Demi Lovato & Nick Jonas announce 2016 summer tour

Young pop stars Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas will team up for the Future Now tour next summer and on their extensive trek the pair will make a stop in the Triangle.

Lovato and Jonas will play the PNC Arena in Raleigh on Saturday, July 2. Tickets will go on sale on Saturday, November 7, via the venue box office and Ticketmaster. Folks with a Citi card will have access to a pre-sale starting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, November 3.

Lovato just released her fifth studio album a earlier this month titled Confident. Check out the music video for the title track from the album below.

Shovels & Rope announce intimate spring 2016 tour

After spending the early part of 2016 touring with Jason Isbell, the South Carolina husband and wife duo Shovels and Rope will head out for some intimate, seated spring dates that will feature the band pulling out some deep cuts, new versions of familiar song and even some brand new tunes each night.

The tour will stop at the Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw on Sunday, March 20. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 30, via Ticketfly for $25.

Check out the duo performing "Mary Ann and the One Eyed Dan" at the Cat's Cradle earlier this year below.

Twenty One Pilots announce 2016 summer tour

Ohio duo Twenty One Pilots released their fourth studio album in early 2015 titled Blurryface and the band has stayed busy touring in support of it. The touring shows no signs of stopping in 2016 as they band has just announced big summer tour plans that will bring them to the Triangle for their biggest show here to date.

Twenty One Pilots will play the Red Hat Amphitheater in Raleigh on Wednesday, June 29. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 30, via Ticketmaster and the Duke Energy Center box office for $35 to $45. The Live Nation and Ticketmaster pre-sale begins at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, October 28.

Check out the music video for the song "Lane Boy" from Blurryface below.

Junior Boys announce new album 'Big Black Coat,' spring 2016 tour

Canadian electro pop duo Junior Boys will release their first new album in almost five years on February 5 titled Big Black Coat and they will hit the road on a North American tour in the spring.

The group will play the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro on Monday, March 28. Jessy Lanza and Borys will open. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. today, October 23, via Ticketfly for $15.

Check out the title track from the new album Big Black Coat below.

Boulevards signs with Captured Tracks, full-length coming in 2016

Raleigh R&B rising star Jamil Rashad, better known as Boulevards, dazzled a big crowd at CAM during Hopscotch last month (check out photos HERE). He released an EP a few weeks later, and now he has signed a deal that will see his first full-length hitting stores next year.

Boulevards has signed with the Brooklyn-based label Captured Tracks, home to indie acts such as Mac Demarco, DIIV and Wild Nothing. The label will release his full-length album sometime in 2016 and they are distributing his aforementioned self-titled EP released last month on vinyl, CD, cassette and digital. Check out the new music video for the song "Got to Go" from the EP below.

Boulevards will play Kings in Raleigh on Friday, November 27. T0W3RS will open. Tickets are on sale now via Etix for $10.

Rhiannon Giddens announces new EP for Black Friday Record Store Day

We've written about North Carolina rising star Rhiannon Giddens quite a bit this year around the release of her acclaimed solo debut Tomorrow is My Turn, but now she is prepping an addendum of sorts to the album, which will be released next month.

Giddens will release a new EP titled Factory Girl for Black Friday Record Store Day, on Friday, November 27. The EP includes five songs recorded during her T-Bone Burnett produced sessions for Tomorrow is My Turn.

After first being released exclusively to independent record stores on November 27, the EP will be released digitally on December 11.

Ani DiFranco announces 2016 trio tour, coming to Raleigh

Veteran singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco released her 18th album last year titled Allergic to Water and in early 2016 she'll head on a series of trio dates, backed by a drummer and bassist, the will bring her to the Triangle.

DiFranco will play the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh on Saturday, January 23. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 23, via Etix for $32.50. A pre-sale begins at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, October 21, via Etix with the code "allergic."

Check out the song "Careless Words" from Allergic to Water below.

Will Hoge announces fall 2015 tour, coming to Durham

Nashville singer-songwriter Will Hoge released a new album earlier this year titled Small Town Dreams and he will continue touring in support of it his fall with some new tour dates.

Hoge will make a stop at Motorco Music Hall in Durham on Friday, November 13. Sunday Best will open. Tickets are on sale now HERE for $15 (plus a $3 membership fee if you're not already a member of the club).

Check out Hoge's "Still a Southern Man," written condemning the confederate flag written and recorded after the tragic shooting in Charleston earlier this year, below.

E Street guitarist Nils Lofgren announces 2016 tour

Photo by Joseph Quever

E Street Band guitarist and singer-songwriter Nils Lofgren will hit the road in 2016 for a few solo tour dates and one of his stops will be right here in the Triangle in January.

