Metro Pulse/Music/Eye on the Scene

Drifting Back To Shore

After a 10-year absence, one of the most popular Dogwood Arts Festival events is being brought back to life. The Bluegrass Music Competition returns Sunday, April 18, on the stage at Market Square, and will feature competition among regional bluegrass pickers. Individual instrument categories, as well as a band competition will all be a part of the day's festivities, and the contest will run most of the day and into the night. It will complement the Folk Art and Foothills Crafts Guild show held in Market Square at the same time.

Knoxville native Phil Leadbetter, Grammy nominated-dobro player for the band Wildfire, along with Metro Pulse's bluegrass fanatic Benny Smith are working with the Dogwood Festival staff to recruit some of the finest pickers in the area.

Leadbetter's passion for the event is evident when he described it this way: "All of the kids playing sports in Knoxville had parks, fields and courts to showcase their skills when we were kids growing up, and the Dogwood's bluegrass competition was the only time of the year when kids like me could step out from our front porch and play out in public. It meant a lot to me then, and we want to make sure it means just as much to folks around here again." Any business interested in being a sponsor can contact the Dogwood Arts Festival office, and for more Dogwood info, see Jack Neely's Gamut article.

Wham, Bam!

Local rock idols the American Plague will debut all-new material at their Pilot Light show on Jan. 30, as well as playing old favorites from their self-titled debut EP, which is due for re-release in March on Antidote Records out of Denver, Colo.

Home of Chattanooga metal act the Unsatisfied and also the Rock City Morgue project featuring former White Zombie members, Antidote will lend national distribution to the two-year-old American Plague. The revamped EP will feature two new tracks, including a cover of the David Bowie classic "Suffragette City." Antidote is distributed through powerhouse indies Caroline and Cargo.

"It's a big coup for us, because getting stuff in stores has always been our biggest pain in the ass," says Plague frontman Alex Weatherly.

In conjunction with the re-release, the Plague and Antidote have planned a national college radio campaign for the album at the end of February, with a six-week tour to follow in March. "Our goal is to make a dent in college radio, maybe chart on CMJ and get some recognition there," Weatherly says.

Guerrilla Filmmakers

Beyond HGTV and DIY, Knoxville's film and television industry falls pretty far under the radar. Still, Knoxville is home to its own collection of talented actors, directors, screenwriters, grips and other professional (or just hopeful) members of the film and television industry that need to find work. A new group hopes to address those needs.

"It's a group for people who have a passion to make films and have no budget and are needing crew, actors/actress, editors, etcetera, to make their feature or short film come to life," says John Stewart, one of the group's organizers. The resulting films created in such projects would be submitted for screening at the Secret City Film Festival and Valleyfest, which will return in 2005.

Stewart, a grip and electrician, has worked as a rigger for RoadTrip, gaffer for DIY's Queen of Clean, cameraman for Ripley's Believe it or Not and a director for America's Most Wanted. He is founding the group with Jeff Reed of Reed Media and Jeff Delaney of Tin Soldier Productions.

Stewart anticipates a positive response from Knoxvillians looking to network with fellow industry types. "We are trying to cater to the independent filmmaker who does guerrilla film making," he says.

The first meeting of the Tennessee Production & Talent Organization will be called to order today, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m. upstairs at the New City Cafe in the Old City.

Go.

Thursday: Check out alt-country duo Betty Dylan at Barley's Taproom.

Friday: Last year R.B. Morris played the Corner Lounge he ended up drunk and singing on the floor. But he still sounded great. Even if he doesn't get drunk this time around, there's no reason why you can't.

Saturday: Go watch Night of the Hunter and In the Street—which Knoxville's James Agee wrote and filmed, respectively—at the KMA. Night of the Hunter is brilliantly creepy and features Robert Mitchum; In the Streets is about Spanish Harlem in the '40s.

Sunday: Check out a matinee of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra at the Bijou, the best sounding room in town. Caitlin Tully, 15-year-old prodigy, will solo on Mozart's Concerto No. 5. A little culture will make you feel less stupid when you're watching the Super Bowl later.

Monday: Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.

Tuesday: Form a band. This town can always use a few more.

Wednesday: If you're hoping he won't/ Well course then he must.

—Benny Smith, Mike Gibson, Paige M. Travis, Joe Tarr