Martin Carthy | Tue 10 Jan | Kitchen Garden Cafe | £12
As folk musicians go they don’t come any more renown than the widely influential Martin Carthy. Performing for over half a century both solo and with some of folk music’s most legendary figures such as Dave Swarbrick, Leon Rosselson and famously with Paul Simon in 2000, ending a 35 year long rift between the two. Carthy’s uniquely ingenious guitar style, his boundless easy charm and engaging singing style, have seen him wow audiences for several decades. In the cosy confines of the KGC his music will be bliss. wegottickets

Three Step Manoeuvre | Thu 12 Jan | Cogs | Free
Birmingham’s own Three Step Manoeuvre have been honing their fine organ driven soul sound for three years now and if you haven’t already caught them live you’ve been missing a real groovy treat. Their funky rhythms recall legends like Mr Hobo Flats himself Jimmy Smith, James Brown and The Meters. The Harry Weir Quintet provide support and expect a mighty jam late on. facebook

Meshuggah | Fri 13 Jan | O2 Institute | £22.50
Swedish titans Meshuggah have made a career out of pushing progressive metal to the outer frequencies, fracturing the musical landscape so much that whole sub-genres of imitators have burst to the surface to compensate. Tuning their guitars to whale-speak levels, and building cartilage-grinding riffs relentless in their polyrhythmic efficiency, Meshuggah turned metal into the mathematics of sonic punishment. Read our full preview here.

10 Years of This is Tmrw | Sat 14 Jan | Hare and Hounds | £5
One of the most progressive gig promoters in Birmingham and the gang behind the wonderful All Years Leaving festival have been helping to fill our ears with beautiful noise for a decade now. To celebrate they have pulled out all the sonic stops to treat us to five incredible local bands headlined by the rousing guitar mayhem of Calories, who will be performing their album Adventuring.  Read our full preview here.

Long Tall Texans | Sat 14 Jan | Wagon & Horses | £10
Time to spruce up those quiffs to monumental levels for a long night of old school psychobilly wrecking. For three decades The Long Tall Texans have been kicking up an unholy ruckus of dirty double bass driven rockabilly mayhem. They have managed to outlive most of their peers whilst retaining the mischievous sense of fun that was lost on their contemporaries. Read our full preview here.