Best Bets for Jan. 18, 2018: Shredders, Simonett and new compositions

Astronautalis is Minneapolis-based rapper Andy Bothwell, who has drifter roots and rap battles on his resume. His album "This is Our Science" is billed as an autobiography and described as "neither a rap record, nor a rock record, it is a work that finally captures the vein popping intensity and high melodrama of his famous live shows."

Shredders and Astronautalis play at 10 p.m. Jan. 19 at The Red Herring Lounge, 208 E. First St. Tickets: Start at $18 at ticketfly.com.

Durrwachter premieres compositions

Local composer Wendy Durrwachter will premiere compositions she's created, featuring soloists Erin Aldridge, William Bastian and Adam Sippola and more.

The concert includes the world premiere of "Ultra Vires," a four-movement piece — currently scored for solo violin and chamber orchestra, with plans for a full orchestra — that considers boundaries and power. Another is a song cycle for tenor with text by Yeats. Bastian will perform three songs built from poetry by Louis Jenkins. Vince Osborn and Edward Willett will perform a bass-cello duet.

Wendy Durrwachter: A Showcase Concert is at 7:30 p.m. Jan.18 at Sacred Heart Music Center. Tickets: $12 in advance at eventbrite; $16 at the door.

Dave Simonett plays solo show

Dave Simonett (Dead Man Winter, Trampled By Turtles) will play a show Saturday at the Red Herring Lounge. Most recently, Simonett released the Dead Man Winter album "Furnace." Simonett, who released the solo "Razor Pony" in 2014, has a few solo shows lined up, including one with Benson Ramsey this past week at Icehouse and another with Andrea Von Kampen in Omaha next week.

Gambler's Daughter, a St. Paul-based folk-rock-blues band, is also playing.

Dave Simonett plays at 9 p.m. Jan. 20 at The Red Herring Lounge, 208 E. First St. Tickets: $13 at Ticketfly.com

Warm up with festival fever

A dozen local bands will play as part of a pre-Homegrown Music Festival Homegrown-style night of music and wandering. (It's also a chance to sign up to volunteer for this year's eight-day, 20th anniversary festival.)

Bands like Big Science, Nat Harvie Trio, Owls Club Big Band and The Fontenelles will play Friday at Teatro Zuccone, Blacklist Artisanal Ales, Blush and Pizza Luce.

Homegrown, for the uninitiated, is an annual Twin Ports mostly-music, but also art festival featuring hundreds of things to look at and listen to. This year's festival runs April 29-May 6. Go to duluthhomegrown.com for more details.

Homegrown Music Festival Winter Fiasco starts at 7 p.m. Jan. 19 at multiple venues.

SCHEDULE

Teatro Zuccone

7 p.m.: Big Science

8 p.m.: Remote Viewfinder

9 p.m.: Elysium Alps

Blacklist

7:45 p.m.: Jeffrey James O'Loughlin

8:45 p.m.: Nat Harvie Trio

9:45 p.m.: Low Forms

Blush

8:15 p.m.: WNDY

9:15 p.m.: Amy Hazel

10:15 p.m.: Noble Sound System

Pizza Luce

9 p.m.: Owls Club Big Band

10 p.m.: Laura Velvet & The Bookhouse Boys

11 p.m.: The Fontanelles

Get cookin'

A Detroit-raised, Twin Cities-based jazz singer who has a unique connection to the Dakota is this month's featured singer at Cookin' at the O, an intimate music+food series held at the Oldenburg House in Carlton.

This past summer, Debbie Duncan recorded "Full Circle" live at the Dakota — about 25 years after she recorded the club's first live album, according to jazzpolice.com. BTW: The first one she recorded at the Dakota Jazz Club, in 1993, landed on the Star Tribune's recent list of the Top 5 recordings from the venue. It's described as having "warmth, sass and soul."

This weekend's performances feature Ryan Frane on piano, Matthew Mobley on bass and Glenn Swanson, the B&B's owner, on drums.

Cookin' at the O is at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 19 and Jan. 20 at the Oldenburg House, 604 Chestnut Ave., Carlton. Tickets: $60 at oldenburghouse.com.