Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Sharp Pins, and Sudan Archives play music in Philly this week

This week in Philly music features a tribute to the late songwriter Jill Sobule, a 20th-celebration anniversary of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s debut, a two-night stand by funkateers Lettuce, a golden age of hip-hop rapper, and a host of rising stars. That includes power pop band the Sharp Pins, jazz musicians Kenyon Harrold and Isaiah Collier, and genre-blending maverick Sudan Archives.

No list of the most influential rappers of all time is complete without Rakim. He is the golden age of hip-hop MC who set new standards for lyricism and internal rhyme schemes with deejay Eric B. on late 1980s albums like Paid in Full and Follow the Leader. His latest is last year’s The Re-Up. 8 p.m., City Winery, 900 Filbert St., citywinery.com/philadelphia

South Africa-born, Philadelphia-raised, and Boulder, Colo.-based indie folk singer Gregory Alan Isakov’s most recent album is 2023’s Appaloosa Bones. It is a moody evocative set of allusive songs on the Iron & Wine and Fleet Foxes continuum. His North Broad Street show is “an intimate acoustic evening.” 8 p.m., Met Philly, 858 N. Broad St., themetphilly.com

In the Grateful Dead- and Phish-adjacent universe, Lamp has legitimate bona fides. Russ Lawton and Ray Paczkowski are the rhythm section in the Trey Anastasio Band and Scott Metzger plays in Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. 8 p.m., Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, ardmoremusichall.com

Twenty-one-year-old power-pop wunderkind Kai Slater’s Sharp Pins is all the indie rage, with the kinetic Balloon Balloon Balloon drawing from Guided By Voices and the Byrds and sounding downright Beatles-like at times. The band plays two shows at Jerry’s on Front with Atlantic City’s Te Vista opening. 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., Jerry’s on Front, 2341 N. Front St., r5productions.com

In 2006, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s self-titled debut’s music blog-fueled buzz helped reshape the indie music business. Singer Alec Ounsworth is marking the milestone with a “Piano & Voice” solo tour that kicks off with hometown Philly shows on Friday and Saturday. Noon, Free at Noon, World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St., xpn.org and 7 p.m., Philadelphia Ethical Society, 1906 Rittenhouse Square, r5productions.com

The Boston funk sextet Lettuce has named its new album Cook, and the members all sport chef’s toques on the album cover. The band, whose musical stew pulls from horn-heavy influences like Tower of Power and James Brown, plays two shows this weekend. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Ave. Ardmore, ardmoremusichall.com

This Penn Live Arts show pairs two rising stars in the jazz world. They’re both Midwesterners. Ferguson, Mo., trumpeter Keyon Harrold has played with Jay-Z and Common, who guests on the opening track of his album. He has also played the trumpet parts in the Don Cheadle-starring Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead. Isaiah Collier is a Chicago saxophonist whose The Story of 400 Years traces four centuries of Black American history. 7:30 p.m., Zellerbach Theatre, 3680 Walnut St., pennlivearts.org

In May, singer-songwriter Jill Sobule tragically died in a house fire in Minnesota. A tribute show at the Fallser Club in East Falls will be co-hosted by Sobule’s friends Jim Boggia and Martykate O’Neill. The evening will feature Tracy Bonham, Jonathan Coulton, James Mastro, and author Tara Murtha. Expect an emotional evening. 8 p.m., the Fallser Club, 3721 Midvale Ave., thefallserclub.com

Daffo, the indie pop singer born Gabi Greenberg, went viral with the 2024 single “P:or Madeline.” Their debut, Where the Earth Bends, was recorded with Elliott Smith producer Rob Schnapf. 8 p.m., PhilaMoca, 531 N. 12th St., philamoca.org

This package tour brings together several veteran alt-hip-hop luminaries, headlined by Twin Cities rap duo Atmosphere. It also includes Sage Francis and R.A. the Rugged Man and former Ultramagnetic MCs leader Kool Keith. 8 p.m., Brooklyn Bowl, 1009 Canal St. brooklynbowl.com/philadelphia.

In 1994, Christine Lavin produced a folk compilation called On a Winter’s Night, featuring John Gorka, Patty Larkin, Lucy Kaplansky, Bill Morrissey, and others. That album prompted many concert tours with folkies of various stripes, and this reunion features Gorka, Larkin, Kaplansky, and Cliff Eberhardt. 8 p.m., Sellersville Theater, 24 W. Temple Ave., Sellersville, st94.com

Josh Ritter is never short on new songs or stories to tell. Having completed a full band tour for his new album, I Believe in You, My Honeydew, he’s now out on a solo tour. On Sunday, it will take him to West Art, the new venue in an old church in Lancaster. 8 p.m., West Art, 816 Buchanon Ave., Lancaster, westartlanc.com.

Brittney Denise Parks, who performs as Sudan Archives, is a singer, violinist, and electronic musician. She is at her most dance-floor directed on the excellent and creatively restless The BPM, the follow-up to 2022’s acclaimed Natural Brown Prom Queen. 8 p.m., Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., utphilly.com.

Put Greg Freeman in the category of RIYL MJ Lenderman, Ryan Davis, and Bob Dylan. The latter’s 1978 album Street Legal is the inspiration behind “Curtain” from Freeman’s 2025 album Burnover, which confirmed the buzz generated by the Vermont songwriter’s 2022 debut Looked Out. 8 p.m. Ukie Club, 847 N. Franklin St., 4333collective.net.

It’s a busy week for tour announcements.

A$AP Rocky was musical guest on Saturday Night Live last weekend. The rapper, who also happens to be Rihanna’s boyfriend, used that appearance to announce a “Don’t Be Dumb” tour that comes to Xfinity Mobile Arena on June 4.

The Human League plays the Met Philly on June 28, joined by fellow 1980s British acts Soft Cell and Alison Moyet. And Tori Amos’ new album, In Time of Dragons, due May 1, will bring her to the Met on Aug. 1.

Snail Mail, the Baltimore indie rocker born Lindsey Jordan, has announced her new album, Ricochet, due in March, and a date at the Fillmore on April 16 with Swirlies and Hall Gallo. Ticket details at r5productions.com.