Lofgren will play the Carolina Theatre in Durham on Thursday, January 21. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 16, via the venue box office and Ticketmaster for $29 to $79.10. The venue pre-sale has already started via Ticketmaster using the code FACE.

Lofgren released a 10-disc career retrospective last year titled Face the Music and he will also release a new live album on November 13 titled UK2015 Face the Music Tour. Check out a video of Lofgren playing the songs "Man in the Moon," "Girl in Motion" and "Rusty Gun" in London earlier this year below.

New music video from Phil Cook - "1922"

Singer-songwriter Phil Cook's triumphant new album Southland Mission has been out for a month now and now a new music video has been released for the album cut "1922."

The video is a montage of studio footage, live performance footage, behind the scenes footage and more. It really seems to capture the community nature that surrounds the album and its live performances. Check it out below.

Cook will play Cat's Cradle in Carrboro on Saturday, January 23. The Dead Tongues will open. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketfly for $12.

Benji Hughes to release first Merge full-length in January

Benji Hughes just released his first music via Merge Records last week in the form of two 7-inch singles and now he's gearing up for his first full-length on the label due out in early 2016.

Hughes's new album is titled Songs in the Keys of Animals and will be to on January 26. The Charlotte singer-songwriter recorded the album over a two-year period, mostly in New York. It will be released on one LP or two CDs (the two discs are to emulate the idea of the side break with vinyl).

Check out the a-side of one of the two aforementioned 7-inch singles, "Freaky Feedback Blues," below.

Brian Fallon recording solo album, announces winter tour

With The Gaslight Anthem now on an indefinite hiatus after wrapping their last tour earlier this year, frontman Brian Fallon has already hit the studio to record a solo album. The album, titled Painkillers, is being recorded in Nashville with singer-songwriter and producer Butch Walker and is expected to hit stores in early 2016, likely before he hits the road for his newly announced east coast tour.

Fallon and the Crowes will play the Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw on Saturday, January 16. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketfly for $25.

Check out Fallon's full set from the Newport Folk Festival earlier this year below.

Crocodiles announce fall 2015 tour, coming to Durham

California indie rockers Crocodiles just released their fifth studio album earlier this year titled Boys and they will hit the road later this month on a short tour that will bring them to the Triangle.

The band will play The Pinhook in Durham on Sunday, October 25. Lilac Shadows, Shepherds and Dark Tunnels will open. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketfly for $7.

Check out the music video for "Hard" from the album Boys below.

Chatham County Line announces 2015 Electric Holiday Tour

Local string band Chatham County Line will head out again this December on their annual Electric Holiday Tour. The four-date tour will see the group and a few friends, Johnny Irion, Jay Brown and Zeke Hutchins, add some electricity to their set, literally, and have fun playing a mix of originals, covers and holiday tunes.

The tour will hit Asheville, Wilmington and Southern Pines before wrapping up at the Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw on Saturday, December 19. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 19, via Ticketfly for $20.

Check out a performance of "One More Minute" from the 2013 Electric Holiday Tour below.

Low announces winter 2016 tour, coming to Carrboro

Veteran Minnesota indie rockers Low released their eleventh studio album earlier this year titled Ones and Sixes. The band has just announced a new round of winter tour dates in support of the album slated for early 2016 that will bring them to the Triangle.

The band will play the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro on Wednesday, February 3. Tickets will go on sale at 11 a.m. on Friday, October 9, via Ticketfly for $20.

Stream the full album Ones and Sixes below.

New music video from Rhiannon Giddens - "Black is the Color"

Carolina Chocolate Drop Rhiannon Giddens struck out on her own earlier this year with her first solo album Tomorrow is My Turn. She has now released a new music video for the album's seventh track, "Black is the Color." Check out the charming video below.

Giddens just played a big hometown show in Durham last week and there are no North Carolina dates currently on the books, but Giddens will be on the road supporting the album through the fall. Check out the dates below, the closest being in Richmond, VA on November 18.

Wide Open Bluegrass to move indoors this weekend

Due to the impending severe weather associated with Hurricane Joaquin, this weekend's big outdoor Wide Open Bluegrass Festival shows set to take place at the Red Hat Amphitheater on October 2 and 3 will now be moved indoors.

The shows will now take place in Halls A and B of the Raleigh Convention Center, right across South McDowell Street from the amphitheater. Friday night's show headlined by Alison Krauss and Union Station is sold out, but tickets are still available for Saturday night's show headlined by Jerry Douglas presents Earls of Leicester and the Sam Bush Band. Ticket are available via Etix.