The Pines; Jeremy Messersmith; Roma di Luna

This late-season tripleheader is a great chance to catch a short but telling cross section of local, rootsy up-and-comers. David Huckfelt and Benson Ramsey, a.k.a. the Pines, paint brooding masterpieces in shades of sepia, gray, and tan, evoking the desolate winter prairie. Last summer's Sparrows in the Bell (Red House) is a richly evocative blend of country, folk, and blues, streaked with gorgeous melancholy and punctuated by the odd banjo and dad Bo Ramsey's sculptural electric guitar. Jeremy Messersmith writes laconic, meticulously crafted pop-folk songs with a major dose of Brian Wilson-like pop smarts and quirky introspection laced with literary turns. On his debut album, The Alcatraz Kid (Princess), Messersmith's ethereal voice negotiates warm, winning melodies while musing on life's bad spins and often engaging in shimmering harmonies with his own multi-tracked voice. Evoking an old-timey Americana vibe riddled with scary hints of neo-Gothic mayhem, Roma di Luna play sparse tunes that squirm and fret under thriving uncertainty. The husband-and-wife duo of Alexei and Channy Moon Casselle etch tales of harrowing brittleness on their debut, Find Your Way Home, Channy in particular singing with a fractured radiance that sometimes seems like the bittersweet murmuring of ghosts.
Sat., Dec. 29, 8 p.m., 2007