Singer/songwriter Justin Townes Earle, son of legendary Country Rocker Steve Earle — and bestowed by his father with a middle name in honor of Townes van Zandt — has lived up to his lineage with a successful and cult career as the forefather of scruffy Contemporary Americana. His most recent albums, 2015’s Absent Fathers and 2014’s Single Mothers, garnered critical acclaim for his “alarmingly resonant and refreshing” confessional streak (via avclub.com). His stop at the Taft Theatre this week features opener John Mark Nelson, an old-soul American Folk songwriter in the body of a 21-year-old.
8:30 p.m. Thursday. $20-$25. Taft Theatre, 317 E. Fifth St., Downtown, tafttheatre.org.