MARK THOMAS DEMING: TONIGHT AT THE NEW FRONTIER >>>

Is it just me or is alt-country dead? Dead in a good way, I mean. Dead the way postmodernism is dead. Not because the art failed, but because it outlived its name. Because it was a name built for failure, a name coined obsolete. When the alternative rescues that which it supposedly alternates from, it becomes it. So don’t call Indian Valley Line alt-country. Or roots rock. Or Americana. Throw away the affixes and go see their show at The New Frontier tonight. Listen to the syrup-sweet guitar of Ryan Lynch, the gunshot drums of Emo Ben, and Bubba’s (I refuse to say honest and heartfelt) honest and heartfelt vocals. (Bubba’s from Seattle, the other two from Sonoma, Calif.) And don’t leave without their new full-length, Peggy, Sonoma and a Boxcar.

[The New Frontier Lounge, with Goldfinch and Molly Rose, 9 p.m., 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020]