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The Big Ticket

Michelle Malone with Brandy Robinson
Women who rock. Thursday, Sept. 11, 9 p.m. ThInQ Tank

Fleetwood Mac
Yes, they're still together, for the most part. Friday, Sept. 12, 8 p.m. Thompson-Boling Arena. $85, $65, $49.50.

Hellbender Benefit with In-Line Six, Blackgrass and Leslie Woods.
Show your support for Knoxville's environmental newspaper. Friday, Sept. 12, 9 p.m. ThInQ Tank. Donations accepted.

Ain't Misbehavin'
Broadway hits the Bijou. Opens Friday, Sept. 12, 7:30 p.m. Bijou Theatre. $24.50 adults, $22.50 seniors, $14.50 children.

The 21st Annual Smoky Mountain Fiddlers Convention
May the most talented pickers and dancers win! Friday, Sept. 12, and Saturday, Sept. 13, Legion Field, downtown Loudon. Admission is $5 Friday, $8 Saturday.

The Diary of Anne Frank
A moving production based on the most recent edition of Anne Frank's diary. Opens Friday, Sept. 12, 8 p.m. Oak Ridge Playhouse. $10 -$15.

Ramsey House Country Market
Heirloom seeds, carriage rides, and old-timey music. Saturday, Sept. 13, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 14, noon to 5 p.m. Parking is $5 per car; home tours are $4 for adults, $2 for children 6 to 12.

Trace Adkins
Country superstar. Sunday, Sept. 14, 8 p.m. Homer Hamilton Theatre, Chilhowee Park. Free for general admission, $5 for reserved seats, plus Fair admission.

Tom Tom Club
The early '80s post-punk scene spawned several notable husband-wife teams: think Thurston and Kim (overwrought) or John and Exene (divorced). Perhaps the most intriguing is Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. Best known as the rhythm section for the Talking Heads, the couple made the band's otherwise cerebral songs so damn infectious. However, it is their stint as the Tom Tom Club that has provided the most intoxicating music of their careers. The Club originally formed in 1981 during a lull from recording with the Heads. The band's first single, "Wordy Rappinghood," was a fusion of hip-hop rhythms and funky white-girl freestyle in the vein of Blondie's "Rapture." But it is their anthem "Genius of Love" that made the biggest splash. The song is still a dancefloor staple and has been sampled by hip-hop artists such as 2PAC and Ol' Dirty Bastard. Even Mariah Carey worked her "magic" on the song a few years ago. Whimsical and breezy, yet accomplished and deft, the Tom Tom Club remains a tour de force more than 20 years later. If last year's album Live @ the Clubhouse is any indication of what to expect, Knoxville is in store for a frenzied performance. This show is a poignant testament to the New York-based band's endurance, so wear your dancing shoes and come support some legendary musicians. Or at least ogle Knoxville's ubiquitous torso-twisting Gypsy Hands Belly Dancers. It's a free show, and who knows how many warm Indian summer nights we have left. (Christopher Buckner)
TOM TOM CLUB WITH SPECIAL GUEST SPOOKIE DALY PRIDE AND GYPSY HANDS TRIBAL BELLY DANCERS * THURSDAY, SEPT. 11, 6 P.M. * SUNDOWN IN THE CITY, OLD CITY COURTYARD * FREE.

