Back to listings   The Big Ticket Senryu with Verde and Silent Friction Local pop craftsmen who will make you bounce. Thursday, Feb. 20, 10 p.m. Patrick Sullivan's. $5. 21+. Pleuroma with Fall With Me & Cab Over Pete Heavy ambient rock. Thursday, Feb. 20, 10 p.m. Pilot Light. $5. 18+. Todd Steed and the Suns of Phere Kville's clown prince, a consummate improvisational act. Featuring RB Morris, Hector Qirko, Tim Lee, and others. Friday, Feb. 21, 9 p.m. Blue Cats. $7. 18+. 2003 Living Legends Soul & Blues Extravaganza Featuring Denise Lasalle, Clarence Carter, and many others. Friday, Feb. 21, 8 p.m. Knoxville Civic Coliseum. $25 (656-4444) Blue Moon Rising Two lead singers and impeccable harmonies make for great bluegrass. Friday, Feb. 21, 8 p.m. Laurel Theater. $12 advance, $13 door. All ages. (522-5851) Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra Featuring works by Tchaikovsky, Neruda, Prokofiev, and others. Friday, Feb. 21, 7:30 p.m. Cumberland Co. Playhouse. $22-25. (931-484-5000) Streamliners Big Band Fifteen-piece ensemble, now that's big! Lessons and dinner beforehand. Friday, Feb. 21, 10 p.m. Fairbanks. $6. (544-3090) Blues on Broadway Featuring Toni Lynn Washington, award-winning jazz diva. Saturday, Feb. 22, 8 p.m. The Palace Theater. Jump, Little Children with Tinker's Punishment Irish folk and blues-tinged rock. Saturday, Feb. 22, 9 p.m. Blue Cats. $8 advance, $10 door. Kevin Wilder Group Blues and R&B covers. Saturday, Feb. 22, 10 p.m. Manhattan's. $3. Voodoo Organist Guy who listens to too much Tom Waits Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Saturday, Feb. 22, 10 p.m. Pilot Light. 18+. Iron Fist w/ DJ Jahson Hip-hop benefit concert sponsored by KFAR. Sunday, Feb. 23, 8 p.m. Blue Cats. $5. Cedric Pescia Winner of the Gina Bachauer Intl. Piano Competition. Sunday, Feb. 23, 2:30 p.m. UT Music Hall. $3 for students, $12 general. (984-6732) Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Maestro Kirk Trevor's farewell performance, Verdi's Requiem. Thursday, Feb. 27, 8 p.m. Civic Auditorium. $16.50-$49.50. (523-1178 ext. 26)

Bela Fleck Bela Fleck has probably done more to attract new fans to bluegrass than anyone alive. The reason, of course, is that he doesn't just play bluegrass. A virtuoso banjo picker, Fleck has been influenced by everyone from Earl Scruggs to Aretha Franklin and John Coltrane. He tours and records prolifically, proving that he really loves the music. (Joe Tarr) BELA FLECK AND THE FLECKTONES * THURSDAY, FEB. 20, 8 P.M. * TENNESSEE THEATRE * $30 The Three Basses Benefit Concert with Circle Modern Dance Daniel Berry, Herbert Eckhoff, and Andrew Wentzel are professional concert bass singers who make Knoxville their home. For this premiere event, they will sing as an ensemble, performing works by Mozart, Verdi, and selections from American opera and musical comedy. An instrumental ensemble will perform a waltz prelude at 7:30, and Circle Modern Dance will provide intermission entertainment, accompanied by yet another instrumental ensemble (this one including Metro Pulse's very own Martha James on piano). Do your best Cinderella thing for this one—shake out that old ball gown or come as a pumpkin. Benefits the Performing Arts & Lecture Series, Circle Modern Dance, and the UT Opera Studio. (Scott McNutt) SATURDAY, FEB. 22 * 8 P.M. * TENNESSEE VALLEY UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH * 2931 KINGSTON PIKE * $25 (AVAILABLE AT THE CHURCH OR BY CALLING 523-4176) Robert Earl Keen Every holiday season, a strange carol called "Merry Christmas from the Family" manages to find its way to the radio on my little Honda coupe. The painfully honest portrait of a white trash family reunion straddles the fine line between bizarre and brilliant, making it irresistible. The song was born from the mind of Robert Earl Keen. While it is unfortunate that he is probably best known for "Merry Xmas...", it is his uncanny ability to wrap his weathered voice around narrative ballads that makes it damn near impossible not to believe whatever comes out of his mouth. Keen's raw energy and pure emotion alone are enough to captivate and demand full attention. Keen began playing the coffee house circuit with Lyle Lovett at Texas A&M. While Lovett achieved national success relatively overnight, Keen spent years struggling to develop a modest group of fans. After a fruitless visit to Nashville trying to write hit country fare, he returned to Texas where he gradually developed a fanbase that continues to grow exponentially throughout the country. Strangely enough, the following includes a large Southern collegiate group of fraternity boys moved by odes to drinking, cowboy gunfighters and epic tales of tragic love lost. A recent marketing campaign targeted the demographic by offering a private show to the frat that created the largest movement in terms of sales and show turnout. Also widely respected by peers, his material has been covered by a dazzling list of Americana artists including Lovett, Nancy Griffith, the Highwaymen and Gillian Welch. As an alternative to Willie Nelson's 4th of July Picnic, he started Robert Earl Keen's Texas Uprising. The outdoor festival held on the weekends of Memorial Day and Labor Day has featured fellow Texas alumnae Joe Ely, Steve Earle and Ian Moore. Sold out venues are becoming increasingly more common for Keen. With his commanding stage presence, he generates excitement by complementing his driving roots-rock style with sad acoustic ballads. Incorporating a variety of material keeps each performance unpredictable and interesting, while making each 2-1/2 hour show completely unique. Friday night, Keen performs with his longtime band at the historic Tennessee Theatre for the drunken, broken-hearted outlaw in us all. (Clint Casey) ROBERT EARL KEEN * FRIDAY, FEB. 21 * 8 P.M. * TENNESSEE THEATRE * $20.50