Philadelphia band Circa Survive visits The Village to unleash their version of experimental music riding on the back of indie rock riffs. The band also has a new 12-track album titled Blue Sky Noise arriving April 20. Joining the band will be Pennsylvania folk rock trio Good Old War and Maryland analog synth-powered band The Christmas Lights. The show will kick off at 7:30 p.m. with the doors opening at 6:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $15 advance and $18 at the door.
88-Keys was the Long Island hip hop producer sporting the black-rimmed glasses manning the knobs on tunes and albums by acts such as Mos Def, Musiq and J-Live, but in the last year and a half, 88-Keys has stepped out from behind the board to showcase his MC and rap skills. And it’s 88-Keys who is the ringleader of The Crowd Control Tour — “four artists band together to save your city” — that includes Kidz in the Hall, Donnis and Izza Kizza. The Polo-sporting 88-Keys and tourmates will visit Revolution Music Room with the music kicking off at 8 p.m. with a $10 cover for the 18-and-up show.
Here’s a shot of Circa Survive with the video to their tune “Act Appalled”:
With The Black Crowes’ next scheduled gig at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, band guitarist Luther Dickinson is rejoining brother Cody Dickinson and Chris Chew, and returning to the fold for a few dates with the North Mississippi Allstars, including a show at Revolution Music Room. The opening act will be the modern, blues-heavy Southern rock side project of Cody Dickinson and Chew, Hill Country Revue, kicking off the music at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 for the 18-and-up gig. Expect a full serving of North Mississippi hill country blues sliced and diced with Southern rock for a night of gritty, funky, hard-charging music.
Downtown Music is celebrating its eighth anniversary, birthday, milestone, etc. Call it what you will, the night promises to shake windows up and down Capitol Avenue with a lineup of heavy rock and metal from Rwake, Vore, Hull and Snake Sustaine. The music starts at 8 p.m. with a $6 cover.
Pomegranates and Jookabox are both slowly snaking their way to South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, including a Friday night gig in Athens, Ga., before swinging northwest for a Saturday night in Little Rock. To celebrate the long, long, long drive Jookabox — Indianapolis native David “Moose” Adamson’s rather eclectic yet synthesized musical collection of hymnals, punk, deep house and hip hop — and Pomegranates — a Cincinnati art pop group with happy-go-lucky rhythms — are holding court at Juanita’s. The all-ages show begins at 9 p.m. with a $7 cover. The two touring bands will be joined by local indie rocking favorites Big Boots and Whale Fire. The pairing of the two Arkansas bands promises “special guests, band intermingling, raucous original songs as well as some oddball covers sprinkled in the mix, and a healthy dose of Arkansas moxie,” according to Big Boots, aka Trevor Ware, Mason Mauldin and Michael Motley.
Former Mulehead guitarist and guitarist for Kyoto Boom’s post-punk rock, Dave Raymond has spent the last four years writing and recording Familiar Sting, his debut album on Max Recordings, and an album filled with real-life experiences and rocking tunes with help from a band that includes Geoff Curran on drums, Burt Taggart on guitar and Josh Bentley on bass. Dave Raymond and Present Company will hold a record release show at White Water Tavern for Familiar Sting.
Here’s the North Mississippi Allstars live, doing the late-night talk show thing with “Shake”:
The snow is gone and the postponed The O.D. Part 2 is back on, this time at Sticky Fingerz. Expect a night of real rap as the best in local hip hop is showcased, with sets from EarFear (607 and Bobby), Big Drew, Cat Daddy, Mista Mayhemm, Rah HoWard, Epiphany, Shea Marie and Mike Streezy. Beyond the self-described “dope artists on deck,” DJ Greyhound will be on the turntables. The event kicks off at 9 p.m. with a $10 cover for the 21-and-up show. Dress accordingly.
Juanita’s becomes the center of the female folk singer/songwriter universe — Arkansas edition — when Paige Allbritton, Amanda Rook and Cindy Woolf visit. Allbritton is a 23-year-old Little Rock artist whose strummed tunes such as “Hurt On Purpose” reveal an old soul. (She also covers Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up.”); Rook is a local acoustic rocker; and Woolf is an Ozark folk rocker born in Arkansas but living now in southwest Missouri. An Afterthought regular, Woolf now mixes in pop choruses and twangy country when singing in her angelic voice about love, traveling and trains. The 18-and-up night of music starts at 9 p.m. with a $7 cover.
