White Water Tavern’s night is stuffed with two Ohio bands who know how to electrify a crowd: Two Cow Garage and Patrick Sweaney. Sweaney creates bluesy roots rock straight from the Rust Belt, vintage rock ‘n’ roll swaggering and swaying under the weight of dirty guitar and Sweaney’s soulful howl. Two Cow Garage is known for their rough-hewed rock ‘n’ roll that mixes a rowdy, classic rock sound with alt country and punk, and whiskey- and cigarette-soaked vocals.
OTEP — the Los Angeles alternative metal act fronted by Otep Shamaya — is on the road again, including a visit to The Village on a tour that includes Massachusetts hardcore metal band Bury Your Dead, South Carolina death metal band Through the Eyes of the Dead and Iowa pop-flavored metal machine Destrophy. The doors open at 6 p.m. with the music starting at 6:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $16 advance and $20 at the door.
It’s been almost three years since Rolling Stone called dance-rock outfit Tigercity an artist to watch due to their formula of “Hall & Oates plus Brooklyn hipsters minus irony.” But since hipsters are everywhere now, the Brooklyn quartet that uses disco beats, ’80s synth saturated rhythms and Chic-inspired bass guitar to create their funky, indie pop has discovered an audience outside of Williamsburg, including Little Rock. A November show at Sticky Fingerz was electric, and the band returns to Sticky Fingerz for a night of dance rock. The Silent Years from Detroit and Wave Machines from Liverpool, England, are the opening acts, and expect the music at 8:30 p.m. with a $8 cover for the 21-and-up show.
Here’s a shot of Two Cow Garage in action with their tune “Humble Narrator”:
The three members of folk rock act The Spring Standards first started playing together in high school before reconvening the band in New York City a few years ago. Since then, the trio has toured relentlessly, showcasing their three-part harmonies and instrument switching while pumping out energetic rock ‘n’ roll crossed with country. For a show at Sticky Fingerz, the trio will be joined by singer/songwriter Jenny Owen Youngs, a Brooklyn-based indie pop artist known for her mixture of jaunty rock and pop-flavored folk. Youngs’ sophomore album Transmitter Failure was released last spring and moved the artist from her folk rock past into more electrified indie rock territory. The show time for the Monday gig is 9 p.m., and tickets are $6 for the 21-and-up show.
Introduced to the world through their debut, Get Born, containing the Motown-on-steroids beat of “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” and the sleazy rock of “Cold Hard B*tch,” and following it up with Shine On, Australian garage rock revivalist act Jet’s third album is the August 2009 release Shaka Rock, another collection of raw, energetic rock tracks with a punk swagger and contemporary touch. Written in worldwide locales such as Miami, Brooklyn, Sydney and Melbourne, Jet is touring the globe, including a stop at The Village. Presented by 100.3 The Edge, doors open at 7 p.m. with the music starting at 8 p.m. Rock power trio The Crash Kings is the opening act, and tickets are $18 advance and $22 at the door.
The all-female outfit Those Darlins, a Murfreesboro, Tenn., group that mixes and mingles punkish riffs with alt country rhythms, return to White Water Tavern. Joining the act will be Brock Zeman, a Canadian singer/songwriter known for his impressive storytelling and roots music.
Here’s a shot of Jenny Owen Youngs with the video to her countrified rock tune “Last Person”:
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”:
Less than a month after John Sinclair visited White Water Tavern along with North Mississippi hill country blues master R.L. Burnside’s son Duwayne Burnside, R.L. Burnside’s grandson Cedric Burnside returns to the dive with his brother by another mother in tow, as the juke joint duo of Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm play. The pair combine the rhythmic shake of country blues with the electrified boogie of hill blues, shaking it on down with hypnotic, hip-shaking North Mississippi hill country blues fueled by polyrhythmic beats by Burnside on the drums (and vocals), and raw, droning guitar with Malcolm grinding on the fretboard. Expect a 9 p.m. start time with a $10 cover.
The filmmakers responsible for the production of the local zombie film Voodoo Cowboys The Film are holding a benefit show titled Bad Mojo Showdown at Juanita’s, simply promising a “a bazaar night for a bizarre tomorrow.” Included in the night is music from five Arkansas bands: Fayetteville’s Vessels of Wrath, who sprinkle their heavy metal with techno, world music, opera and industrial, and Little Rock acts Iron Tongue, whose grunge-y heavy metal is in the vein of Soundgarden and Black Sabbath, and Ace Spade and the Whores of Babylon, a trio fronted by Ace Spade known for their blood-splattered horrorbilly. The night starts at 9 p.m. with cover $7. Also on the bill are The See and Hector Faceplant.
Metalcore act Attack Attack! is planning on releasing their sophomore release Shazam! on Rise Records in May, an album guaranteed to showcase their aggressive mixture of howling hardcore rhythms and electronica. Currently, the band is in the midst of their Artery Across The Nation Tour, including a stop at The Village, along with Denver electro/screamo duo Breathe Carolina, Michigan hardcore act I See Stars, and English metalcore bands Asking Alexandria and Bury Tomorrow. The doors open at 6 p.m. with the music starting at 7 p.m. with general admission tickets $13 advance and $15 at the door.
Here’s Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm in action with “Goin’ Down South” by Mr. R.L. Burnside himself:
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”:
A little over a year since his last visit to Sticky Fingerz, former Beanland, Kudzu Kings and Widespread Panic guitarist George McConnell returns to the River Market club to play his swirling blend of rock ‘n’ roll-, jazz-, country- and blues-inspired music, including an homage to Steve Cropper with “Mr. Cropper” and the searing country blues rock of “Jaguar.” The opening act is Fayetteville’s Charliehorse, an outfit which throws out Ozark-flavored Americana music with a rockabilly kick, starting out the music at 9 p.m. Cover for the 21-and-up show is $7. McConnell’s new focus is releasing, via digital download, rock ‘n’ roll singles recorded in his Oxford, Miss., studio and titled the Virtual 45 Series.
