Snug Harbor hosts catchy alternative groups from across the Carolinas, with each band capturing the spirit of 1970s soft rock in its own way. By turns gentle and jazzy, Charleston’s Daddy’s Beemer examines love and angst with ringing guitars, smooth vocals and sunny grooves on their latest LP Tangles. Guitarist Roger Caughman, bassist Cameron Powell and drummer Brendan Bull flesh out Stagbriar’s bright percolating tunes, but the Columbia band’s heart is siblings Emily and Alex McCollum’s telepathic songwriting and exquisite blood harmonies. With tunes like “Rainbow Tide,” Boone’s Groove Skeletons attain swinging soul jazz perfection.

Tecoby Hines does not miss. His 2020 release Drip was recognized as Best Debut in Queen City Nerve’s Best in the Nest that year, and his follow-up projects, 2022’s Days Under the Sun and this year’s Soul Sip have only solidified his place as one of his city’s most insightful and eloquent rappers. He’s joined by King Noli, aka the Magician of Keys, who performed at some of the country’s best-known jazz bars before settling in Charlotte; and The Bleus, a highly talented rapper who’s been setting vibes in Charlotte since moving here nearly a decade ago.

On the Medicine Singers’ track “Sunrise (Rumble),” East Algonquin round-robin chanting and heartbeat drums interpolate Israeli guitarist Yonatan Gat’s grainy post-rock take on Link Wray’s reverberating juvenile delinquent ode “Rumble.” The 2022 debut LP by these inspired collaborators kicks out a fistful of serpentine soul jams and cultural cross-stitching on par with Eno/Byrnes’ My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. Kabuki surf punks Daikaiju anchor cinematic giant monster movie (kaiju) themes with Dick Dale-on-ketamine guitar riffs. Asheville four-piece Tongues of Fire deliver relentless, razor-edged post-punk.

Three bands view great American music genres through a lysergic yet dance-friendly lens. Clarksville, Tennessee psych/Americana outfit Still Moves has mastered the fine art of embracing the spaces between the notes. On “Southside” cantering country-rock guitar coils over spare yet snappy percussion and moody melodic vocals that nod to a folkloric southland. Charlotte-based Funkwando’s funk grooves slip into the sweet spot between psychedelic swing and swaggering road house. Queen City combo Wet Basement Project’s “Scars” couples the authentic sashaying kick of Southern ’80s alternative — think Dreams So Real/Love Tractor — with angst-ridden emo.

Tommy’s Pub presents an evening of organic alt-folk. Rustbelt roots outfit Tail Light Rebellion is a vehicle for Jonny Swagger, who takes the stage armed with acoustic guitar, accordion and a suitcase drum kit. Fierce and rhythmic, Swagger’s malcontent folk-dance music plays like Tom Waits fronting The Pogues. From such supposedly mismatched elements as intricate clawhammer banjo, driving punk rhythms and soaring harmonies comes Sebring, Florida’s transcendent Swamp Rats. Boasting the powerful vocals of Felicia Castelow (Smelly Felly, Bottle of Smoke), An Archaic Agenda performs Celtic folk with attitude.

Petrov’s Mary Grace McKusick turns to horror video game soundtracks for inspiration, unleashing her solo project Distracted Eyes with a set showcasing her debut EP Pace. On “Enjoy” McKusick eschews Petrov’s careening guitars and full-throttle vocals, but retains her soul-searching lyrical vulnerability. Distracted Eyes entwines wistful shoegaze singing with clammy yet soothing synths and electronic zombie-stomp percussion. On “As the Sky Falls,” The Great Indoors weave jangling guitars, doomy bass and sweetly simmering vocals to suggest a pop-oriented Swans. Quinn Rash brings skittering, twanging and over-modulated emo to the party.

Raised in Woody Guthrie’s hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma, Fullbright evokes the Dust Bowl laureate’s conversational delivery and humanist outlook, but his sound hews closer to rootsy mavericks like Townes Van Zandt and Steve Earle. With his breakthrough 2014 album Songs, Fulbright proved himself a masterful tunesmith. His thumbnail sketches of strained relationships and human hearts …