The following is going to come as a bit of a shock, so please breathe deeply before continuing. ... The first artist that signed with Gnomonsong, the precious lil' vanity label of Devendra Banhart and Vetiver leader Andy Cabic, was not some kind of noise-core band named, say, Raindrops, Bloody Raindrops. It was the drifter-in-the-dark folk artist Jana Hunter, who first split a self-titled Troubleman Unlimited LP with Banhart last year. In simple terms, she's Joanna Newsom without the naptime naivete or harp solos. Her solo debut, Blank Unstaring Heirs of Doom (Gnomonsong), is borderline sinister—a slab of two- and four-track recordings that's as musty and intimate as a weekend spent in a bed-and-breakfast attic with authentic antique trimmings (the aged Amish furniture, the clawfoot bathtub, the cable TV). It's also strong enough for Hunter to rise above the Banhart association as a leader in the second wave of whatever freak folk seems to stand for.

Wed., April 19, 8 p.m., $8, with Sharron Kraus & Christian Kiefer and Marissa Nadler, The Khyber, 56 S. Second St., 215-238-5888, www.thekhyber.com.