Too often, performances from our local chamber/baroque/Americana pop scene feel like overly precious MTV Unplugged episodes. Tacoma bluegrassers The Barleywine Revue exist to relive some of the tension and pop the bubble of seriousness. They pack some of the same weapons of their aforementioned peers—banjo, double bass, violin, etc.—but they pluck them alongside a washboard, an instrument that’s impossible to listen to without a grin. They’re not trying to change lives or adhere to the zeitgeist. They just want you to untuck your hands and have another beer. With Little Ray & The Uppercuts, Pickled Okra. CHRIS KORNELIS

Thu., Dec. 22, 9 p.m., 2011