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”:
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”:
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”:
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”:
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:
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”:
The frontman of Chubby Carrier & The Bayou Swamp Band has been called “The World’s Premier Zydeco Showman,” and one viewing of a dancefloor exploding with the rapturous, infectious blues-laced zydeco music of Carrier will make anyone a believer in the man’s musical sorcery. Carrier proves that an accordion in capable hands can ignite a rhythmic fire, creating a dancing legion of joyous faces. Before returning to his hometown of Lafayette, La., for Fat Tuesday, Carrier (brother of Dikki Du) will lead the Mardi Gras Party at White Water Tavern, playing a collection of zydeco originals and swamped-up classics such as The Who’s “Squeeze Box,” War’s “The Cisco Kid” and the Grateful Dead’s “Fire On The Mountain.” CARRIER CAN’T MAKE IT TO LITTLE ROCK DUE TO WEATHER IN TEXAS.
Revolution Music Room gets people in the loving mood with a show simply titled Heartbreakers and Homewreckers, featuring a night of hard-charging rock ‘n’ roll, including Jeff Coleman and the Feeders, Trey Hawkins and Alan Hunt Band. The music starts at 9 p.m. with cover $5 for over 21, and $10 for 18-20.
Four, local heavy rock bands are invading Downtown Music for a rafter-shaking night of music: Sychosys, IRon Ton, Land of Mines and Monoxide Project. The Southern-flavored metal band Sychosys added a new drummer in 2009 and recorded an EP of their workingman’s metal influenced by bands such as Pantera, Black Label Society and old-school heavy rock acts such as Black Sabbath while IRon Ton — featuring two members of Sychosys — hammers out white-hot portions alternative metal tracks such as “Here I Stand.” Land of Mines is a Little Rock heavy rock quintet with a two guitar attack powering their hard-edged post-grunge sound, and Gravel Ridge Southern-rock-flavored metal outfit Monoxide Project is well-known for their hard-charging onslaught of ’70s rock-influenced heaviness mixed with down tempo, blues-tinged tracks. The music starts at 8 p.m. with a $6 cover.
Vino’s is featuring four central Arkansas bands: ambient indie rockers The Sound of the Mountain from Russellville; infectious pop punk group Box Wine of Little Rock; lo-fi, garage-y outfit Brother Andy and His Big Damn Mouth of North Little Rock; and Conway pop-flavored folk rockers This Holy House. The music begins at 8 p.m. with a $7 cover.
The 62-year-old Charles Woods will front the Charles Woods Band as they run through a collection of classic soul, R&B and blues tunes such as “Rainy Night In Georgia” at Cornerstone Pub. The music kicks off at 8 p.m. Born into the church, Woods’ sound is a rich, gospel-flavored voice influenced by greats such as Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and Johnny Taylor.
Here’s a homemade video for the Jeff Coleman and the Feeders’ tune “All the Way Down”:
Whiskey King Coalition — a collection of Southern boys who found themselves in Denver and started a band in November — create soulful acoustic ballads such as “Road Gospel Part 1″ and “Country Honey” along with rock ‘n’ roll stompers such as “Room 303″ as part of a musical brew they self-describe as a “smokey, liquor-flavored, musical love cake.” The Colorado boys journey south to Juanita’s to play a show that includes the husband and wife duo of Ben and Emily Roberts playing their gorgeous Americana tunes as Carolina Story and Little Rock folk rocker Paul Sammons. The music starts at 10 p.m. Cover is $7 for the 18-and-up show.
A night after playing the San Antonio Rodeo, Texas bred country rocker Casey Donahew and his band, the aptly titled Casey Donahew Band, will drive all the way to Little Rock to revisit Revolution Music Room. It might be a grueling lifestyle, but when you have a hit Texas country tune titled “Ramblin’ Kind” with a romping rhythm carpet-bombed with blues guitar and fiddle, there’s a certain lifestyle one has to live up to. Expect Donahew and band to do just that with their Southern-rock flavored country. The opening act is to be announced, but expect the music at 8:30 p.m. with a $10 cover charge for the 18-and-up event.
After closing out 2009 with a rambunctious sendoff party, Conway’s electric folk boogie outfit Damn Bullets has been relatively quiet, concentrating on recording a sophomore album to add to their hip-shaking catalogue of music that melds folk, rock ‘n’ roll, blues, bluegrass and country, and tales dealing with love, death, the afterlife, friends and characters such as Georgia Brown and “Good Time Charlie.” But the Damn Bullets surface at White Water Tavern, joining a bill that includes Missouri Ozark Stomp outfit The Ben Miller Band, a trio who employ slide guitar, foot drums, washtub bass, drums, washboard and trumpet to cover musical ground that dips its toes in bluegrass, zydeco, folk and rock. Blues harmonica master, and associate professor of English and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi Adam Gussow, who was part of the blues duo Satan and Adam for more than 20 years, is also playing.
Virginia death metal band Arsis‘ newest album is the Feb. 9 release Starve for the Devil, a collection of tunes showcasing their brutal yet melodic and technically complex metal music. Fresh off a supporting role on the Tyrants of Evil North American Tour with Arch Enemy and Exodus, Arsis roars into The Village as headliner of a show that features El Dorado metal acts Once Exiled and In the Fade, Little Rock death metal band Tomorrow Brings The Agony and Conway death metal band Izamal. The doors open at 6 p.m., with the music starting at 7 p.m. General admission tickets are $8 advance and $10 at the door.
Nashville, Tenn., singer/songwriter Kevin Gordon is currently working on completing his new full-length album, a collection of tunes that might include “Colfax,” a seven-minute long track that Nashville newspaper The Tennessean said is “about the heart of American darkness and the steel that it takes to move beyond.” Gordon himself said the song is “from my memories of growing up in the land of strangeness that is northern Louisiana, during a time when this very provincial place was going thru post-civil rights movement growing pains with plenty of resistance from what was then a very powerful ‘old guard.’” A superior songwriter, Gordon writes about watching the sun going down and fast trains taking away the blame, and his rustic tunes mixing blues and rock ‘n’ roll have been covered by Keith Richards, Levon Helm and Webb Wilder. Gordon will appear at Satellite Cafe at 9 p.m. There’s no cover.
Here’s a shot of Casey Donahew Band running through their tune “Crazy”:
