Jorja Smith | Tue 13 Dec | Sunflower Lounge | £7.50
A precocious local talent, 19-year-old Jorja Smith sits comfortably in the R&B lineage from Curtis Mayfield to Jamila Woods. Smith has had the radio tastemakers practically knocking her door down this year: Radio 1 play, hat-tips from Dizzee Rascal, a MOBO nomination – it all suggests Smith won’t be playing shows like the Sunflower Lounge for long, so catch her while you can. See our full preview here.

Schoolboy Q | Thu 15 Dec | O2 Institute | £25.00
Schoolboy Q’s paranoid boom-bap had the critics and plaudits lining up this year. Although hardly the first to make Scarface comparisons, ‘Groovy Tony’ shucked the glamour for the terror and burned conscience of being Montana. With gallows humour and uneasy, glazed production, an evening in Q’s mind is hardly an easy ride, but it might just be a thrilling one. seetickets.com

Slow Club | Thu 15 Dec | Hare & Hounds | £12
Back in August, Sheffield’s Slow Club released one of the best albums you haven’t heard this year. ‘One Day All of This Won’t Matter Anymore’ is a quietly elegant indie pop record, part Teenage Fanclub, part Grizzly Bear, but most of all a full realisation of the killer hooks and easygoing warmth that the band has always had in them. Catch them at the Hare and Hounds to regain a little faith in humanity. skiddle.com

God Damn, Johnny Foreigner + Youth Man | Fri 16 Dec | Hare & Hounds | £10
A highly-tipped festive sleazefest with this banquet of local heroes: God Damn’s calamitous dirt-rock, Johnny Foreigner’s pugilistic pop, Youth Man’s relentless punk onslaught and more besides. One way to start the holiday season that will leave you sweaty and breathless, and your ears ringing. See our full preview here.

Clutch | Fri 16 Dec | O2 Institute | £22.50
The hillbilly rockers have outlived damn near every scene going by this point: the stoner band of choice for stoner bands, with Mastodon and Baroness among their fans. The full-throttle riffs and throaty slogans keep coming with last year’s ‘Psychic Warfare’, and there’s no doubt that Neil Fallon’s gang of bluesy stoners won’t stop til death. See our full preview here.

Andy McKee | Sun 18 Dec | Glee Club | £18.50
The Candyrat signee and YouTube sensation Andy McKee has been a pioneer in the acoustic fingerstyle genre for over a decade now. A true virtuoso whose sense of melody and rhythm – as well as sheer skill – is truly mind-bending to witness, McKee plays the Glee Club in support of his first live album, ‘Live Book’. seetickets.com