mint with making a money pun with Coined in the South; it’s the Mint, and the art and artists have been coined. Get it? Dad jokes aside, this second installment of the juried biennial exhibition was created in collaboration with the Young Affiliates of the Mint (YAMs). The show spotlights thought-provoking works by artists residing in the southeastern U.S. — in this case, 41 artists selected from 375 artist submissions. The artists range in age from 20 to 70 and come from a diverse array of backgrounds with riveting stories to tell. More: $15; March 26–July 3; Mint Museum Uptown, 500 S. Tryon St.; mintmuseum.org

MSSV, SECRET GUEST, THOUSAND DOLLAR MOVIE

mssv may be the greatest post-punk experimental super group since Dim Stars, a 1990s consortium that pooled members of noise rock godfathers Sonic Youth and punk pioneer Richard Hell. mssv’s punk era veteran and underground hero is bassist Mike Watt, founder of influential trio Minutemen. Watt is joined by Mike Baggetta, a fretboard master who is alternately gnarled and mellifluous; and drummer Stephen Hodges, who has gigged with Mavis Staples, Tom Waits, and David Lynch. Charlotte’s Thousand Dollar Movie crafts tunes in which Fugazistyle noise and snarling Sonic Youth guitars collide. More: $12; March 29, 8 p.m.; Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St.; snugrock.com

VEGFEST JR.

Launched 10 years ago as a small gathering in the Common Market Plaza Midwood parking lot, Vegfest is a boon to those who remember when there was nothing veggie to eat at local restaurants other than a head of iceberg lettuce. The culinary landscape has shifted since then, with Charlotte boasting vegan Chinese restaurant Ma Ma Wok and vegan drive-thru Romeo’s, among other eateries. A smaller version of September’s big Vegfest, Vegfest Jr. features a DJ, eight non-food vendors, a raffle, and 20 food vendors including Chef Joya, Chef Akil and Chef Julia Simon. More: Free; March 24, 6:30 p.m.; Ford Building, Camp North End, 300 Camp Road; camp.nc/events/vegfest-jr

BOB DYLAN

It’s impossible to imagine popular music without Bob Dylan. He pioneered genres ranging from confessional singer-songwriter to hard-hitting folk rock. He’s mystified generations with knotty lyrics that can be direct and spare on one level, while plumbing winding hallucinatory depths on another. As a vocalist, he proved you didn’t have to sound pretty to be enthralling. Fans once looked to Dylan for answers, but he was the first to say he is a conflicted seeker, too. It’s fitting that his latest album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, contains a song entitled “I Contain Multitudes.” More: $62.50 and up; March 30, 8 p.m.; Ovens Auditorium, 2700 E. Independence Blvd.; boplex.com

ARTPOP STREET GALLERY

The Charlotte SHOUT! festival, which kicks off April 1, encompasses a variety of installations and activities including walking tours of mostly-vanished Black neighborhood Brooklyn, sidewalk illustrations by CLT Chalk Art, and the luminous and sounding seesaws of Impulse. For our money, the heart of the festival is the ArtPop Gallery at the SHOUT! Lounge, which will host art activations including immersive projected billboards, pop-up art studios with artists doing demos and talking about their work and upcycled fashion pieces made from vinyl billboards. Featured artists include Von Jeter, Chris Georgalas, Melissa Stutts, Mary Kamerer, Andrea Downs and more. More: Free; April 1-16; SHOUT! Lounge, 401 S. Tryon St.; charlotteshout.com

THE GREATER CHARLOTTE BOOK CRAWL

The inaugural Greater Charlotte Book Crawl encourages local readers to support small businesses through the month of April. Reading enthusiasts can follow their downloadable passports to visit 11 independent book stores including I Read it in Books, The Book Rack, Park Road Books, The Urban Reader and more, in locations spread between Mecklenburg and Cabarrus counties. Several stores will collect donations for Promising Pages, a Charlotte nonprofit that provides books for under-resourced children, while others, like Shelves Bookstore, will donate books to Promising Pages from their wish list. More: Free; April 1-30; store locations vary; greatercharlottebookcrawl.com

SHAKE THE DUST, ROMAN CANDLES

Charlotte-based Shake the Dust is comprised of guitarist and songwriter Phil Lomac, guitarist Craig Hanks, drummer Bob Simyon and bass player Chris Liberti. The band’s music nods to the FM countryrock sound of the 1970s, but its pensive, handcrafted modern guitar pop plays like a post-punk update of Bare Trees-era Fleetwood Mac while displaying little regard for the self-imposed barriers of genre. In fact, willful eclecticism, instilled in a teenaged Lomac when he watched the Berlin Wall came tumbling down, may be the closest Shake the Dust gets to a foundation. More: $10; April 2. 8 p.m.; Starlight on 22nd, 422 E. 22nd St.; starlighton22nd.com

PHIL LOMAC Photo by Shane Combs 4/2

FAMILY FIRST: MUSICAL POETRY WITH CURTIS LAVON

In honor of National Poetry Month, Family First participants will write poems with a rhythmic undertone. Writers will explore how to recognize poetic elements in the music they listen to, and what distinguishes musical poetry from literary poetry. Facilitator Curtis Lavon embarked on his journey as a poet in 2011 after suffering a series of heart attacks. “While I was in the hospital, I heard music, yet the room was either quiet or full of visitor chatter,” Lavon says. “And it was like I knew what I needed to do.” More: $10; April 2, 12 p.m.; Gantt Center, 551 S. Tryon St.; ganttcenter.org

ANDY THE DOORBUM, PATOIS COUNSELORS, LOFIDELS, BOG LOAF

Singing in a gruff baritone pitched midway between hardscrabble folk and Gregorian chant, Andy Fenstermaker, better known as singer/songwriter and performance artist Andy the Doorbum, spins modern-day myths into tunes that sound as ancient and mysterious as Merlin’s incantations. His performance art incorporates costumes and personae both strange and surreal — a hooded magician on a darkened stage, singing a nicotineravaged folk song; or a towering creature of the forest, bedecked in a horned headdress, which casts a shadow like an ancient glowering god. More: $10; April 2, 9 p.m.; The Milestone, 400 Tuckaseegee Road; themilestone.club