Concert picks: A cool double bill with the Felice Brothers kicks off 2016

Arden Gild Hall (2126 The Highway, Arden, Del.)
8 p.m., Saturday. $25.

A cool double bill to start the 2016 concert series at the Arden Gild Hall in Delaware. Felice Brothers are the upstate New York family band fronted by singer-guitarist Ian Felice and accordion player brother James (the third Felice bro, Simone, left years ago for a solo career). Their ramshackle, often-compared-to-the-Band rootsy sound was effectively displayed on 2014's Favorite Waitress. On Saturday, they're joined by Steve Gunn, the evocative guitarist who formerly played in fellow Lansdowne native Kurt Vile's band the Violators, and whose superb 2014 album Way Out Weather uses various elements of mellowed-out musical Americana to cast a transfixing spell.
--Dan DeLuca

with Rugby Road
Ardmore Music Hall (23 E. Lancaster Ave.)
8 p.m., Saturday, $28-$50.

Saxophonist Maceo Parker was a key player in two of the great funk bands of all time. Starting in 1964 and in various intervals over the years, he answered the call of the Godfather of Soul -- "Good God, Maceo! Blow your horn!" -- in James Brown's J.B.'s, playing indelible solos on "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and "Cold Sweat." Later, he loosened up considerably with George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic. And for more than two decades now, the North Carolina native, who turns 73 on Valentine's Day, has been leading a well-dressed party band that follows a "2 percent jazz, 98 percent funk" strategy well represented with the Brown, Stevie Wonder, and Whispers covers found on his 2012 live album Soul Classics, which features Philadelphia jazzman Christian McBride on bass.
--D.D.

With Vinegar Creek Constituency
World Cafe Live (3025 Walnut St.)
8 p.m., Sunday, $12-$15.

If you're among those for whom bluegrass is a peaceful, pastoral respite from pop's bustling norm, A Fistful of Sugar will rattle your nerves and spin your head. With its Up-With-People harmonies in place and its (western) swinging banjo-to-fiddle ratio secure, the Philadelphia ensemble certainly plays up to bluegrass' chipper norms. But listen to Perspicacity, the musicians' 2014 debut album, and that light, airy feeling begins to melt away as elements of dark electronica and art-pop are introduced. Several band members hold local theater credits, so there's a dramatic flourish and tension to the voices. The overall effect of their album and live performances is more complexly Sondheim than, say, the Red Clay Ramblers. Also along for the trek through Philadelphia's weird local bluegrass scene is Sparkle Pony, a locally grown, haute-couture hillbilly outfit fronted by big singer Valentina Raffaelli, from Tuscany, Italy.
--A.D. Amorosi