JOHN PRINE The iconic singer-songwriter comes around on the heels of the release of his second country duets record, “For Better, or Worse,’’ which finds him pairing up with Iris DeMent, Miranda Lambert, Lee Ann Womack, and others. None of them will be along for the tour, but soulful folksinger Greg Trooper will, as opener. Sept. 16. Tickets: $62.50-$102.50. Hanover Theatre, Worcester. 877-571-7469, www.thehanovertheatre.org
THE NEW ENGLAND FESTY The Infamous Stringdusters bring the genre-hopping Virginia festival they help produce north for the inaugural New England version, which will feature the ’Dusters, Josh Ritter, Justin Townes Earle, David Wax Museum, Sierra Hull, and Fruition. Sept. 17-18. Tickets: $45 day, $65 weekend. Prowse Farm, Canton. www.thenew englandfesty.com
GRANT-LEE PHILLIPS The new album “The Narrows’’ is the first Grant-Lee Phillips has made since he relocated to Nashville from Los Angeles, but it seems to spend a lot of time looking back at the state where the singer-songwriter with the lonesome quaver in his voice spent most of his life. Sept. 18. Tickets: $30. Club Passim, Cambridge. 617-492-7679, www.passim.org
WHITEY MORGAN/CODY JINKS If you’re a fan of the outlaw style of country music, be sure to put this double-barrel shotgun blast of two of its prime contemporary exponents on your calendar. Morgan and Jinks are co-headlining, so whether you’re partial to one or the other, you won’t feel shortchanged. Sept. 22. Tickets: $20. Paradise Rock Club. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com
DARRELL SCOTT He’s a writer, and singer, of peculiar emotive force who can play just about anything he picks up, and these days he does it all while living off the grid, getting his power from the sun and growing his own food. Scott plugs back in for a tour behind his latest, “The Couchville Sessions.’’ Sept. 23. Tickets: $28, $32. First Parish Church, Cambridge. 617-492-7679, www.passim.org
BRAD PAISLEY This songwriter-singer-guitar slinger with a penchant for cornball humor is one of the few mainstream performers left with even the remotest of ties to what country music used to sound like. Paisley shuts down the summer shed season with this show, which also features engaging youngsters Maddie & Tae. Sept. 24. Tickets: $33.50-$63.25. Xfinity Center, Mansfield. 800-745-3000, www.livenation.com
JASON ISBELL Now almost 10 years into his solo career, with the force of his most recent albums, “Southeastern’’ and “Something More Than Free,’’ Isbell has established himself as one of the most important artists in contemporary American roots music. Oct. 12. Tickets: $29.50-$49.50. Lowell Memorial Auditorium. 866-722-8881, www.lowellauditorium.com
LAMPEDUSA: CONCERTS FOR REFUGEES The Italian island that has become a symbol of the current European migrant crisis gives its name to this star-studded fund-raising effort, which features Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, and the Milk Carton Kids. Oct. 16. Tickets: $57-$77. Berklee Performance Center. 617-747-2261, www.berklee .edu/bpc
WALTER SALAS-HUMARA Both as the frontman of seminal alt-country precursor the Silos and as a performer under his own name, Walter Salas-Humara has been making vital music for the better part of 30 years that, mystifyingly, seems to stay just under the radar. Oct. 19. Tickets: $10. Atwood’s Tavern, Cambridge. 800-838-3006, www.brownpapertickets.com
KELSEY WALDON Waldon is another fine young country singer with an affinity for the old stuff, which she mates to heartfelt commentaries and to the spitfire sass of songs like “False King’’ (“you can’t place a crown on the head of a clown and then hope he turns out to be a king’’). Oct. 26. Tickets: $10. Atwood’s Tavern, Cambridge. 800-838-3006, www.brownpaper tickets.com
RYLEY WALKER In a recent interview, marvelous guitar player Walker labeled himself a “fraud’’ on the instrument (we should all be such frauds), and a similar self-deprecating evaluation shows up in the songs (witness the wit of “The Halfwit in Me’’) on his just-released “Golden Sings That Have Been Sung.’’ Nov. 1. Tickets: $12. Red Room at Café 939. 617-747-2261, www.cafe939.com
THE LONG RYDERS The Long Ryders, a noted left-coast alternative country band before alternative country was a thing, are back in the saddle for one final ride (or is that “ryde?’’), their first in 29 years, spawned by the release of a career-spanning box set, “Final Wild Songs.’’ Nov. 11. Tickets: $20. ONCE Ballroom, Somerville. 877-987-6487, www.ticketfly.com
MARGO PRICE The latest it-girl in the current wave of artists breathing new life into classic honky-tonk forms is a woman who pours herself into her songs — so much so that the painful autobiography of “Hands of Time’’ sometimes renders her unable to perform the song live. This is her first visit to Boston as a solo artist. Nov. 11. Tickets: $16. Brighton Music Hall. 800-745-3000, www.ticket master.com
DEL MCCOURY AND DAVID GRISMAN The “Del and Dawg’’ tour brings together two artists who have been friends and collaborators since long before they became bluegrass legends. Of late, they’ve been combining their accumulated musical wisdom to extend their friendship to the stage. Nov. 19. Tickets: $37.50-$57.50. The Cabot Theatre, Beverly. 617-927-3100, www.thecabot.org
WILLIAM FITZSIMMONS On his recent release, “Charleroi,’’ Fitzsimmons continues the literate family investigations he began on “Pittsburgh.’’ The latter, he says, was about “the grandmother I knew;’’ its successor takes up “the one I never did.’’ Laura Burhenn of the Mynabirds is also scheduled to perform. Nov. 29. Tickets: $18. Red Room at Café 939. 617-747-2261, www.cafe939.com
STUART MUNRO
