Muireann Bradley, with Gregory Page and Skelpin
Martial arts? Or music?
Muireann Bradley was just 17 last year when she won a trophy in a jiu-jitsu competition in her native Ireland. Then came her very promising debut album, “I Kept These Old Blues,” which primarily features American country-blues and ragtime chestnuts from the 1920s and ’30s.
Bradley, who turns 18 in December, will open her first U.S. tour Wednesday in San Marcos on a triple bill with award-winning San Diego singer-songwriter Gregory Page and local Celtic-music favorites Skelpin. (Make that an under-the-radar mini-tour, since her only other U.S. dates are in Hawaii, Sept. 22 and 27 on Oahu and Maui, respectively.)
Given her age, it may be difficult not to smile when Bradley sings: “All my life, I’ve been a traveling gal” during her rendition of “Police Dog Blues” (a 1929 classic by blues pioneer Blind Blake that Bradley first covered 3 years ago on YouTube). Ditto when she sings: “Give me a stein of beer, if not a drink of gin / I feel myself gettin’ sober, I want to get back drunk again” (during her rendition of Memphis Minnie’s 90-year-old “Drunken Barrel House Blues”).
It will also be difficult not to be impressed by Bradley’s accomplished finger-picking guitar work — the Rev. Gary Davis and Elizabeth Cotton are two key influences — and her warm, agile voice.
Bradley, who counts former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman as a fan, doesn’t belt lyrics or show off on guitar. Her earnest singing is lilting, not raw, and she brings an unexpected sweetness to “Candyman,” a vintage song by the Rev. Gary Davis about a womanizing drug dealer.
It remains to be seen if Bradley becomes an inviting musical gateway for young listeners, but her U.S. debut gig is a welcome opportunity to catch this precocious talent near the start of her budding music career. And kudos to San Diego’s Six-String Society for being ahead of the curve and bringing Bradley to perform here.
7 p.m. Wednesday. Borneman Theatre, TERI Campus of Life Center, 555 Deer Springs Road, San Marcos. $25-$35. events. thesixstringsociety.com
Kishi Bashi, with Sweet Loretta
The American son of Japanese parents, violinist, singer, beatboxer and electronic looping wiz Kaoru Ishibashi performs and records under the name Kishi Bashi.
A solo artist with five albums to his credit, he has collaborated with such diverse artists as Of Montreal, Regina Spektor, Randall Bramblett, Son Lux and Guster.
On his latest album, “Kantos,” Bashi draws from classical, pop, rock, hip-hop dance music, prog, electronica and more to create an at times cinematic soundscape. What results is aurally accomplished but stylistically scattered, and much less personal in nature than the songs on his 2019 album, “Omoiyari,” a deeply felt work inspired by the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
The challenge for Bashi, who often performs solo, is to pull off the dense music on “Kantos” in concert. Even with a full band, it would be a formidable task.
8 p.m. Tuesday. Bely Up, 143 South Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. $25-$44 (must be 21 or older to attend). ticketweb.com
Rose Betts
London-bred, Los Angeles-based troubadour Rose Betts has an admirably sly sense of humor, although you wouldn’t know it from “Song to the Siren” — the plaintive song she contributed to the soundtrack of the hit 2021 film, “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” — or from her soul-baring piano ballad, “Recovery.”
Witness her TikTok-fueled hit, “Driving Myself Home.” A standout track from Betts’ audacious 2022 debut album, “White Orchids.” It begins: “My friend set me up on a date today / And I forced myself to go / But the best part of the date today / Was driving myself home.”
Ultimately, though, Betts musical calling card is her introspective, heart-on-sleeve ballads, which are well-crafted, voiced with conviction, and strike a fine balance between Celtic laments (her mother’s side of the family is from Ireland) and well-honed pop craft.
8 pm. next Thursday, Sept. 19. Voodoo Room at House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., downtown. $25.50. livenation.com
Mureiann Bradley is still 17, not 18, as the original version of this article incorrectly stated.
