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The Big Ticket

Phoenix Rising
Aggressive, sassy rock from Nashville. Friday, June 4, 9 p.m. The Spot. Free.

Kelly Keeling & Sun
Modern, powerhouse rock from Atlanta. Friday, June 4, 10 p.m. Patrick Sullivan’s. $5.

Jennifer Daniels
Signal Mountain’s spirited singer-songwriter. Friday, June 4, 7:30 p.m. New City Café. $7.

Ty Hager
Humorous country songs a little on the trashy side. Saturday, June 5, 10 p.m. Urban Bar. Free.

Kid Rock w/ Puddle of Mudd
Rock guys with a big light show. Saturday, June 5, 8 p.m. Thompson Boling Arena. $33.

MuzikMafia After Party
Underground Nashville music movement with friends in high places. Saturday, June 5, 11 p.m. Barley’s. $10 advance at muzikmafia.com, $15 door.

Charlie Hunter Trio
Guitar virtuoso. Tuesday, June 8, 8 p.m. Blue Cats. $13 advance, $15 door.

Arrested Development
In a decade when the airwaves were dominated by grunge, Arrested Development rose to the top of an otherwise homogenous crop. In the early ‘90s, the band broke away with funk-infused hip-hop loaded with irresistible hooks and social commentary. Many a conscience was enlightened by the saga of homeless “Mr. Wendal” and led to consider spirituality in the modern South by “Tennessee.” Following the success of 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of..., AD released an Unplugged album and the commercially unsuccessful Zingalamaduni before disbanding in 1995. Then, in 2002, the band reconciled and embarked on a tour to support its most recent studio effort Heroes of the Harvest. Tonight on Market Square, AD looks to raise awareness of racial injustice, homelessness and other societal woes through its roots rap. Local R&B funk outfit the Spades band (featuring members of Gran Torino) will jumpstart the evening’s festivities. (Clint Casey)
Arrested Development w/ the Spades Band • Thursday, June 3, 7-10 p.m. • Market Square • Free.

Savoy Brown
British band Savoy Brown is one of those classic rock warhorse outfits whose ‘60s and ‘70s-era FM radio “hits” are now mostly lost in the opiate mists of rock ‘n’ roll antiquity. Recording such nearly familiar nuggets as “Train to Nowhere,” “Hellbound Train,” “Run to Me” and “Let It Rock,” the band, led by founder/guitarist Kim Simmonds, has been pumping out sturdy boogie platters on and off since 1965, shedding enough members to staff a dozen more second- and third-tier Brit-rock blues outfits along the way. (Three-quarters of Classic Rawk poster-blokes Foghat started as members of Savoy Brown, FYI.) Sources assure us, however, there is no truth to the rumor that it was actually Savoy Brown who recorded the original version of the Spinal Tap classic “Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight.” (Mike Gibson)
Savoy Brown • Friday, June 4, 9 p.m. • Brackins • $20.

Statehood Day
Tennessee’s a big, sprawling thing, one of America’s most famous states, known for music, politics, barbecue, and whiskey, and it all started in downtown Knoxville, about 208 years ago, give or take. The grounds of Blount Mansion, the downtown home of territorial Gov. William Blount, is the closest thing the state of Tennessee has to an intact birthplace, and it’s the site of this Friday’s ruckus.
They’ll celebrate statehood there in authentic style, first with a roast-pig luncheon, crafts demonstrations, and (is this really going to work?) “stump speeches by political candidates.” Later on that evening, there’s a bigger-ticket celebration, a “hoedown” involving a number of amusements that would have been familiar to Blount, Sevier, Jackson, et al., but things of which their Victorian grandchildren would have disapproved: cards, dice, horseshoes, and whiskey. And heavy hors d’oeurves, which, in Tennessean, means supper.
Lest we forget, Tennessee’s original Statehood Day, as it was observed when Knoxville was the state’s capital, was Feb. 6, the day the delegates finished work on the first state Constitution on Gay Street in 1796. After the state capital moved to Nashville, Middle Tennesseans started favoring June 1, the day Congress officially approved of that Constitution, a gesture most Tennesseans at the time probably considered right neighborly but wholly unnecessary, considering we’d already elected and inaugurated a governor.
You might have to be either a paranoid jingoist or a historian to suspect that sectional politics were behind the unexplained date change, and that the motive was an attempt to de-emphasize any specific Knoxville event in the founding of Tennessee. If so, it worked; few 21st century Tennesseans know the state was founded here. Well, we’ll let bygones be bygones. For outdoor festivity, June’s a kinder season than February, anyway. (Jack Neely)
Statehood Day Celebrations • Friday, June 4, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. (barbecue) and 7 p.m. (“hoedown”) • Blount Mansion • $7 for barbecue lunch, $75 for hoedown, including whiskey tasting • Call 525-2375 for tickets.

Grease Factor
When taken seriously, “supergroups” have the potential to coagulate musically, but they traditionally implode—typically on stage—from competing egos. However, when comprised of like-minded supporting players with diverse backgrounds rather than a pack of alpha dogs, the promise quotient multiplies exponentially. Grease Factor is comprised of five instrumentalists whose experience covers a range of genres, featuring guitarist Shane Theriot (Neville Brothers), keyboardist Johnny Neel (Allman Brothers, Willie Nelson), drummer Jeff Sipe (Leftover Salmon, Susan Tedeschi), bassist Derek Jones (Nickel Creek, David Grisman), and legendary percussionist Count M’Butu (Parliament Funkadelic). Roots rock, blues, southern Delta boogie, and New Orleans swamp funk swirl into a groove-heavy blend with a balance of tight improvisation and nimble composition. (C.C.)
Grease Factor • Tuesday, June 8, 10 p.m. • Barley’s • $7.