Beastie Boys’ resident DJ Mix Master Mike will finish his current tour with four straight nights of chopping and spinning in London, but before jumping across the pond, Mr. Michael Schwartz is visiting The Village. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. with general admission tickets $20 advance and $25 at the door. Called one of the greatest DJs of all time by USA Today, Mix Master Mike has been multicoloring the Beastie Boys’ mixture of hip-hop, punk, garage rock and funk with turntable tweaks and scratches since the trio’s multiplatinum album Hello Nasty in 1997. But the turntable sorcerer has also left his crazy scratching on albums and EPs as a solo artist, and worked with musicians such as Ozzy Osbourne.
Expect to be asked to drink, and then drink some more, plus enjoy some kick-ass rockabilly music as Billy D and the First-Time Offenders play Cornerstone Pub. The music starts at 9 p.m. with a $5 cover.
Before the outdoors Edgefest VI arrives May 8 at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds with a lineup including Godsmack and Rob Zombie. 100.3 The Edge is presenting a couple of Edgefest veterans indoors at Verizon Arena with Canadian alternative rock band Three Days Grace and Pennsylvania alternative rock band Breaking Benjamin. Three Days Grace, known for their hook-filled songs such as the polished “I Hate Everything About You,” and Breaking Benjamin, who reached the masses with their crossover smash “The Diary of Jane,” will be joined by Flyleaf, a Temple, Texas-based rock band best known for the single “I’m So Sick.” Doors open at 6 p.m. with the music starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are $39.75.
The Arkansas Community Arts Cooperative is holding an opening of Kat Wilson’s Habitat: A Photographic Experience by Kat Wilson from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the ACAC building on Rodney Parham Road. It’s the first time the entire series has been on display, and a film by Wilson will also be screened with musical accompaniment by Zach Holland. Video poems by Walt Whitman-award winning poet, Tony Tost, will also be displayed. Hors d’oeuvre, beer and wine will be available; donations are encouraged. The works will be on display until March 28.
Here’s George McConnell in action with his “Kill the Man”:
Raised on bluegrass gods such as Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs, but not afraid to cover Death Can For Cutie’s “I Will Follow You Into the Dark,” Cadillac Sky’s musical explosion of rock ‘n’ roll, bluegrass, pop and blues caught the attention of The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach which led to a five-day recording session at Akron Analog where the five piece recorded their third full-length album. Before the album is released in the spring though, the quintet is out on the road, including a visit to Juanita’s, with the opening acts Nashville, Tenn.’s The Apache Relay with their bluegrass-flavored rock ‘n’ roll songs and Conway folk rockers This Holy House. The music starts at 9 p.m., and tickets are $10 advance and $12 day of for the 18-and-up show.
In the past few months, when he’s not been busy crooning out the classics with his backing band the Mercers, Cody Belew has been working on his Americana-flavored solo album Paradise. Influenced by artists such as Patty Griffin, Ray LaMontagne, Gillian Welch and A.A. Bondy, Paradise was recorded by Jason Tedford at Wolfman Recording Studios and co-written with musician Michael Wallace. Now finished, Belew will hold a record release party at White Water Tavern.
The fresh-faced, pop-rocking Texas sextet known as Forever the Sickest Kids return to The Village for a night of their sing-along anthems powered by powerpop guitar riffs and energetic choruses. Joining the band will be Little Rock’s own School Boy Humor with their punchy powerpop tunes and EKG, a newish Little Rock band formed from members of Asteios and Alert All Arms who kick out an energetic blend of pop, rock and rap self-described as “pop crunk.” The doors open at 7 p.m. with the music starting at 8 p.m. General admission tickets are $15 advance and $18 at the door.
Harp & Lyre praise the Lord through raging guitars on tunes such as “Insight to Failure” but add melodic keyboards and electronica flourishes to pummeling beats such as on “Grizzly Adams Did Have a Beard.” Armed with brutal praise anthems and interesting song titles, the Oklahoma City band revisits Vino’s, headlining a bill that includes Michigan hardcore band All’s Quiet and Texas hardcore group Fit For a King along with local support from Little Rock hardcore group Legend Has It. The music starts at 8 p.m. with a $7 cover.
Here’s Cadillac Sky with their cover of DCFC’s “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”:
After three albums on three different labels (including the all-cover collection Thing of the Past in 2008), San Francisco folk rock group Vetiver (named after the oil obtained from the root of an Indian grass) released their 2009 collection of gentle acoustic hymns, Tight Knit, on Sub Pop Records. Since then, the outfit has toured relentlessly behind the album, including a stop at Juanita’s with the show kicking off at 9 p.m. with the haunting Americana of local act Adam Faucett & The Tall Grass. Tickets are only $2 for the 18-and-up show. Fronted by singer/songwriter Andy Cabic, Vetiver’s indie folk friends include Devendra Banhart, who’s a fan of the group’s dreamy, comfortable, fingerpicked gems, including the peppy rock of “Everyday.”
Hayley Williams and Paramore have some competition in the world of emo- and pop punk-flavored alternative rock bands fronted by a charismatic female loved by sad little boys in Juliet Simms and the band she fronts, the emo- and pop punk-flavored alternative rock outfit Automatic Loveletter. The Tampa, Fla., band, which includes Simms’ older brother Tommy Simms on guitar, is out on the road playing some solo shows, preparing for a busy spring and summer of touring, including the Vans Warped Tour. Automatic Loveletter stops at The Village with the doors opening at 6:30 p.m. with the music starting at 7 p.m. General admission tickets are $8 advance and $10 at the door.
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:
