Turn it down

Jerry Fels and the Jerry Fels — yes, that’s the name — is a catchy one-man band that’s goofy and unpretentious with a smart, ironic edge. The Massachusetts-based songwriter plays keys, guitar and a kick-drum while singing. Fels, who headlines an all-ages show at (SCENE) Metrospace Thursday, has been steadily gigging across the country since 2003. His second album, “Evil Is the Root of All Money,” was released this year — a follow-up to “So Twice They Named It Nice,” his 2009 debut. Warming up the stage will be local bands Happy Human and Sit Up Stereo. 

Thursday, Sept. 29 @ (SCENE) Metrospace, 110 Charles St., East Lansing. $5, all ages, doors at 8 p.m.; music at 9 p.m.

Freddy Todd, a Detroit-area DJ, makes electronic music – or dubstep, glitch hop and lazer crunk, if you want to get technical. Growing up he played the drums and then moved on to the piano, guitar, and bass. These combined skills were a precursor to his innovative presence in the electronic scene. His EPs include “Ghost Dance Messiah” (2009), “Hallowz Eve” (2009), and “Illegal Summer ‘Stache” (2010). Some are available for free download at freddytodd.bandcamp.com. Opening at Mac’s bar are local DJs iNov8 and Ty Beat. 

Thursday, Sept. 29 @ Mac’s Bar, 2700 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing, 18 and over. $8, 9 p.m.

Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (also known as D.R.I.) is a “crossover thrash” band that formed in Houston in 1982. D.R.I. never gained a mainstream audience, but the band’s integration of hardcore punk with thrash-metal was a stylistic catalyst for its contemporaries — most notably Suicidal Tendencies, Corrosion of Conformity and S.O.D.

The band, which plays an all-ages show Saturday at Mac’s Bar, includes founding members vocalist Kurt Brecht and guitarist Spike Cassidy, as well as drummer Rob Rampy and bassist Harald Oimoen. D.R.I. has made seven studio albums: The last was released in 1995, although a new album is in the works. The band has also kept busy touring the world for the past year in support of many re-issues of their classic releases on Beer City Records.

Opening the show are Chapstik, Against the Grain, Death In Custody, and Explicit Bombers.

Saturday, Oct. 1 @ Mac’s Bar, 2700 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing, all ages. Tickets are $12 to $15, 7 p.m.

Divide, a Chicago Heights-based “groove metal” band, hits Uli’s Haus of Rock Saturday. Since the band formed in 2008 it released a well-received E.P. and has shared stages with national touring acts such as Five Finger Death Punch, Drowning Pool and Lacuna Coil

 Fans of All That Remains, Killswitch Engage, and Shadows Fall may want to check out this band.

Opening the show at Uli’s are the heavy sounds of Execrate (from Lapeer), Of the Dead (from Chicago Heights), Something Utopic (from Troy) and Citizen Zero (from Detroit). 

Saturday, Oct. 1@ Uli’s Haus of Rock, 4519 S. Martin Luther King Blvd., Lansing. Ticket prices and show times TBA.

Guitarist/singer Greg Nagy, formerly with Root Doctor, began to turn heads in his own right in 2009 with the release of his debut solo album, “Walk That Fine Thin Line.” The Flint-based musician recently released a second soulful blues album, “Fell Toward None,” and signed with major blues label Vizztone Records.

Nagy, who returns to LeRoy’s on Saturday, has earned a prestigious Best New Artist nomination from the Blues Foundation in Memphis as well as favorable reviews from Blues Revue and DownBeat.

Saturday, Oct. 1 @ LeRoy’s Classic Bar & Grill, 1526 S. Cedar St., Lansing, 21 and over, $5, 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.

Legendary Shack Shakers is a four-man wrecking crew from the South that plays explosive interpretations of the blues, punk, rock and country. Led by its wildly charismatic and rail-thin frontman/blues harpist J.D. Wilkes, the Nashville-based band is known for its “Southern Gothic” hillbilly tunes.

The lyrics, which range from poetic to nonsensical, often tell stories of carnivals, monkeys, murder, mental illness, Jesus, the Devil and alcohol. Rock legend Robert Plant is such a big Shack Shakers’ fan he gave them a spot on his fall 2005 tour of Europe. Other big-name fans include Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys, the Reverend Horton Heat and Hank Williams III.

Opening the show is Lansing’s own The Whiskey Pickers, who play a blend of traditional bluegrass and folk. The band includes Roger Tijerina (guitar, harmonica, vocals), Ryan Freitas (upright bass, vocals), Benny Bienkowski (mandolin) and Brian Vanantwerp (fiddle). Also taking the stage is Carrie Nation & the Speakeasy, a Wichita band that plays a gritty style of Americana. The band, whose sound has been described as “a stagecoach in overdrive,” has brought its eclectic blend of punk, bluegrass, Dixieland and circus tunes to packed bars, basements and festivals across the country since 2007.    

Sunday, Oct. 2 @ Mac’s Bar, 2700 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing, 18 and over. Tickets are $10 in advance, 8 p.m.