Once just another flashy blues guitarist, 29-year-old Teddy Morgan has in recent years spent more time crafting great songs than practicing his fretwork. Beginning with 1996’s Louisiana Rain and continuing through his latest, 1999’s Lost Love and Highways, Morgan has added pop melodies and y’alternative twang to the roadhouse bang he mastered as a teenage sideman. On “Louisiana Rain,” Morgan’s lazy drawl, a ravishing chorus, and the subtle lead- and slide-guitar playing bring the ballad’s evocative tale of heartbreak to life. On Lost Love, Morgan and his new band, the Pistolas, add speedy, Steve Earle-like elements to the guitarist’s Exile on Main Street-derived rockers—and nicely change the pace with the melancholy of “Nothing to Go Back To.” Morgan performs with the Billy Goats and Mason Jennings at 9:30 p.m. at IOTA, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. $7. (703) 522-8340. (Steve Kiviat)