The Randy Rogers Band disappeared from the touring circuit in late November and early December, visiting Nashville, Tenn., to record another album of Texas-stamped and approved country rock. But since the first of the year, the five piece has been back on the road, whittling down their usual slate of 200 plus shows a year, including their first visit of the year to the Revolution Music Room. Expect a rowdy good time filled with electric guitars, fiddle and yee-haws. The music will start at 9 p.m. with a to-be-announced opening act kicking off the night. Tickets are $15 for the 21-and-up show.
Illinois indie rockers The Forecast’s latest, self-titled album is out, and the quartet is on the road to support the album’s collection of robust, muscular rhythms crossed with pop hooks and tunes about love with lyrics such as “I’m stealing your kisses back from you.” The Forecast visits Vino’s, headlining a show that includes local support from acoustic rock group Townsend and northwest Arkansas rock band A Good Fight, and Murfreesboro, Tenn., pop punkers Since Forever and indie rockers The Narrative, a Brooklyn trio on their way to South by Southwest. The music will kick off at 8 p.m. with a $10 cover.
Central Arkansas blues outfit Unseen Eye has completed their debut album, Too Bad, for Kijam Records and are holding a CD release party at Cornerstone Pub. Presented by the Arkansas River Blues Society presents, the music starts at 8 p.m. with a $5 cover for the 21-and-up event.
Here’s a terribly shaky, crowd-shot version of the Randy Rogers Band’s tune “Interstate,” a new song that will appear on their summer release Burning the Day:
Before they hit the high seas in late April with a jolly band of modern-day rock pirates in Kid Rock, Uncle Kracker and others as part of the Chillin’ the Most Cruise, Dallas-based blues rock outfit Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights have a few headlining club dates of their own, including a visit to Sticky Fingerz. The opening acts are Nashville, Tenn., via Tulsa, hard rock stompers The Effects and Little Rock rock outfit Luster, kicking off the music at 9 p.m. Cover is $8 for the 21-and-up show. Called a “a package of rock & roll thunder,” Tyler and his Lights, influenced by the blues-laced rock ‘n’ roll of The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Ray Vaughan and AC/DC, are preparing to release their Atlantic Records debut, Pardon Me, in April.
One week short of the one-year anniversary of the last time he played Little Rock, T-Model Ford, a real-life Mississippi hill-country bluesman, revisits White Water Tavern. No word on a cover, but expect the hip-shaking music around 9:30 p.m. with Arkansas bluesman Jim Mize. Nearing 90 (give or take a year or two), the Mississippi-born Ford continues to play, backed by a group of Seattle musicians known as GravelRoad, having played 20 shows in Europe from September to October 2009. Known for his rhythmic, raw guitar playing and rough-South vocals, Ford’s newest album is the Jan. 12 release The Ladies Man, the musician’s first all-acoustic album, recorded live in a Wichita, Kan., studio in the summer of 2008.
Big Smith, the Springfield, Mo., band composed of five cousins and one, fiddle-playing non-cousin, have released their first studio album of original material since 2000’s Big Rock, titled Roots, Shoots and Wings, a 16-track collection of the band’s modern take on hillbilly music. To celebrate — and play — the new music, Big Smith is on the road, including a stop at Revolution Music Room. The show starts at 8:30 p.m. with Little Rock’s Mockingbird, a self-described “hillbilly party band” with some big names in it who kick out the jams with a serious dose of psychedelic-laced roots music. Big Smith is simply an Ozark-Mountains powered, musical hootenanny of explosive bluegrass music mingled with country, rock ‘n’ roll and folk.
A little event Vino’s is calling Pop Fest features Little Rock pop punk rock act Thrill of a Dog Fight, For the Day, Bring Victory, Embrace the Crash and infectious pop punk group Box Wine. The music starts at 7 p.m. with a $10 cover. Box Wine has just finished recording their new EP in Missouri with Malcolm Springer, who has worked with Matchbox 20 and Collective Soul.
