“Modernism & Abstraction” ♦Opens Saturday, 7/21

As Nashville art lovers must know by now, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., is closed for extensive renovations. We know this because most of the Smithsonian’s vast art holdings seem to be passing through Music City this summer in various touring exhibitions. The third such show—“Modernism & Abstraction: Treasures From the Smithsonian American Art Museum”—takes up residence at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts July 21-Sept. 9. While the show doesn’t claim to be a survey of modern art in America, the 69 paintings and sculptures in the show do help convey the evolution of American art in the 20th century, from its early dependence on European styles to its own trend-setting and international prominence of the past 40 years. Works by Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Motherwell, Joseph Stella, Georgia O’Keeffe, and dozens more are included in the show. For additional insight into the wonderful, if often puzzling, world of modern art, don’t miss the lecture by Elizabeth Broun, director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2 p.m. July 21 in the Frist’s auditorium.

—A.W.

Thursday, 19th

Terri Clark This Canadian honky-tonk chanteuse takes a break from stadium tours with country superstars to play a rare club gig at the Exit/In. Clark’s 2000 release Fearless offered a stunningly personal take on mainstream country music, both in its sound—traditional, but open to classic pop touches—and in its soul-searching lyrics. She’s one of the best in the business; take advantage of the opportunity to hear her intimate music in an intimate setting.

—N.M.

Friday, 20th

Muriel Anderson’s All-Star Guitar Night No less than Chet Atkins, James Burton, Happy Traum, Jorma Kaukonen, Stanley Jordan, and Gatemouth Brown have been among the gang of guitarslingers who have played Anderson’s picking parties since 1993. This week’s show at the Wildhorse Saloon promises yet another cutting crew, most notably Nokie Edwards from The Ventures, Music Row hotshot Brent Mason, contemporary Christian fretmaster Phil Keaggy, and fingerstyle great Thom Bresh, son of the late Merle Travis.

—B.F.W.

Danny Barnes & Thee Old Codgers/Blue Highway It’s hard to imagine a pair of stringbands more different than these two. Barnes is the former Bad Livers frontman, Thee Old Codgers his new punk-leaning, bluegrass-inspired trio. Blue Highway is one of the hottest and most straight-ahead young acts in bluegrass. They’ll trade sets, and stares, at Opry Plaza from 6:30-11 p.m.

—B.F.W.

Matt “Guitar” Murphy The veteran blues man—best known, for better or worse, for his stint in The Blues Brothers—supports his new album Lucky Charm with a gig at 3rd & Lindsley. The record is solid electric blues, listenable but unremarkable; but this sort of music almost always sounds more charged-up in a live setting.

—N.M.

Lori Mechem Pianist Lori Mechem’s accompanying and solo skills are highly respected and admired within Nashville’s jazz community. Mechem works in local trios and quartets, among them the Afro-Latin ensemble Ritmos Picantes. Whether the menu is salsa, Brazilian, or extended jams, Mechem and company nicely balance improvisational themes with the shifting accents and beats of Latin America and Cuba. Mechem and Ritmos Picantes bring their magic to Cafe 123 Friday night.

—R.W.

Friday, 20th-Saturday, 21st

Red Rose Coffee House & Bistro The Red Rose in Murfreesboro is doing its best to put the association between sensitive singer-songwriters and coffeehouses to rest. This Friday and Saturday, the venue hosts two nights of the loudest bands around. Friday features the insane hardcore of Asschapel and the equally loud, brainy rock of the Ed Kemper Trio along with Spasm 151. Saturday outdoes Friday in sheer numbers: Pezz, the tempermental Serotonin, Kill Devil Hills, Kid Snack, and the Natchez Shakers all do their best to get the place shut down for noise violations. Volume aside, these two nights boast a great variety of music in a small number of bands. Though most of them trace their roots to hardcore punk, each does so in its own thoughtful way.

—T.A.

Saturday, 21st

Louie Shelton Many people who don’t know his name have heard Louie Shelton’s fluid, fleet guitar playing on numerous pop, soul, and R&B hits over the years, as well as on his own recent releases for his Nashville-based label. Shelton was once part of Motown’s hit factory, and even played on several of the Jackson 5’s biggest singles. Still, he’s an accomplished jazz soloist, even if he’d rather embellish pop melodies than demonstrate his harmonic acumen. Shelton will be appearing Saturday afternoon as part of the Jazz@Bellevue Center performance series.

—R.W.

Ed Kemper Trio/Lotushalo/Trabant The Ed Kemper Trio, like their serial killer namesake might suggest, play nonlinear music that makes sense of seemingly incongruous phrases. The disturbing result is heavily in debt to the Jesus Lizard’s Goat and other earlyish Touch & Go jazz-tinged metal. Trabant create little-engine-that-could epics out of just a few chords and even fewer changes. Their music recalls My Bloody Valentine, Mogwai, and a decidedly rockist Godspeed You Black Emperor, in that it is more process- than song-oriented and it aims to disorient the listener. Lotushalo bring a likable, “new math” rock to round out the Springwater bill.