Weekend's best live bets: Cobraconda, Real Estate, Joe Sampson, Carbon Choir and more

JOE SAMPSON (CD RELEASE) @ HI-DIVE

See Also: Q&A with Jules Bethea-Rateliff and Joe Sampson

Jules Bethea-Rateliff is so moved by Joe Sampson's music and believes in him so much that she's launched a new label with her friend Blake Nickoloff called Fellow Creature Recordings specifically to put out Sampson's first official release, Kill Our Friends. And Jules isn't alone in her admiration of the singer-songwriter, who earned a nod in Westword's Best of Denver 2008 issue, as evidenced by the cast of local luminaries who are coming together to help celebrate the release of his debut platter tonight at the hi-dive. Take a look at the guests who are slated to appear: Doug and Hayley of Snake Rattle Rattle Snake, Stephen Brackett of Flobots, A. Tom Collins, Erin Roberts of Porlolo and new project, Ending People, Tiffany Meese of The Centenniel, Rachael Pollard, Esmé of Paper Bird and many more. This is sure to be a very special night to remember.

CARBON CHOIR (CD RELEASE) @ MARQUIS THEATER

See Also: Q&A with Carbon Choir

Since its inception, Carbon Choir has explored many styles of music -- all very different from the teenage punk rock of Petrol Apathy, an outfit in which some of the members used to play. Frontman Joel Van Horne left that band in 1999 because he felt like he wanted more from music than just three chords and attitude. Teaming up with two of his ex-bandmates, drummer Scott Weidner and bassist Ryan Fechter, and the only keyboardist to answer an ad posted at CU-Boulder, Chris Hatton, Van Horne formed Carbon Choir in 2007. By the time of 2009's High Beams, the band had discovered an emotionally stirring amalgam of power pop, jazz and a melancholy yet triumphant spirit. For their latest offering, Sakhalin, the four have continued to hone their sound without losing their talent for building expansive moods or their penchant for impassioned live shows.

LAMBCHOP @ FOX THEATRE

See Also: Q&A with Kurt Wagner of Lambchop

"Nashville's most fucked-up country band" is back. The oft-quoted tagline of Lambchop (due at the Fox Theatre tomorrow night) sounds straight out of ringleader Kurt Wagner's lyric book: It's at once self-effacing, boastful and mischievous, and is truth-in-advertising on their latest record, Mr. M. Four years have passed since the band's last album, a time lapse Wagner refers to as "breathing room" for his songs. To call the 54-year-old songwriter meticulous and calculating might be an understatement. Lambchop has cornered the market on baroque, literate songs that take a while to develop and perhaps longer to digest. The ensemble's records are hard to shelve in the alt-country or orchestral-rock record bins, a fact that Wagner -- an artist with a capital A -- seems fine (or unconcerned) with. "Fucked-up country," indeed.

Check out our newly revamped concert calendar for a complete listing of all of tonight's shows.

Compiled by Nick Callaio.