Back to listings

The Big Ticket

Robert Earl Keen w/Donna the Buffalo
Raise a beer to this Texas troubadour. Thursday, April 29, 6-10 p.m. Market Square. Free.

Metro Pulse Best of Knoxville Party
You’re the best! Come party with us! Friday, April 30, 8 p.m.–12 a.m. The Foundry. Free.

Honestly w/ Red House
Fast-rising Atlanta rock band. Saturday, May 1, 10 p.m. Downtown Grill & Brewery. $3 over 21, $5 under 21.

Handheld Media Arts Festival
UT students screen their eclectic videos and films. Saturday, May 1, 7 p.m. Downtown West Cinema 8. Free.

To Kill a Mockingbird
The final weekend of this timeless story. Thursday, April 29 thru Saturday, May 1, 8 p.m. Clarence Brown Theatre. $22-$15, $5 students.

Relentless Blues Band
Chico Crawford and Harold Hardy step in as guest players. Monday, May 3, 10 p.m. Preservation Pub. Free.

A1 LabArts Double Whammy
Earlier this year, WATE 6 News aired a somber report by Heather Donald decrying the use of community access cable to air a satirical puppet show called Satanarchy. The 15-minute show, which ran after midnight, focuses on two comical Satanists who torture a Methodist proselytizer and order a mulletted redneck to burn down a church (he burns a library instead). The Satanists (and Satan) eventually get arrested. The program is obviously an adult spoof, mocking doctrines of any type. Any sensible adult could see it doesn’t promote Satanism, church burning or torture. But Donald falsely reported that taxpayer money paid for the program; taxpayers fund CTV, but didn’t pay the Effing Piebald Fruitcake Puppet Theater for this, and said, sorrowfully, “programming like Satanarchy is protected under the First Amendment.” Even the normally level-headed county spokesman Mike Cohen called it “patently offensive” and said he’d see if there were anything the county could do to stop it. Where did these people go to school? Why can’t our public officials and journalists understand that the First Amendment is the bedrock of all our freedoms? If you want to see what all the fuss is about, watch the puppet show video at the A1 LabArts Double Whammy. Local band Kamuy will also perform. Plus you can see work of more than 30 artists, including paintings, sculptures, found objects, photography, mixed media and a 3-D interactive editorial cartoon featuring a nude John Ashcroft inside a First Amendment Zone with a graffiti wall. Thanks to the city of Knoxville for providing a space for controversial art. Hopefully the feds won’t show up and arrest everyone. (Joe Tarr)
A1 LabArts Double Whammy • featuring visual art, Satanarchy, and performance by Kamuy • Friday, April 30, 6 to 8 p.m. • ground floor galleries of Candy Factory • Free

Measured in Labor: The Coal Creek Project
A year-and-a-half in the making, The Coal Creek Project has had its public debut, resulting in copious tears, a few laughs and many congratulations. The play has been a labor of love and a major collaboration of talented East Tennesseans: It’s written by Alan Gratz with music by Sarah Pirkle and Jeff Barbra, and developed by the Actors Co-op led by director Kara Kemp. The plot chronicles the long, dreadful days following the Fraterville Mine Disaster of 1902, a mine explosion that killed more than 200 men, almost every adult male in town. The living are left to wait, to grieve and to move on. The story is theirs: the devastated young bride; the stalwart mother who loses four sons; the wife of the dead mine boss who goes mad. The cast, fully supporting the nuances of the text, achieves superb feats of emotional depth, quiet moments of painful revelation and tentative steps toward recovery. Devastating, beautiful, and a brilliant achievement. (Paige M. Travis)
Measured in Labor: The Coal Creek Project • Thursday thru Saturday, thru May 15, 8 p.m. • Black Box Theatre • $12 general admission, $8 students and seniors; all tickets $5 on Thursdays • Email [email protected] or call 909-9300 for reservations.

Jonathan Byrd and Dromedary
When considered separately, Jonathan Byrd and Dromedary are respectable musical artists, particularly notable for their unique styles. Byrd, a North Carolina native, won the New Folk competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival with the traditionally influenced songs from his second CD The Waitress. He’s even been praised by folk legend Tom Paxton, who discovered Byrd via the Internet. Dromedary—the duo of Rob McMaken and Andrew Reissiger—has played a handful of times at Barley’s, been featured on NPR and composed music for three films—one of which is Dirty Work, a selection at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Together, the folky Byrd and the world-music Dromedary create a sound that is both domestic and immigrant. The Byrd/Dromedary collaboration, The Sea and the Sky, is aurally rooted in Appalachia with hints at deeper origins nestled within the sounds of accordion, flamenco guitar, cumbus and charango. Byrd’s warm, friendly voice, like a smooth blend of Tim O’Brien and Darrell Scott, draws the listener into these familiar and foreign sounds while McMaken and Reissiger plink and pluck out rhythms and roaming melodies. If you’ve skipped Dromedary’s shows thus far, now is definitely the time to make an appearance. This collaboration is not to be missed. (P.M.T.)
Jonathan Byrd and Dromedary • Wednesday, May 5, 9:30 p.m. • Barley’s • Free.

G. Love and Special Sauce
If for no other reason, G. Love and Special Sauce get points for developing a staggering number of fans with little radio airplay. Their grassroots following is reminiscent of a young Dave Matthews Band crowd, smug in their knowledge of band that manages to fly beneath the Clear Channel and MTV radar. In truth, G. Love’s brand of bubblegum funk is perfectly suited for a dorm room rendezvous between a pair of starry-eyed fraternity and sorority ilk discovering the possibilities of casual sex and the wonders of alcohol. But G. and the band manage to put out an enthusiastic live performance that’ll leave sugarplum musical hooks dancing in your head on the drive back to campus. (Clint Casey)
G. Love and Special Sauce w/ Tristan Prettyman • Sunday, May 2, 7:30 p.m. • Blue Cats • $18.50 adv., $20 door.