American Aquarium with special guest David Wimbish

American Aquarium play The Heights Theater on Thursday, December 3, with David Wimbish opening. It's a double bill of North Carolina songwriters, both coming from the same state and working in similar alt-country territory.

American Aquarium formed in Raleigh in 2006 around frontman BJ Barham, who took the band's name from a lyric in the Wilco song "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart." They released their debut album, Antique Hearts, that same year and have averaged one record annually since, totaling 20 albums, all put out independently through Losing Side Records. Their 2012 record Burn.Flicker.Die earned critical praise. Barham's gnarled vocals sit atop a slide-guitar-heavy alt-country sound, and setlists tend to pair slow-burners like "Jacksonville" with barnburners like "Burn.Flicker.Die." He's headlined venues including the Ryman Auditorium and Red Rocks and launched his own "Road to Raleigh" festival, drawing on his life as a husband and father.

Opening for them is David Wimbish, a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Saxapahaw, North Carolina. He started The Collection in college and later returned to a solo-driven sound as David Wimbish & The Collection, recording his self-titled Nettwerk LP almost entirely on his own in a studio he built in his parents' home.

Doors open at 7 PM and the show starts at 8 PM. The Heights Theater is at 339 W 19th St, Houston, TX 77008.