Four concerts to kick off the holidays, from Dawg Yawp to Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Consider this a holiday harvest of concert presentations: four stylistically varied performances in four varying Lexington venues over the next week. Here’s the rundown: sitar-flavored folk, a guitar lover’s paradise, unclassifiable vibraphone mischief and hands-down the most grandiose Christmas presentation you will experience all season.

Dawg Yawp

Kicking things off Friday night is the eclectic duo of Tyler Randall and Rob Keenan, who perform collectively as Dawg Yawp. After studies at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, the lifelong friends returned to their native Cincinnati and released an EP (“Two Hearted”) and self-titled album that create folk-inspired works out of sitar, guitar, electronics, drum samples and the duo’s abundant harmonies.

For an introduction to Dawg Yawp’s unlikely musical mix, check out the NPR Tiny Desk Concert that Randall and Keenan performed in late September at N.pr/2mQX7GH.

Swarming Branch will open for Dawg Yawp Friday night at The Burl.

Tommy Emmanuel

An Aussie-birn guitar great dubbed “c.g.p.” (“certified guitar picker”) by the great Chet Atkins, Tommy Emmanuel can’t seem to stay away from Kentucky for long. He headlined a performance in June at the Lexington Opera House, displaying typically astounding technique but also an especially inviting and good-hearted stage demeanor.

On Monday, he will be back in town for another taping of the “WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour” at the Lyric. Emmanuel has been a frequent guest of the long-running Lexington-based music program for many years.

The performance comes in the midst of a holiday-themed tour for the guitarist (which also stops at the Bomhard Theater at the Kentucky Center for the Arts in Louisville on Nov. 30). But there’s a good chance that Emmanuel will use the “WoodSongs” appearance to discuss his “Accomplice One,” which is due out in January. The record will feature an extensive list of folk, country and Americana greats that includes Mark Knopfler, Jason Isbell, Jerry Douglas, Jorma Kaukonen, Ricky Skaggs, David Grisman, Amanda Shires and many others.

Mike Dillon Band

Percussionist Mike Dillon has become a visiting regular to Cosmic Charlie’s over the past decade, whether it has been through the artful punk fusion of the Dead Kenny G’s or his own band. The latter places Dillon’s playing on vibraphone front and center with a variety of musical backdrops egging on the New Orleans-based artist.

Dillon returns to the club to brush off the post-Thanksgiving blues with a new album, “Life is Not a Football.” Predominantly instrumental in design but with various bits of Dillon’s scorched-earth vocals added for seasoning, the record includes punk-flavored fusion, Zappa-esque dervishes and various big beat romps. A personal favorite from the album’s 14 tunes is the brutish but bopping “Iggy in the Van.”

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Cue the lasers and the pyrotechnics, everyone. Trans-Siberian Orchestra is heading back to Rupp Arena for a Thursday performance that will showcase music from the 1999 film/video project “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve” and more.

There is one major difference in this year’s TSO tour, though. It will be the ensemble’s first outing since the death of founder and composer Paul O’Neill in April. Next week in the Herald-Leader and at LexGo,com, guitarist Al Pitrelli, one of the first artists O’Neill recruited when forming TSO, talks to us about carrying on the band’s theatrical arena-rock presentations without its founder at the helm.

This story was originally published November 22, 2017 at 11:55 AM with the headline "Four concerts to kick off the holidays, from Dawg Yawp to Trans-Siberian Orchestra."