Kyle Glass is one half of the duo Tenacious D, a comedic rock band that features actor and musician Jack Black as the other half. But as Klip Calhoun, Glass plays lead acoustic guitar in the five member Trainwreck, a band whose music is Southern rock in nature but includes progressive rock and boogie influences in its mixture to create what is described as “wreck and roll.” Trainwreck’s current tour brings them to The Village. The doors open at 7:30 p.m. with the music at 8:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $10 advance and $13 at the door.
The King of Country, George Strait, and country music’s No. 1 female artist of all time, Reba McEntire, bring their hit-singing tour to Verizon Arena, with opener Lee Ann Womack. Upper-level tickets were still available earlier this week. Tickets are on sale at the Verizon Arena Box Office for $81.25 and $91.25, or through all Ticketmaster outlets, charge by phone at (800) 745-3000 or online at ticketmaster.com for $93.45 and $104.75. Doors open at 6 p.m. with Womack kicking the music off at 7 p.m. followed by Reba and then Strait.
Just because I’m a fan of George Strait (his early stuff), here’s “Amarillo By Morning”:
The culture of Brazil visits Revolution Music Room when a Cultura Brasileira 101 class is held at the River Market establishment for an evening of Brazilian Mardi Gras culture complete with batucada drumming, samba dancers, carnival costumes and Brazilian drinks. The evening begins at 8 p.m. (Doors open at 7 p.m.) with a Brazilian cultural workshop followed by free dance lessons and dancing contests at 8:30 p.m. At 9:30 p.m., the carnival kicks off with carnival band featuring Brazilian drumming and Samba dancing. Tickets are $10 advance and $15 at the door.
The four-piece, Austin, Texas, alternative rock band Language Room have earned comparisons to bands such as Jimmy Eat World and early Radiohead for their heartfelt, radio-friendly music. The quartet visits Juanita’s, with blues-influenced alternative rock The Breakthrough opening the show at 9 p.m. There’s a $6 for the 18-and-up show.
Two local bands — central Arkansas screamo band My Hands to War and Russellville alternative metal band The Last Shade — earned the right to open for Atreyu (Yes, it’s a The Neverending Story reference.) as the California metalcore band visits The Village so there’s a reason to be inside when the music starts at 8 p.m. Also on the bill, and touring with Atreyu, are Los Angeles punk rockers Drive A. The doors open at 7 p.m. with general admission tickets are $16 advance and $20 at the door for the concert presented by 100.3 The Edge.
Here’s Language Room in action with their tune “I Want to Scream”:
Little Rock based Last Chance Records and White Water Tavern are teaming up to record a series of live albums at the Seventh Street bar, kicking off the Live From the White Water series with a recording of Little Rock favorites and Last Chance Records artist American Aquarium. The series will feature Last Chance artists and other White Water favorites, and use professional sound equipment and recording engineering pros, with the first album available in the spring. American Aquarium is a North Carolina alt country band whose latest album, Dances for the Lonely, is a collection of hard-charging, Bruce-Springsteen-gone-country-rock (“Katherine Belle”) and cautionary, acoustic-strummed ballads fueled by weeping pedal steel (“Downtown Girls”) that serves as a follow-up to 2008’s The Bible & The Bottle. Local rustic rockers Jonathan Wilkins & The Reparations are the openers, with the music starting at 9 p.m. with a $5 cover.
What better way to spend a Friday night than by watching other people cram nails and things up their noses, eat fire, swallow swords and horseplay with chainsaws? That’s the fun the Electric Acid Theatre — the sideshow tag-team of The Enigma, a founding member of the Jim Rose Circus, and Serana Rose — promise when they visit Juanita’s. Beyond the crazy sideshow stunts, the duo also perform to music that is described as “acid rock from the year 3000.” The opening act is the drums and guitar onslaught of Illinois duo Tweak Bird, with their fuzz-driven, big-beat rock. The night starts at 10 p.m. with cover to be announced for the 18-and-up show.
FreeVerse, a free-spirited, rock ‘n’ roll jamband known for keeping their jams tightly focused while infusing them with funk and jazz, return to Sticky Fingerz for a night of groovy tunes as they prepare for the release of their second full-length album. The band will be joined by Little Rock band Interstate Buffalo, a blues-based rock band who just finished up work on their first EP. The show starts at 9 p.m. with a $5 cover.
