Metro Pulse/Music/Eye on the Scene

ConCanceled

Area sci-fi fans had their phasers set on "stunned" when they learned that their beloved ConCat 13, slated to run Nov. 23-25, had been canceled at the last minute. All dressed up and no place to show, the Knox Area Science Fiction Association (KASFA) was told by the hosting Hyatt Regency that a $3,200 accounting problem had put the stops on their annual fantasy fete.

On the 19th, the Hyatt office informed KASFA board member Ziggy McMillan that the organization would have to cough up the hotel rental prior to the event, which was a change from previous years. A scramble to raise the funds ensued, but four days (one traditionally occupied by turkey consumption) proved too tight a time frame.

"We actually released them from their contract without penalties," said Scott Edwards, the Hyatt's Director of Sales, "It was an amicable agreement. They are a good customer, and we look forward to next year when they can reorganize and can come back a little stronger."

KASFA Programming Director JaNell Golden speculated that if even half of the fans planning to attend had pre-registered (read: pre-paid), the association could have covered the cost even on short notice. "We're a not-for-profit organization... and like many other local events, we need Knoxville's support, or the [entertainment] choices will come down to football, the mall, the Dogwood Arts Festival, and not much else," said Golden.

Author and ConCat supporter Neil Gaiman, whose NY Times bestseller American Gods mentions Knoxville via an inauspicious sushi experience at a previous ConCat dinner-outing posted his disappointment on his Web site: "Small conventions seem to be getting harder and harder to make happen...I wonder if the reluctance to pre-register is in any way related to September 11th, or to people wanting to travel less, or having less money, or if they just assume that these little conventions will always happen, like Spring."

Freedom Rock

A CD (proceeds to be donated to New York City's fire engine fund) will mark both the dawning of a new local independent record label and the re-emergence of singer/songwriter/guitarist Will Fletcher after a two-year absence from the Knoxville scene.

The Freedom Engine CD, due for release Dec. 18, will feature a handful of popular local artists, including alterna-rockers the Judybats, local favorites Mustard, songstress Jodie Manross, and jazzers Wendel Werner and Terry Schmidt. It's the first of (hopefully) many releases to be issued by Indy 500 Records, the label Fletcher has been working to create since his return to Knoxville last year.

Fletcher played in several well-traveled local rock bands over the last decade, including Dynamo Humm, a hard-edged indie rock unit he fronted for several years in the mid '90s. About two years ago, he left for points West, and the promise of a development deal with a small record company co-owned by Van Morrison.

The arrangement eventually fell through, and Fletcher moved from California back to Knoxville and began working toward the founding of Indy 500. "It [the Freedom Engine disc] will be a cool thing for a cause and a good start-up for Indy 500," says Fletcher. "The label itself will be a real grassroots, self-contained thing. We won't be Atlantic Records, by any means."

The singer-guitarist's own music will also be featured on Freedom, and the label's second release will probably be a CD of Fletcher solo material. Local music fans who remember Fletcher or Dynamo Humm can look for him to play locally soon, with a "line-up" that will consist solely of his vocals and guitar, plus taped accompaniment.

Mini CD Reviews

The Pinkest Pee
I Love Your Moonboots

Local guitarist Dugan Broadhurst (formerly of the Come-Ons) raises a fetching ruckus on this, the second release under his nom de musique The Pinkest Pee. Assembled from bits of studio weirdness, electronic effects, and samples of his own rhythmically deft guitar playing, Moonboots is marked by all of the galactic strangeness the title implies. Reminiscent of various Bill Laswell studio meddlings (if you're familiar with that kind of thing) the record is at once bizarre and compelling, thematically cohesive with its breathy textures, pointillist noodling, and subdued industrial beats. Music to float by. Or to visit Amsterdam.

The Helldorados
Special Edition Promotional Disc

The Helldorados crank up a dark, grimy brand of rock that calls to mind a number of classic leather-jacket rockers, yet never strays too far in paying homage to any single one of them. There's a little bit of Bon-Scott-era AC/DC's hellbent blooze-rock, a little Ramones-style pogo, and even some Motorhead sturm and drang. But in the end it's all Helldorados, and the that's a very good thing.

Go.

Thursday: The Impalas at Sassy Ann's. All the blues you can stand.

Friday: Knoxville Symphony Orchestra at the Civic Auditorium. A holiday show. And while you're in the festive mood, check out the lights in Krutch Park after the show.

Saturday: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever at the Bijou Theatre or Let's Get Medieval at The Black Box. Live theater is good for the soul.

Sunday: East Tennessee Jazz Orchestra with Paige Wroble at The Platinum. Proceeds will benefit the Knox Area Rescue Ministries.

Monday: Deck a hall.

Tuesday: Einstein Simplified at Patrick Sullivan's. This improv group will be soliciting both chuckles and funds for the Second Harvest Food Bank.

Wednesday: Smooch a jolly old elf.

—Emma "Lookin' for a bell to jingle" Poptart with CA Cleveland and Mike Gibson