Bill Frisell/Eyvind Kang/Danny Barnes
(Tractor) Bill Frisell is arguably the greatest guitar player alive today. While others may outpace him in terms of traditional virtuosity, his playing is imbued with such an intense and emotive attention to detail that its subtlest gestures can be heartbreaking. For going on a couple of decades now, one of the primary threads of his musical exploration has been in the area of traditional American folk/country/bluegrass music, genres he approaches with both reverent tenderness and a highly modernist experimentalism. Some of his most consistent collaborators in these works have been with violist Eyvind Kang and banjoist Danny Barnes, themselves both players and composers of great eloquence and oblique intelligence. SAM MICKENS

Harvey Danger (Second Annual Last Show Ever), Boat, “Awesome”
(Neumo’s) It started last year, this idea for Harvey Danger to have their annual “Last Show Ever.” With the band performing every song of theirs you could ever want to hear as though they were never going to have the chance to play them again, the night turned into a hell of a New Year’s party. But Harvey Danger weren’t really breaking up, and fans weren’t really hearing “Flagpole Sitta” for the last time. That didn’t stop anyone from having the best time of the whole year that night. And while this year’s “Last Show Ever” might not take place on New Year’s Eve proper, with the endearingly goofy indie stars Boat and the literary orchestra “Awesome” (and of course, headliners Harvey Danger acting as though they’ll never walk onstage again), it still comes with all the “celebrate good times” intentions. MEGAN SELING

Hey, BOAT’s on the Harvey Danger bill! Here’s what Christopher Frizzelle had to say about ‘em in this week’s Stranger Suggests:

BOAT
(Music) It’s dark, your hoodie’s wet, the wind hates you, the things you love are closing at an alarming rate, and you haven’t heard a song that’s made you happy since August. What you need is a dose of BOAT. Loud, gorgeous, reverby guitars? Yes. A let’s-just-have-a-fun-time attitude? Yes. A charming frontman? Yes. Songs about ice-cream trucks, haircuts, and punctuation? Yes, but not in an annoying way. I will be dancing. Don’t you want to dance? Other bands on the bill: the awesome “Awesome” and the dangerous Harvey Danger. (Neumo’s, 925 E Pike St, 709-9467. 8 pm, $12 adv, all ages.) Christopher Frizzelle

And since it is the season of goodwill towards men (and women):

Unscrew the Crocodile Employees Benefit Show (Goodwill) Without any notice, Crocodile Cafe owner Stephanie Dorgan closed the club a week before Christmas, leaving all her employees jobless. But the local music community has rallied to support them; former Croc booker Pete Greenberg (now booking at Chop Suey) has put together a benefit show with performances by members of Fleet Foxes, Peter Parker, the Pale Pacific, Siberian, Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death, Pleasureboaters, J. Tillman, Damien Jurado, and David Bazan. (Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison St, 324-8000. 7 pm, $10, 21+.) Megan Seling

And as always, you can search Get Out, our online listings, for more.