HO HO WHO: Rufus Wainwright and Sharon Van Etten pair up for the date-rape-iest holiday duet ever to grace a piano bar.
SO REALLY I'D BETTER SCURRY: This straightforward version of the wintertime classic doesn't veer from the prototypical: straightforward piano accompaniment, sultry harmonies, playful-if-potentially-menacing back-and-forth vocals.
MAYBE JUST A HALF A DRINK MORE: Van Etten, channeling [...]

Sharon Van Etten's new record, Tramp, is melancholy yet inspiring, capturing how it feels to long, to love, and to grieve while knowing you'll eventually have the strength to endure. "Didn't we all come for this experience? This is ours to share," said Van Etten toward the end of her set Saturday at the Black Cat. "So [...]

In 2009, for one week, Sharon Van Etten locked herself up in the basement of her Brooklyn apartment complex, armed with votes of confidence—from critics, from TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone, from The Antlers, who even invited her to contribute vocals to last year's critical darling, Hospice. She also had a harmonium.
Van Etten once feared [...]

Friday

Chuck Brown. The Barns at Wolf Trap. $30. All ages.
Pistolera. Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. FREE. All ages.
Katy Perry. 9:30 club. SOLD OUT! All ages.
Maria Taylor, The Whispertown 2000, Laura Burhenn. Rock and Roll Hotel. $12. All ages.
BLACK CATatonia w/ DJ Dk. Black Cat Backstage. $5. All ages.
Velodrome 1 Year Anniversary w/ Fffever, Lode Runner. [...]