Cape Verdean singer Maria de Barros performs at the Venus de Milo in Swansea, Mass., on Saturday night.

Maria de Barros, the Cape Verdean singer who was born in Senegal and grew up in Mauritania and Providence before heading to Los Angeles, returns to the area this weekend to celebrate her new disc, Morabeza. And while new musical twists dot her third disc (instruments such as clarinet and harmonica make their first appearances), the overall effect is the same: a celebration of the fun, danceable side of Cape Verde.

De Barros’s godmother, Cesaria Evora, is known as the “queen of the mornas,” the slow, mournful style that’s the best known musical export of Cape Verde. But de Barros is different — “I want people to have a good time,” she says — using styles such as the coladeira (something like a cross between reggae and rhumba) and, on the closing “Tabanka di’Txada Grandi,” something approaching full-on salsa. (Watchers of the HBO series Entourage will recognize “Reggadera” when they hear it.) The disc was recorded in four places, including Noteras, in Pawtucket, and produced by Rhode Islanders Kalu Monteiro and Djim Job, as well as Danny Luchansky in L.A.

It’s not surprising that such music catches on internationally (speaking six languages helps her bring her music worldwide), but even de Barros is surprised at how far she’s roaming: Turkey, China, eastern Europe, France, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Guadalupe, Martinique and more, all in just the past three years.

“I’m an ambassador of Cape Verde,” says de Barros, who was honored by the government early last year, and apparently she’s an effective one: “At the end of the show, [audience members] want to go to Cape Verde!”

De Barros wasn’t born there or raised there; she didn’t go there until her honeymoon. But her native music and culture was a major part of her upbringing, and that’s what counts. “I go [to Cape Verde] and they accept me as such.” She’s also grateful to the United States “for opening their doors to so many Cape Verdeans. That really helped me to preserve my culture, and to fall more in love with it.”

Maria de Barros sings at the Venus de Milo, on Route 6 in Swansea, Mass., Saturday night at 9 p.m. Tickets are $30; call (401) 861-2780 or (508) 678-3901.

The night I saw Billy Gilman at the Carrie Underwood show at the Ryan Center with facial hair and a date, I suddenly felt very old.

Now it’s your turn: The singer from Hope Valley who achieved a bunch of “youngest ever” designations (a Grammy nomination, a platinum record, an American Music Award, a number-one country single) with “One Voice” at age 11 is — subtract the eight, carry the four, square root of — yup; he turns 21 on Sunday.

“It’s a good spot right now,” he says of his adult life. He’s traveling to Nashville on a regular basis to work with songwriters such as Liz Rose, who has written hits such as “Tim McGraw” and “Picture to Burn” with Taylor Swift and who wrote “Elizabeth,” one of Gilman’s early singles. He’s also meeting with record company people and finding things are different as an adult.

“I’m walking into offices and songwriting meetings and they’re saying ‘What do you want to do? What do you want to say?’ … People know this is what I want to do; it’s not just a hobby.”

Gilman says that his show on Monday will be 80 percent new material, which he describes as melodic country, with some ’70s rock influences involved — “what country used to mean to me.” He’ll perform with his loyal band members, who have stayed with him for 10 years (“not to say they don’t do other jobs, but if something comes up they drop it and stay with me”).

Whereas the young singer rushed back into the game with Everything and More in 2005 after he took two years off to deal with a medically difficult voice change, he’s now looking to put together a disc of songs — his own and others’ — slowly and carefully. “There’s really only the one shot,” he says.

So he still lives in Hope Valley, continues his work with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and works on songs in Nashville, “discovering the boundaries you can cross and the stuff you never thought you could say.”

Boundaries?

“It’s amazing, through lyrics, what you can say to the industry, about the industry,” he says with a laugh.

Billy Gilman is at the Wolf Den at the Mohegan Sun Casino, in Uncasville, Conn., Monday night at 8 p.m. Admission is free; go to www.mohegansun.com for more information.

Gloria Estefan sings with one of her childhood idols, Carole King, in a one-of-a-kind show that they’ve put together to celebrate their success and their influences. Shows are Friday through Sunday at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods, in Mashantucket, Conn., at 8 p.m. Tickets are $75 to $250; call (866) 646-0609 or go to www.mgmatfoxwoods.com.

rmassimo@projo.com