In concert: Grandchildren, Iain Matthews and Andey Roberts, Pusha T

For nearly 10 years, Aleks Martray has led Philadelphia's Grandchildren in an acoustic-electronic mix of highly orchestrated, handily arranged folk-pop music. He's like James Bond film composer John Barry, but without a martini-soaked spy to guide him.

Grandchildren's layered, cosmopolitan sound - on albums such as Everlasting (2010), Golden Age (2013), and, most grandly, Zuni (2015) - is so richly dramatic, you keep expecting a film to accompany the soundtracky music. This show at Boot & Saddle is a welcome-home to the group, which has been on the road since dropping Zuni. Joining in on the fun is Philly's Duerr brothers' glam-ghosty Northern Liberties, and the spooky local psychedelic quartet Sleek Machine, whose self-titled 2015 EP is still fresh.
- A.D. Amorosi

Grandchildren, Northern Liberties, Sleek Machine, at 8:30 p.m. Friday at Boot & Saddle, 1131 S. Broad St. $10. bootandsaddlephilly.com.

Next month marks the 50th anniversary of folksinger and writer Richard Fariña's death at age 29 in a motorcycle accident, two days after the release of his now-iconic novel, Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me. Singer-songwriter Iain Matthews - whose career has included a stint with Fairport Convention, on-again, off-again work with Brit country-folk band Plainsong, and many solo records - recently turned his attention to Fariña's still-vibrant, albeit somewhat dated, songs, many of them originally recorded with Fariña's wife, Mimi (Joan Baez's sister).

With Plainsong, Matthews recently released Reinventing Richard: The Songs of Richard Fariña, an innovative collection he says reveals how Fariña's music might have sounded "if written and first recorded in a 21st-century electro-acoustic setting."

Matthews and fellow Plainsong member Andy Roberts, performing acoustically, will cover tunes from their band's 40-plus-year history, including creative reworkings of some of Fariña's best-known numbers, such as 1965's still-endearing "Pack Up Your Sorrows."
- Nicole Pensiero

Iain Matthews and Andy Roberts, with Lily Mae, at 8 p.m. Thursday at Sellersville Theater, 24 W. Temple Ave., Sellersville. $21.50, $29.50. 215-257-5808, st94.com.

To some, Clipse (brothers Terrence "Pusha T" Thornton and Gene "No Malice" Thornton) may have more cache than Pusha T does solo. In 2002, Clipse put out the iconic Lord Willin', featuring forever-bangers "Grindin" and "When the Last Time."

It's nearly a decade later, and Pusha T has made some very important friends, namely Kanye West (that's Push guesting on Kanye's "Runaway") and the fine people of G.O.O.D. Music and Def Jam. Push has put out two outstanding LPs: his 2013 solo debut, My Name is My Name, and 2015's King Push - Darkest Before Down: The Prelude. His records are littered with outstanding guests (including Philly folks Jill Scott and Beanie Sigel), but what's really striking about these records is the experimental, nuanced production and inventive lyricism.
- Bill Chenevert

Pusha T, with Lil Bibby and G Herbo, at 8 p.m. Friday at the Trocadero, 1003 Arch St. Sold out. 215-922-6888, thetroc.com.