10 Best Concerts of the Week: Ben Kweller, Ace Frehley, Jackson Browne and More

There's another hot and sunny week in the North Texas forecast, and thankfully every show on this week's list is indoors. With that, it's a week of smaller shows taking place in clubs and concert halls rather than pavilions, arenas and stadiums. The week kicks off with a couple of solo shows from artists with a history here — Will Sheff, formerly of Austin band Okkervil River, and Dallas' own Sarah Jaffe. The Texas connections continue Friday and Saturday with shows from former Commerce resident Ben Kweller, Prosper country singer Tanner Usrey, Dallas psychedelic symphonic pop band The Polyphonic Spree and Fort Worth rock band Black Tie Dynasty. Saturday will also see a show from former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. The touring acts come rolling in next week with thrash metal band Overkill coming to town on Tuesday and shows from Jackson Browne and The Drums on Wednesday.
Will Sheff
7 p.m. Thursday, July 13, The Kessler, 1230 W. Davis St. $24+ at prekindle.com

For more than 25 years, Will Sheff has been the frontman and primary songwriter for the Austin-born indie rock band Okkervil River. Beginning in 2016 with the release of Away, Okkervil River began to change its sound from hard-driving rock to something more orchestral, softer and more introspective. The band had basically become Will Sheff's solo project, working with different musicians with each new album. Earlier this year, the singer decided to make it official and release his first album as a solo artist, Nothing Special. Sheff went on a solo tour through Europe last spring, where he played songs from his solo effort as well as classic Okkervil River songs. And he'll be making a quick run through the state he once called home with a date in Dallas on Thursday. Special guest Daniel Bowman of indie-folk duo Telephone House will open the show.
Sarah Jaffe
8 p.m. Thursday, July 13, Dan's Silverleaf, 103 N. Industrial St., Denton. $25+ at prekindle.com

Never one to be defined by any genre, Sarah Jaffe's musical career has touched on indie-folk, electro-pop, hip-hop and really just anything else she wants to do. Created in the grief of heartbreak, Jaffe's latest album, SMUT, released in October 2019, displayed the songwriter's talent for mixing spatial ambient sounds with uplifting melodies and lyrics as she searched for a way to have fun again. Now a New York City resident, Jaffe began her career in Denton, becoming a favorite in North Texas in 2008 when she racked up three Dallas Observer Music Awards before rising as a national star throughout the '10s. Jaffe has also scored original music to the award-winning independent film Never Goin’ Back and co-wrote and sang on a Grammy-winning track for Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP 2 album, "Bad Guy." Jaffe returns to Denton on Thursday for her Solo But Not Alone show, joined by Becki Howard. Opening support is from Corina Grove.
Ben Kweller
7 p.m. Friday, July 14, The Echo Lounge & Music Hall, 1323 N. Stemmons Freeway. $30 at livenation.com

Taking a break from his opening slot on select dates of Ed Sheeran's Subtract Tour, indie rocker Ben Kweller returns to Dallas, where he got his start as a member of the post-grunge band Radish. In late 1999, Kweller left North Texas for New York to pursue a solo career. Recently, the Dripping Springs resident released a deluxe edition of his debut album, Sha Sha. Originally composed of outtakes from Radish's unreleased album Discount Fireworks, Sha Sha was self-released by Kweller on CD in 2000, before ATO Records released a second version of the album with many new recordings and songs in 2002. The album's only single, "Wasted and Ready," was by no means a hit, but its video did receive some rotation on MTV, exposing Kweller to a larger audience and helping to build the cult following the singer-songwriter maintains to this day. Texas piano man Robert Ellis opens the show.
Tanner Usrey
7 p.m. Friday, July 14, Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave. $15 at prekindle.com

Tanner Usrey is an emerging singer-songwriter from Prosper. A soulful Americana-rock artist with heart-wrenching lyrics and soul-touching vocals, Usrey writes songs inspired by the rigors of touring life, drawing on influences from country and heartland rock. Usrey's 2020 single "The Light" was played on the fourth-season finale of Paramount Networks' hit drama series Yellowstone. In 2021, Usrey's EP SOL Sessions showcased the diversity of his songwriting with energetic songs such as "Time Bomb" and the more intimate "With You." Over the last year, Usrey has released a series of singles, beginning with his live duet with Graycie York, "Beautiful Lies," the nostalgic rocker "Take Me Home" and last month's slow-burning ballad "Pick Up Your Phone." Usrey headlines the Friday night show on Greenville Avenue after sets from special guests Palmer Anthony and Lance Roark.
The Polyphonic Spree
6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 15, Longhorn Ballroom, 216 Corinth St. $20+ at prekindle.com

