SULTRY ROCK | The Peach Kings
w/ Cyndi Lauper
Thurs. June 2
8 p.m.
$75-$494
Charleston Music Hall

Paige Wood and Steven Dies met in Los Angeles in 2010 and soon began making sultry rock together as the Peach Kings. Since then, the duo’s tracks have appeared not only all over LA radio but also on films, commercials, and TV shows, including Shameless and Boardwalk Empire. The couple’s most recent release, Mojo Thunder, dropped back in December and, with its whispering vocals and fuzz-tone guitar, sounds a lot like what would happen if “Sweet Jane”-era Cowboy Junkies tried their hand at 1960s psychedelic rock. It’s pretty groovy, which is why the Peach Kings have landed a tour opening for the legendary Cydni Lauper. Though Lauper is known for her reign in the ’80s with mega hits like “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” you can expect to hear the singer perform songs from her latest record, Detours, which hit shelves last month. Her own covers album of country classics features Wanda Jackson favorite “Funnel of Love” and even a duet with Willie Nelson on “Night Life.” —Kelly Rae Smith THURSDAY

COUNTRY | Luke Cunningham
w/ Tyler James Mechem of Crowfield, Mac Leaphart, Danielle Howle, Sideshow Americans, Guilt Ridden Troubadour, HoneySmoke, Matt MacKelcan, Mr. Goodstache, Part Time Heroes
Sat. June 4
2 p.m.
$12/adv., $15/door
Pour House

Yes, singer-songwriter Luke Cunningham is celebrating the release of his new Kentucky EP, and yes, he’s also using the same show at the Pour House to bid farewell to the Holy City before his move to Music City. But that’s all a ruse. “It’s kind of a big scam to get all of the bands that I’ve toured with and loved over the years and all my good friends I’ve traveled with and whose music I respect, to get them all in one place for a good time,” Cunningham says. “I’m having a musical party and inviting all of my favorite people to be there.” The new EP is worth hearing, however, if only to hear how Cunningham’s gritty blend of rock and country has evolved since his 2011 Heart Pressure album. “The main thing I learned was the value of not settling,” he says. “The idea was to take time to make things sound the way they should.” —Vincent Harris SATURDAY

CUTE FOLK | Stefanie Santana
w/ Cake Wolf and Operator Music Band
Tues. June 7
9 p.m.
Free
Tattooed Moose
Downtown

Local musician Stefanie Santana stole our hearts two years ago with the release of her self-described “cute” DIY folk debut I Admit I Am Glad. Since then, she has also stolen the attention of NPR with the exceedingly creative #TinyDeskContest video submission for her “Starfish Song (That’s What You Get for Living in a Tidal Pool),” which was produced by the Business Company and performed with Punks&Snakes’ Jack Burg and Steve Tirozzi of the Specs. But now, Santana, who relocated to Charleston from Columbia last year, is hungry for a new adventure and plans to forge a new path in New York City — partly because she hears there’s cheap rent up there (insert laughter emoji) and partly because it’s simply time to shake things up. “It’s been in the works for a while, about six months,” she says. “But if I’m honest with myself, I’ve thought about moving to NYC since I was very young. I was born and raised in South Carolina — I feel like I’ve squeezed a lot of juice out of this place and found some of the best folks. I’m ready to get lost on the way home and find myself in a room full of strangers.” The singer also wants to be in a band for a change. “I like playing music with other people,” Santana says. “I want to collaborate and to dance around and get loud, stretch my bass and guitar-playing muscles. I’d like to step out of the singer-songwriter box that I find myself in.” But despite the departure, Carolina will always be her home. “It’s beautiful and complicated and riddled with problems and full of the strongest, most radical people,” says Santana, who was snapped by SC News Exchange outside the Statehouse in April at the height of the bathroom law debacle. She held a sign that read “Lee Bright is obsessed with your pee pee.” “I feel a little guilty leaving; there’s a lot of work to do. But I’m confident I’ll come back wiser and more useful than when I left.” Santana will perform a farewell show complete with (concrete?) jungle props, New York City’s Operator Music Band, and Kevin Hanley’s new project, Cake Wolf. —Kelly Rae Smith TUESDAY

ORCHESTRAL POP | Ben Folds and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra
Wed. June 8
8 p.m.
$24-$50
Volvo Car Stadium

The Charleston Symphony Orchestra (CSO) has wanted to collaborate with piano-pop singer and concerto composer Ben Folds for the past five years. “There wasn’t ever a good opportunity, but now it seems like the stars have aligned,” says CSO Pops conductor Yuriy Bekker. As a violinist, Bekker played with Folds in Houston about a decade ago, but now he’ll conduct a performance with his orchestra at the former Family Circle Cup Stadium as part of the Piccolo Spoleto festival. He says the concert will include songs from Folds’ most recent record, So There, including a movement from “Concerto for Piano and Orchestra,” and several popular old-school Ben Folds Five tracks like “Brick” and “One Angry Dwarf.” Folds made a stop at the Charleston Music Hall this past November with NYC classical sextet yMusic, but the musician’s CSO collaboration is expected to be a much different experience. What with the lush, rich accompaniment of a 70-piece orchestra under the stars on a hopefully tropical storm-free June night, this promises to be one incomparable affair. —Kelly Rae Smith NEXT WEDNESDAY

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