28

MONDAY

Wide Swing Tremolo confirms it: Jay Farrar’s a prude. For the third record straight, No Depression’s patron saint makes like the coal miners in his songs: He fights entropy by refusing to accept it. With his Son Volt cohorts, Farrar plays traditional American music the way it used to sound, albeit with a dash of punk thrown in—which, compared with what former Uncle Tupelo pal Jeff Tweedy’s up to with Wilco, is starting to sound a little stale. But removed from the context of insurgent country music, this is simply a well-oiled band fronted by a uniquely gifted singer. Opener Josh Rouse’s debut, Dressed Up Like Nebraska, plays like a middle-American companion to OK Computer—earnest as hell, paranoid, borderline irresistible. He could give the headliner a run for its money. At 7:30 p.m. at the Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. $15. (703) 549-7500. (Brett Anderson)