Bowerbirds

Fans of Andrew Bird and Bonnie Prince Billy will cozy right up to Bowerbirds and Phosphorescent, two neo-folk acts touring together en route to South by Southwest. North Carolina's Bowerbirds sing waltzy numbers crafted with nylon-string guitar, accordion, violin, kitchen-sink percussion and a marching bass drum. Phosphorescent highlights the slow, quiet songcraft of Brooklynite Matthew Houck, who looks like Moses on the Mount and sings like a multitracked spirit from the other side. With support from Dead Oceans (a Secretly Canadian imprint that also backs Evangelicals and Dirty Projectors), the two bands are kindred spirits in the realm of soul-baring, dim-the-lights folk.