The Corb Lund Band
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: some of the best country music being recorded these days comes from Canada. I know, it's weird, but don't let that stop you from checking out The Corb Lund Band. The band's U.S. debut, Five Dollar Bill, reminds us city folk that Canada has its share of farming, cattle, open range, and romantic frontier—the foundations of our country's country music. Lund knows from country: he was raised in rural southern Alberta, the descendent of rodeo cowboys and ranchers. His bandmates are bassist Kurt Ciesla and drummer Ryan Vikedal (of Nickelback fame), who has been replaced for the tour by Brady Valgardson.
Lund's quirky and lyrical songs evoke all varieties of country's subgenres. He channels early Bob Dylan in "Expectation and the Blues," conjures dusty ghost towns in "There Are No Roads Here," and sets a cozy campfire scene with "Short Native Grasses."
I've been accused of liking anything with an alt-country label, but Corb Lund is different. Just when you think you can anticipate one of his pleasant, mid-tempo country songs, Lund throws you for a loop with a tempo change or a clever mention of the Nordic god Odin. It's the most original, surprising, ingenious take on country I've heard in a long time. And the twang in his voice is more authentic than most faux yodelers in Nashville, even fellow Canadian Shania Twain. No wonder I haven't heard of The Corb Lund Band and their two previous records (Unforgiving Mistress and Modern Pain) before: they're a national treasure Canada wants to keep secret. Well, the secret's out in this country, and we're not giving them up. (Paige M. Travis)
THE CORB LUND BAND * WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 17, 9 P.M. * PATRICK SULLIVAN'S * $5.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
To many theater-goers in Knoxville, Bob Mashburn is Ebenezer Scrooge. The longtime actor and retired UT professor played the crotchety miser for years in the Clarence Brown Theatre's annual production of A Christmas Carol. Mashburn's been away from local stages for a couple of years now, but a personal whim that turned into a full-fledged project has brought him back.
Mashburn, admired actress Jayne Morgan, and newcomers Maggie Haun and Ethan Krase will perform a chamber reading of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as the first installment of the Performing Arts and Lecture Series hosted by the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. Mashburn originally envisioned inviting some friends over to read the play (one of his favorites), "have some snacks and drinks, and make an evening of it," he says. Then he and Morgan were invited to be part of the series. Despite a few initial doubts—Mashburn's age (older than the character of George), the play's violent emotion, and performing in the church's sanctuary—the project solidified. Mashburn has conceived the event as a part-readers' theater, part-performance designed to highlight Edward Albee's powerful language. "There was one compelling reason for producing a 'version' of this play: it is an accepted literary classic; it can stand alone because of the words. It is an actor's challenge, but more than that, it can be read," he says. Mashburn says a touring company of the play was turned away from Knoxville in the '60s, and eventually performed in an Oak Ridge high school. But the play's theme, described by Mashburn as "the struggle between truth and illusion," is just as intriguing and intense as ever. (P.M.T.)
CHAMBER THEATER PRODUCTION OF WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? BY EDWARD ALBEE * SATURDAY, SEPT. 13, 8 P.M. * TENNESSEE VALLEY UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH * $10.

James McBride
In The Color of Water, jazz musician James McBride wrote about his mother, a white Jewish woman from Poland who raised 12 black children in New York City, sending each of them to college. He's also written a novel and worked for years as a journalist. So with his first solo album, The Process, the saxophonist took a more literary approach. "All good art, music, literature, painting, songwriting, theater, pottery, is at bottom, simple storytelling," McBride says. "The Process is just another form of that.... The story is what sticks to the ribs, not the song. Without the story, there is no song. That's why most of my songs have lyrics." Fans can enjoy both the song and story parts of McBride's craft this week with his "Riffin' & Pontification Tour," which stops at UT. A lecture Thursday evening is open to students and faculty, but not the general public. But on Friday night, McBride will be signing books at 4:30 p.m. at the UT Book Store. At 8 p.m., he'll play at the Alumni Memorial Auditorium. The show is peppered with anecdotes about the musicians, songs and the writing process. He'll also be speaking to Austin East High School earlier that morning. (Joe Tarr)
JAMES MCBRIDE * RIFFIN' & PONTIFICATIN' TOUR * FRIDAY, SEPT. 12 * BOOK SIGNING AT 4:30 P.M.; CONCERT AT 8 P.M. * UT BOOK STORE, ALUMNI MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM * $5 STUDENTS, $15 FOR FACULTY AND STAFF, $20 FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC * TICKETS UNLIMITED OR UT CENTRAL TICKET OFFICE