You probably know Franz Nicolay as the mustachioed, accordion-toting, wine-quaffing fellow with the Cheshire Cat grin looking like a cross between Salvador Dali and Super Mario rocking out alongside Craig Finn and company in the Hold Steady for the past several years. Things have changed for Nicolay recently not his look, but he quit the Hold Steady. But the singer and multi-instrumentalist has a burgeoning solo career to fall back on. Last year Nicolay issued his debut LP, Major General, which merged anthemic bar-rock with Balkan textures and cabaret atmosphere. Hes touring behind that album at the moment before hitting the road as a touring member of Against Me! later this spring and working on another album due later this year. With Moneybrother, Charles Leo Gebhardt IV. MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG
Sun., April 11, 9 p.m., 2010
