Ricky Montgomery: The Monty Tour

The Eastern · 800 Old Flat Shoals Rd SE

Music always lures Ricky Montgomery back. He blames the internet. First a devotee of the Vine underground, and now—nearly a decade and several jobs later—an unexpected hitmaker, the Los Angeles native has spent the last few years trying to reconcile with his artist self. He recently surpassed 1 billion global streams thanks to Platinum indie-pop hits “Mr. Loverman” and “Line Without a Hook.” But those songs, written when he was a teen, have come to feel like they were by a whole other person—at least to Ricky. …

Magnolia & Johnson Electric Co.

Variety Playhouse · 1099 Euclid Ave NE

Mei Semones

Terminal West · 887 West Marietta St NW Ste C

On the night of the Fourth of July, fireworks over Mei Semones' Brooklyn block were competing with something more primal. Up and down the street, dogs answered each burst with a long, ragged howl of their own. Semones, alone in her apartment with her guitar while the rest of the city celebrated outside, found she didn't mind the solitude. The howling struck her less as a cry for help than as a kind of greeting: proof that she was never really by herself, not with music always keeping her company. By morning, she had the seed of the title track for her sophomore album, Howl. …