The Shins, Oh Inverted World

It's not every day that family reporting and hip pop music converge, but next week The Shins lead guitarist James Mercer will play a fund-raising gig at Seattle's Neuomos to raise money for research on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a daunting disease that often robs kids of the ability to walk.

Portland-based Mercer will play to help his friend, Seattle native and Treasure State drummer Mitch Leffler, whose son Aidan has DMD. Eric Bachmann of Crooked Fingers and Joel RL Phelps will join Mercer on stage.

You can get more details about tickets, which are $25, at TicketsWest. The concert begins at 9 p.m. on Friday Jan. 6.

There is no known cure for this mucular disorder, and those afflicted typically don't live past their early thirties, the Muscular Dystrophy Association reports. Concert promoters also say:

- Duchenne is the No. 1 genetic killer of children.
- Duchenne is the most severe and most common childhood form of muscular dystrophy.
- Children with Duchenne have trouble walking as early as preschool, and almost all of them lose their ability to walk between ages 7 and 12.