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The Big Ticket

Natti Love Joys
Hot, hot Southern reggae. Friday, Aug. 1, 5:30 p.m. Knoxville Museum of Art's Alive After Five. $6 general admission, $3 KMA members, students with ID.

Jennifer Brantley
A charming Southern belle with a touch of the West Coast. Saturday, Aug. 2, 10 p.m. Preservation Pub. Free.

Historic Rugby's 37th Village Pilgrimage
History is always worth a day trip. Saturday, Aug. 2 and Sunday, Aug. 3, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Rugby, Tenn. $10 adults, $4 children.

Chant for World Peace
Give it a chance. Sunday, Aug. 3, 10 a.m. Best Western off Lovell Road, conference room. Free.

Caustic Resin w/ the Loners
Influential band from the indie rock hotbed of Boise, Idaho. Thursday, Aug. 7, 10 p.m. Pilot Light. $5.

Autonomadic Sideshow
Freaky, pierced folks with a mobile library. Sunday, Aug. 10, 9 p.m. Pilot Light. $5.

The Streamliners
Located in a '70s style downtown bank, Fairbanks always seemed like an unlikely dance club. But perhaps the uniqueness of it is what made it work. For years Fairbanks hosted an eclectic mix of swing bands, jazz combos, hip-hop parties and chamber music, among other things. It might have been ahead of its time. The owners recently decided to pick up and move a little farther west to Bearden. The club's new home is in another landmark of sorts, the old Terrace Theatre in Homberg Place. It's sure to be a classy operation. The Streamliners, Fairbanks' house band of sorts, will host the grand opening show here. While the swing dance craze has come and gone in other parts of the country, it remains big in Knoxville, and this band is hard to stand still for. (Joe Tarr)
FAIRBANKS GRAND OPENING * STREAMLINERS * FRIDAY, AUG. 1, 10 P.M. * FAIRBANKS NOW LOCATED IN HOMBERG PLACE * $6 / $5 WITH DANCE CARD

Roger Wallace
He's being hailed as the hottest twang in Austin, but he sounds like he's reviving the sound of a Nashville 30 years gone. Roger Wallace, a Knoxville native and UT grad, has put out three records in three years, building his reputation on strong, compact songs and his warm, deep voice. The 31-year-old grew up listening to his parents' country music on WIVK, but he took a liking to the blues as a teenager. At UT, he hosted WUTK's Blue Monday show in the early '90s, and he played in R.C. & the Boogeymen with Labron Lazenby (who is on tour with Wallace). Wallace's head was turned when a friend introduced him to Willie Nelson and Hank Williams. These guys had the blues Wallace loved and they spoke the country patois he recognized from childhood. He was further influenced by seeing local bands like Jacqui & the Tumblekings, the Dirtclods and the Viceroys play alt-country before it ever earned that moniker. From the sound of the MP3s on his web site, Wallace hasn't become a hell-raising Texan just yet. His smooth voice is reminiscent of George Strait and Randy Travis, which makes him sound older and wiser. Compared to what's on the country charts lately, Wallace could be considered a throwback, sometimes to the early '80s of Strait and McEntire, sometimes farther back to Wynette, Jones and Haggard, occasionally even hearkening Buck Owens and Patsy Cline. But being young and impressionable is a good thing in Wallace's case; he knows how to mix his sound with contemporary influences. Unlike the aggressive country on mainstream radio, Wallace's songs take their time to play out and sink in. His first albums, Hillbilly Heights from 2000 and That Kind of Lonely (2001), are more Junior Brown than WIVK, but Wallace's warm voice and likeable songs should attract fans from both camps. WDVX has been playing his most recent single, "Blow Wind Blow," a lovely duet with Toni Price, from his latest releaseThe Lowdown. With his clean-cut good looks and deep voice, this is one cowboy who will break hearts left and right when he returns to his hometown. (Paige M. Travis)
ROGER WALLACE * WEDNESDAY, AUG. 6, 9 P.M. * BARLEY'S BEHIND THE BARN MUSIC SERIES, SIMULCAST ON WDVX 89.9/102.9 FM. * $2

Michael Knight
No, not the guy with the car.
This Michael Knight is a local (by way of Alabama) writer you should know. His works have appeared in such august rags as The New Yorker and Esquire. The prestigious PEN/Hemingway award was stamped on his first story collection Dogfight and Other Stories. And his "Killing Stonewall Jackson," contained in his most recent collection Goodnight, Nobody is as daring and brash as it is heartfelt and wonderful. Knight, also a writing professor at UT, will read from recent works at this meeting of the Knoxville Writers' Guild. Please drop in—but don't make cracks about the car. (Adrienne Martini)
MICHAEL KNIGHT * THURSDAY, AUG. 7 * 7 P.M. * LAUREL THEATRE * $1 DONATION IS REQUESTED