Start Making Sense Photo courtesy of the artist

Start Making Sense: Talking Heads Tribute
9 p.m. Friday. Port City Music Hall, 504 Congress St., Portland, $18 in advance, $20 day of show, $35 preferred seating, 18-plus. portcitymusichall.com
If you’re a fan of Talking Heads and you don’t go to this show, you will wake up the next day screaming, “My god, what have I done?!” Start Making Sense has been paying homage to Talking Heads for a decade, and its live show is phenomenal. The tribute band will be playing the entire set from the Talking Heads’ legendary 1980 show in Rome, Italy, and then another set of classic Heads tunes. Expect plenty of time for dancing and lovey dovey. The second you walk through the door at Port City, you’ll turn to your friends and say, “This must be the place.”

Left to right, Lissa Schneckenburger, Flynn Cohen and Liz Simmons of Low Lily. Photo by Sid Ceaser

Winter Solstice Mini-Fest with Matt Flinner and Low Lily
8 p.m. Saturday. One Longfellow Square, 181 State St., Portland, $20 in advance, $25 day of show. onelongfellowsquare.com
Here’s a way to make the darkest day of the year shine brightly. The Winter Solstice Mini-Fest is an evening of music from award-winning bluegrass mandolinist Matt Flinner and American roots band Low Lily. You’ll hear a seasonal blend of instrumentals and vocal tunes featuring mandolin, guitars, fiddle, banjo and double bass. And don’t forget about the harmonies, as they’ll be served up in three- and four-part glory.

Fiddler Eileen Ivers and her band. Photo courtesy of the artist

Eileen Ivers’ A Joyful Christmas
7:30 p.m. Sunday. Chocolate Church Arts Center, 804 Washington St., Bath, $42 in advance, $47 at the door. chocolatechurcharts.org
Don’t fiddle around too long and miss out on getting a ticket for this show. Eileen Ivers is a world-class fiddler of the Irish and American roots music persuasion, and the holiday show she and her band put on every year has been dazzling audiences for two decades. You’ll hear story-filled folk, ancient Wren Day songs, some jiggy Bach, fiddle looping and plenty of foot-stomping seasonal joy. Lest there be any doubt about Ivers, the New York Times called her “the Jimi Hendrix of the violin.”

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