Preston’s picks: Robert Earl Keen at House of Blues; SoMo at South Side Music Hall

Robert Earl Keen at House of Blues

As surely as Christmas wreaths materialize on doors and the malls turn into the site of frenzied struggles for the must-have toy of the year, Texas troubadour Robert Earl Keen returns to North Texas to close out another year with a pair of performances in Dallas and Fort Worth. He’s hitting Dallas first this time around, playing the House of Blues on Thursday (Keen is scheduled to perform at Bass Hall on Dec. 30), bringing with him decades’ worth of beloved material as well as selections from his 2015 bluegrass effort, Happy Prisoner. With Junior Brown.

8 p.m. Thursday. House of Blues, Dallas. $45.

SoMo at South Side Music Hall

Born Joseph Somers-Morales in Denison, the R&B singer-songwriter better known as SoMo has carved out a promising career for himself in just a few years’ time, signing with Republic Records in 2013, and releasing his self-titled debut LP in 2014. An indefatigable road warrior, SoMo is always quick to show North Texas love, and routinely performs here. He’ll wrap up a productive 2016 near home with this stop on his “Less Stress More Love” tour.

8 p.m. Thursday. South Side Music Hall, Dallas. $27 advance, $30 day of show.

This story was originally published December 21, 2016 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Preston’s picks: Robert Earl Keen at House of Blues; SoMo at South Side Music Hall."