Turn it down

Pat Donohue at the Ten Pound Fiddle

Friday, Oct. 14, MSU Community Music School, 4930 S. Hagadorn Road, East Lansing. $20/$18 members/$5 students, 7:30 p.m.

Probably best known for work in the Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band on “A Prairie Home Companion,” Pat Donohue is a Grammy Award-winning folk guitarist. His fingerpicking style seamlessly blends folk with blues and jazz and has earned him comparisons to icons like Robert Johnson, Blind Blake, Merle Travis and Muddy Waters. No less than the late Chet Atkins, aka “Mr. Guitar,” counted himself among Donohue’s fans. Fellow guitarist Leo Kottke once said Donohue “thinks harmonically, improvises beautifully and writes. If you’re a guitar player, he’s going to haunt you.” Over the years, Donohue has become known for his astounding instrumentals and witty song parodies, including fan favorites like “Would You Like to Play the Guitar?” and “Sushi-Yucki.” In May, he released his latest album, “Blue Yonder,” which includes guest appearances by some of his fellow “A Prairie Home Companion” alumni.

Halloween cover-band sets at Dark Art event

Saturday, Oct. 15 @ The Avenue Café, 2021 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing. 18kknd, $10, 8 p.m.

The third annual Dark Art Show & Party is stocked with its usual array of gloomy works of art, drag and burlesque performers, a DJ and a costume contest. But this year’s installment of the annual Halloween party is also host to a night of local bands playing cover band sets. The roster includes area punk, metal and indie bands posing and performing as one of their influences. The lineup includes: Cavalcade as the Cure, Dead Hour Noise as Soundgarden, the Hunky Newcomers as Danzig, Dasterds as the Descendents and Fisherking as Snapcase. Another set will feature Type O Negative songs performed by members of Intrusion, the Hat Madder and Narc Out the Reds. Adding a twist to the evening is Mr. Fox & the Hounds, who will perform a set of songs by notorious Lansing-based outfit the Cartridge Family.

Touché Amoré at The Loft

Friday, Oct. 14 @ The Loft, 414 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing. All ages, $17/$15 adv., 7 p.m.

Touché Amoré, a Los Angeles-based post-hardcore band on Epitaph Records, headlines Friday at the Loft. Opening the all-ages show are Tiny Moving Parts and Culture Abuse. Since it formed in 2007, Touché Amoré has released four records. Its most recent album, “Stage Four,” dropped last month and features the single “Palm Dreams.” The record’s title was not only a nod to it being the group’s fourth album; it is also a tribute to lead vocalist Jeremy Bolm’s mother, who died of cancer in 2014. Epitaph Records describes the new disc as “cathartic in delivery, highly sentimental and sonically triumphant.” Meanwhile, All Music Guide, which gave it a near perfect rating, said the LP serves a “constant barrage of gut punches, both sonic and lyrical” balanced with a “healthy dose of empathy.”