Turn it down

Still pumped from its latest power-pop release, the “Famous Graves” LP, Cheap Girls returns to its home turf of Mac’s Bar for a headlining gig. Those who buy advance tickets online get a free poster. Warming up the stage are local rock units Decades and Fencemen. Also performing is Split Single, a solo project fronted by Jason Narducy of the Bob Mould Band and Superchunk. The band also features Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster. According to Narducy’s bio, his childhood pal, Dave Grohl, was inspired by Narducy’s early-punk-rock ethos. “Watching Jason was the first time I thought I could start my own band, and write my own kind of music,” Grohl said. “Jason totally set my life in this new direction. It wasn’t a Jimmy Page or KISS poster I had. It was fuckin’ him!”

Mac’s Bar, 2700 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing. All ages. $12 adv. 8 p.m., Friday, Jan. 16

Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys at The Avenue Cafe , Friday, Jan. 16

Since its 2012 debut album, “Release Your Shrouds,” Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys, an Earthwork Music signed foursome, has been on a continuous tour across the U.S. Friday it headlines at the Avenue Café. Whistle Stop Revue opens the show. The Flatbellys plays what it describes as “a meshing of Appalachian tradition with a rootsy Michigan vigor.” The band is fronted by singer/songwriter Lindsay Lou Rilko, who also plays guitar and clawhammer banjo. The rest of the band plays an assortment of instruments; the mandolin, upright bass, cajon, harmonica, guitar and dobro. Fans of Steppin’ In It or Red Tail Ring might want to check them out. Next month the band releases its sophomore album, “Ionia.” The Flatbellys also plan to embark on international tours in Germany and the U.K.

The Avenue Café, 2021 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing. All ages. $10. 8 p.m. , Friday, Jan. 16

J.D. Wilkes & The Dirt Daubers at the Avenue Cafe, Saturday, Jan. 17

Kentucky-based J.D. Wilkes & The Dirt Daubers is a four-piece led by Wilkes, the songwriter and front man for the Legendary Shack Shakers, a veteran Gothic-rock outfit. The band headlines Saturday at the Avenue Café; openers are Adrian & Meredith and the Aimcriers. The Dirt Daubers, known for its blues-stained sound, released its third album, “Wild Moon,” in 2013 via Plowboy Records. The rustic LP was recorded by punk icon Cheetah Chrome of the Dead Boys and features baritone sax licks by Ralph Carney, Tom Waits’ sideman. The album unveiled the former acoustic-driven band’s new distorted and electric sound. The band was formed in 2009 by Wilkes and his wife, Jessica Wilkes, who is working on her debut solo disc, which she describes as “a collision of 1950s rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm & blues.”

The Avenue Café, 2021 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing. 18 $10. 9 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 17