Invisible Children is a nonprofit organization supporting educational efforts in northern Uganda that grew out of the 2003 documentary Invisible Children: Rough Cut, a film showcasing the tragic use of child soldiers in that region’s two-decade old conflict between rebels and the government of Uganda. Five Arkansas bands — Falcon Scott, Free Micah, Listener, Badhand and Deas Vail — are joining forces at Revolution Music Room to present a benefit for the nonprofit and screen the organization’s newest documentary GO, a film documenting how Invisible Children is helping in northern Uganda. The documentary will be shown at 6:30 p.m. with music to follow at 8 p.m. Cover for the all-ages show is free for 21 and up, and $5 for 20 and under. Donations will be accepted for Invisible Children during the show.
Influenced by such “old school” heavy metal bands such as Metallic and Slayer, Massachusetts band Unearth have injected their heavy metal music with dose of hardcore punk to create their metalcore sound with dueling, searing guitar riffs and screaming vocals. It’s a sound that gets unveil as Unearth visits The Village on a tour that includes Chicago death metal band Veil of Maya and San Francisco hardcore punk band Early Graves, along with local support from Russellville heavy metal band Cruxx and El Dorado death metal band Once Exiled. The doors open at 7 p.m. with the music starting at 8 p.m. General admission tickets are $15 advance and $18 day of show.
It’s quite the opposite of the Sundance Film Festival — especially minus the talentless, puppy-dog-in-a-purse, Hollywood types — as the Arkansas Community Arts Cooperative presents Show Your Shorts Film Night. The biannual event allows local filmmakers to show and discuss their independent works, from the quirky to the family ready. About a dozen films will be presented, and the ACAC will have beer, wine and popcorn on hand, and will be accepting donations as well, but admission is $7 for the public and $5 for ACAC members. The event starts at 7 p.m.
Here’s what American Aquarium brings to the table with their tune “I Hope He Breaks Your Heart.” The first 2:30 of the video is lead singer BJ Barham dishing advice, poking fun at methheads in South Carolina and detailing why the love of a bad woman creates great songs:
According to John Cowan, his music has been described as “bluegrass, newgrass, gospelgrass and rock ‘n’ rollgrass,” but the former lead singer of New Grass Revival — a experimental bluegrass group that included Sam Bush, Bela Fleck and Pat Flynn — is simply trying to take acoustic music to places its never been before. And it’s with his new group The John Cowan Band that Cowan is warping bluegrass and blending musical genres. Cowan and band visit Juanita’s, with Chris Denny as the opening act. The cover for the 18-and-up show is $10, and expect the music at 9 p.m.
Fayetteville’s Boom Kinetic create dance-y pop rock music that is surprisingly original (with roots in ’80s pop music masterminds such as Toto and Men at Work) when playing their high-energy music, but also play a ton of pop covers, from Tears For Fears to MGMT. Boom Kinetic visits Sticky Fingerz. There’s no opening act with the music starting at 9 p.m. with $8 early admission for the 21-and-up show.
Raised in Oakland, Calif., but chilling in New Orleans now, rapper G-Eazy creates his music in his dorm room, listens to The Beatles and A Tribe Called Quest every day, performs with a live band and wears skinny jeans — but he’s no hipster, Of course, this is all according to his online bio. Decide for yourself who G-Eazy is when he visits Revolution Music Room. The opening acts are DJ Shawn Lee and local hip hop god, entrepreneur and CNN star 607, with the music starting at 9 p.m. for the 18-and-up show. Cover is $7.
Sixteen years after Nirvana dissolved following Kurt Cobain’s suicide, the Chicago-based Nirvana tribute band Nevermind (named after Nirvana’s explosive, pioneering 1991 sophomore album) continues the music of the seminal alternative rock band. Comprised of three brothers — J., Sam and Alex Veldman — Nevermind recreates the Nirvana sound (with 70-plus Nirvana tunes in their catalogue) and stage presence of the Seattle-based band, running through the “hits” — “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Heart-Shaped Box” — while hitting the deep-album cuts — “On a Plain,” “School” — that slapped early ’90s music in the face. Nevermind return to Little Rock, this time with a show at The Village. The doors open at 7:30 p.m. with the music kicking off at 8 p.m., and general admission tickets are $10 advance and $13 at the door.
