Sweetheart Parade

Sat., Dec. 20, 9 p.m., free, with Papertrees and Mark Palumbo, Fergie's, 1214 Sansom St., 215-928-8118, fergies.com.

by John Vettese

rock/pop

Screw all this holiday cheer. It's almost winter, the season of chilly weather and heavy hearts. Consider those struggling with newfound unemployment, with failing health or heartbreak; they're certainly not hearing their lives reflected in Burl freaking Ives. Philly's Sweetheart Parade hits closer to home. A beautiful patchwork of rootsy pedal steel and reverbed brush-drums provides a striking backdrop to Joshua Britton's wispy-voiced contemplations: "You think that you've been through the worst/ Well darling you'll soon be immersed." Sweetheart's elegant long-player Sings Like a Priest evokes the bleakest atmospheres conjured by David Eugene Edwards in his gothic Americana outfits 16 Horsepower and Wovenhand. But the spiritual side of the trio's other clear influence, Johnny Cash, emerges on the title cut, which has Britton proclaiming, "We will not walk alone on this earth/ We may be weak but love has its fists." There's strength in that quiet cry, an offer of redemptive hope in troubled times.

Sat., Dec. 20, 9 p.m., free, with Papertrees and Mark Palumbo, Fergie's, 1214 Sansom St., 215-928-8118, fergies.com.