On July 15, 2000, Dallas symphonic psych-rock band The Polyphonic Spree played its first show, opening for indie rock band Granddaddy and indie rock legend Bright Eyes at the Gypsy Tea Room. The band, founded by Tripping Daisy's Tim DeLaughter, had formed only two weeks prior, put together a 30-minute set for the show with 12 musicians. Twenty-three years later to the day, The Polyphonic Spree will celebrate the release of its latest crowdfunded album, Salvage Enterprise, which is due out in summer. The album has yet to hit streaming services because DeLaughter wants to find a way for fans to experience the album as a whole. This Saturday's performance at the resurrected Longhorn Ballroom will be the first time much of the new material will be performed live, but fans can expect to hear all their favorites from across the band's catalog as well.
Ace Frehley
7 p.m. Saturday, July 15, The Echo Lounge & Music Hall, 1323 N. Stemmons Freeway. $50+ at livenation.com

Ace Frehley is best known as the guitar player from glam metal band KISS, donning the silver "Spaceman" makeup that contrasted with the black makeup of his counterparts. Frehley's membership in KISS was up in the air after the turn of the century, with the guitarist joining the band only occasionally for its seemingly endless reunion and farewell tours for the last 20-something years. Frehley's first solo album came out when he and the other three members of KISS all released solo albums on the same day in September 1978, but his first proper solo album came out over a decade later in 1989 after a brief stint with his own band, Frehley's Comet. However, Frehley did not begin to record solo albums regularly until 2009 with the release of Anomaly. The guitarist's most recent effort, Origins Vol. 2, is an homage to all the artists who inspired him over the course of his career. NYC rock band Kore Rozzik opens the show.
Black Tie Dynasty
8 p.m. Saturday, July 15, Double Wide, 3510 Commerce St. $15 at prekindle.com

Black Tie Dynasty drummer Eddie Thomas died much too young on Christmas Day 2020 from complications of COVID-19 amid his fight against cancer. The band had reunited in December 2019 after a decade-long hiatus, played a handful of shows before the pandemic and were planning to reschedule shows that had been subsequently postponed. Thomas' diagnosis had brought the band back together, and after his death, they decided to keep going. Last year in February, Black Tie Dynasty played a small show at the Double Wide in Deep Ellum, with Burning Hotels drummer Mike Ratliff taking over for Thomas, and the band played its official reunion show in Fort Worth later that summer. The band capped off the year releasing its first single after years of studio silence, "Beginner." This Saturday, Black Tie Dynasty returns to the Double Wide, with opening support from Denton post-pop band Bifocals.
Overkill
6:45 p.m. Tuesday, July 18, Trees, 2709 Elm St. $26 at axs.com

Though the "Big Four" of thrash metal will always be Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax, New Jersey's Overkill actually predates them all, having formed in 1980. Taking its name from Motörhead's sophomore release that had come out the year before, Overkill made its start in the New Jersey metal scene, playing covers of songs by metal bands Riot, Motörhead and Judas Priest along with some punk songs by Ramones and Dead Boys. Today, Overkill has a more expansive catalog than any of the Big Four with its 20th album, Scorched, being released in April. While Overkill has never seen the sales that the Big Four have seen by diversifying their sound, the band has maintained an avid following of fans devoted to pure thrash metal, finding a home in clubs rather than stadiums and arenas. Thrash bands Heathen from San Francisco and Exhorter from New Orleans open the show.
Jackson Browne
7 p.m. Wednesday, July 19, Texas Trust CU Theatre, 1001 Texas Trust Way, Grand Prairie. $49+ at axs.com

Jackson Browne began his singing career in the 1970s, but his songwriting career goes back to 1967 when Nico recorded her debut album, Chelsea Girl, after her collaboration with The Velvet Underground. Browne contributed some guitar work to the album as Nico sang three songs he had penned, most notably "These Days," which remains the singer's biggest solo single. Browne also wrote songs for The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Eagles before he was encouraged to pursue a singing career. As a singer, Browne saw immediate success with the release of his first single, "Doctor, My Eyes," which went to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. In the decades that have followed, Browne has released 15 studio albums. Though Browne's tour in support of his most recent album, Downhill From Everywhere, came through Fort Worth in 2021, this will be the first time he has played in the Dallas area since 2013, when he opened for Jimmy Buffett in Frisco.
The Drums
7 p.m. Wednesday, July 19, Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave. $25 at prekindle.com

Indie-pop act The Drums returns to the Granada on the heels of its recent single release, "Obvious." The single is just the latest in a series of about a dozen non-album singles The Drums have released since their last full-length album, 2019's Brutalism, and it's their fourth single released this year. Formerly a full band, The Drums became a three-piece after their first album and a duo after their second album; after its third album, it became the solo project of singer and multi-instrumentalist Jonny Pierce. With the tour starting just this week, it is unclear whether The Drums will be touring as a full band as in the past, but given the instrumentation of its latest singles, the likely answer is yes. The Drums are known for high-energy performances, so come hydrated and ready to sweat it all out on the dance floor. Rapper, producer and GothBoiClique co-founder Cold Hart opens the show.