Here’s a shot of John Cowan in action with the tune “Good Woman’s Love”:
Before there was Jack and Meg White of The White Stripes, there was G. Amber Valentine and Ed Livengood of Jucifer. The hellacious one-two punch rides the wall of sound created by Valentine’s grinding guitar and Livengood’s thunderbolt drumming, creating a metal blast of music that tap dances on the throat of The White Stripes. The nomadic duo return to Downtown Music with opening acts Furlow band Knee Deep with their marching Southern metal and Little Rock quartet Pallbearer with their “psychedelic epic doom” metal. The music starts at 8 p.m. with a $8 cover.
One Stone Productions presents A Soul Explosion on Friday at Juanita’s with soul singer Eric Roberson and neo-soul artist Algebra. Little Rock trumpeter Rodney Block and his backing band the Real Music Lovers will open. The show starts at 9:30 p.m. with doors opening at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now with general admission tickets $25 and reserved seating tickets (including an appetizer) $40.
Rousing country rocker Stoney LaRue — Texas born but Oklahoma bred — returns to Little Rock and Sticky Fingerz to run through a collection of tunes that are a blend of Red Dirt Country (Think Cross Canadian Ragweed and the like.) and pure American music. (Consider legends such as Willie Nelson, Ray Charles, Grateful Dead and Kris Kristofferson.) In the end, LaRue creates music that mixes and matches country with soul, rock ‘n’ roll and blues. The Midnight River Choir — with their Texas country rock — is the opening band, kicking off the music at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10 advance and $12 day of show for the 21-and-up gig.
Throughout their 20-plus years as a trio, Green Day has slowly transitioned from roughish pop punkers singing about smoking their inspiration on Dookie’s “Longview,” to politically in tune, socially conscious alternative rockers with American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown. Not a mere cover band, but a tribute band, Chicago’s American Idiots recreate the sound, appearance and energy of the Grammy Award winners. Formed by ex-members of Chicago rock band Shooting Blanks, American Idiots visits Revolution Music Room to play Green Day, from “When I Come Around” to “21 Guns.” The Breakthrough is the opening act with their blues-influenced alternative rock sound, kicking off the music at 8:30 p.m. for the 18-and-up show. Tickets are $8 for 21 and over, and $10 for 18-20.
John Sinclair, a long-time civil rights activist, poet and one-time manager of punk pioneers MC5, will visit Little Rock. Sinclair will first appear at the Clinton School’s Sturgis Hall at 6 p.m. to deliver a lecture titled “North Mississippi Blues: Reflections from the Hill Country,” a discussion of the unique blues sound resonating from the hills of North Mississippi. Joining Sinclair will be David Kimbrough Jr., the son of legendary North Mississippi hill country blues artist Junior Kimbrough, and Duwayne Burnside, son of R.L. Burnside, another bluesman known for his raw, droning Mississippi hill country blues. Following the lecture, the three will appear at White Water Tavern at 9 p.m. along with Arkansas bluesman Thomas Houston Jones and his band the Snake Hips where Sinclair will recite his poetry. They will be joined on stage at the White Water by local bluesman and cigar box guitar luthier Bluesboy Jag with a solo acoustic hill country blues set.
Electronic music DJ Hatiras describes himself as a “DJ, music producer, artist, promoter and fun guy.” The owner of Hatrax and Blow Media record labels, host of a weekly radio show showcasing the best DJs around the globe and two-time Juno Award winner (The Canadian Grammys — Yeah, he’s Canadian.) Hatiras will visit The Village to present his mind-bending electronic music. The music starts at 8:30 p.m. with the doors opening at 8 p.m. General admission tickets are $15 advance and $20 at the door, with VIP tickets $20 advance and $25 at the door.
Here’s Jucifer with the video to their tune “The Mountain”:
Brady Seals was the lead singer and keyboardist for country outfit Little Texas, singing on the band’s Top 10 hits “Some Guys Have All the Love,” “You and Forever and Me,” “What Might Have Been” and the No. 1 hit “My Love.” But since leaving Little Texas in the mid-90s, Seals has released a string of solo albums and briefly formed the country band Hot Apple Pie. But it’s a solo Seals who will play Revolution Music Room with up-and-comer country artist Nathan Lee Jackson as the opening act, starting the night at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 advance for the all-ages show. Wonder if Seals will play “God Blessed Texas”?
Hardcore band Continuance have signed with Rise Records and have a new album coming out in the spring, but before the band that consists of previous members of Saints Never Surrender and Means release their debut work, they’re hitting the road, including a stop at Soundstage for a night of vicious music. Also on the tour is grooving hardcore act Ambush! (Whose new album Fright Night is coming soon.) and Christian-themed hardcore act Take It Back! Joining the touring acts are Little Rock pop punk rock act Thrill of a Dogfight, Conway hardcore group Hollywood Homicide, Little Rock hardcore group Legend Has It and Conway hardcore Christian act By a Show of Hands. The music starts at 6:30 p.m. with a $8 cover.
Arkansas’ original version of “Snowmageddon”, “Snowpocalypse,” “Snowtorious,” etc. canceled the world-famous Chippendales return to Little Rock in late January. Luckily — for some — the show has been rescheduled. Everything stays the same except for the date. The show is at the Peabody Hotel Ballroom, kicking off at 7:30 p.m. with the doors opening at 6 p.m. A 21-and-up show, tickets are $25 advance and $35 day of show for great seats, $35 advance and $45 day of show for excellent seats, and $45 advance and $55 day of show for limited, front-row seats. Everyone will have a seat though for the act that includes a selection of the world’s hunkiest men and the “world’s most recognized ladies’ entertainment crew.” Matt Joyce will open the show with his Elvis Presley tribute. It’s the perfect night for bachelorette parties or birthday parties for the ladies. Tickets for the postponed show will be honored, but no refunds are available.
Here’s a shot of Brady Seals with an acoustic rendition of a tune from his newest album Play Time:
Celebrate Fat Tuesday at Sticky Fingerz with a double shot of music with the whiskey-fueled, hard-charging Americana of Little Rock outfit Good Time Ramblers and the shuffling folk rock blended with Americana, blues, country and rock ‘n’ roll sound of Graham Wilkinson and the Underground Township. Mixing Texas swing, blues and rock ‘n’ roll into their country jam, Good Time Ramblers create music that would make Johnny, Waylon and Willie smile: a rollicking and rambunctious, high lonesome and fatigued collection of music about hard living, being drunk, living in the jailhouse, broken hearts, God and cowboy dreams. The band has been working on some new numbers as well. The show starts at 8:30 p.m. with a $5 cover for the 21-and-up show, and $10 will get you into Sticky and Revolution Music Room for The Gettys‘ Fat Tuesday bash.
American heavy metal band Thy Will Be Done incorporates chunks of hardcore, sludge and thrash metal to create a grooving metal sound that doesn’t rely on chugging guitar riffs to deliver its heavy-as-an-ocean-liner sound. The deathly metal band visits The Village along with opening act Poisonwood, a melodic but heavy-as-heck metal band from Conway. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the music starting at 7 p.m. General admission tickets are $8 advance and $10 at the door.
Presented by Celebrity Attractions, the percussive, off-Broadway smash Stomp hits Robinson Center Music Hall for three nights (through Feb. 18). Created by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas in England in 1991, the production combining acting, dancing and music features an eight-person troupe who create rhythmic music through non-conventional means, employing garbage cans, tractor tire inner tubes and other everyday items and hardware store products. The 90-minute show with no intermission starts at 7:30 p.m. each night, and tickets are $22, $32, $37 and $47. It’s the return of Stomp to Little Rock after almost five years.
Oklahoma folk singer/songwriter and masterful guitar player Travis Linville still performs regular shows at The Deli in Norman, Okla., honing his heartfelt acoustic tales over intricate, fingerpicked melodies recalling the likes of Richard Thompson. But the Okie lives on the road, having performed 200 shows per year for the past 12 years, and he finally got around in 2009 to releasing a solo album, See You Around, a collection of honest, folk tunes. Linville will perform tunes from the album and other songs when he visits White Water Tavern.
Here’s what Good Time Ramblers bring to the table with their tune “Gotta Get Back”:
