Our Critics' Picks

THURSDAY8/16

Shakespeare in the Park

NASHVILLE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL Nashvillians are about to experience the 20th year of the NSF, and it’s still going strong. This year’s mounting offers a comedy twofer—The Merry Wives of Windsor (set in New Orleans and featuring a cash-strapped Fat Jack Falstaff) and The Two Gentlemen of Verona (high jinks among young lovers, who, in this adaptation, are clowns in the circus). The former features a strong cast of pros, among them Thomas Ward, Nan Gurley, Rona Carter and NSF artistic director Denice Hicks. The second offering, with an ensemble comprised mostly of actors from the festival’s Apprentice Company, will likely demand a more patient viewership. (But you never know, kids can do anything these days.) Regular rules apply: bring blankets, folding chairs, munchies—even the pet pooch—and soak up the culture. For a complete schedule, visit nashvilleshakes.org. Aug. 16-Sept. 9 in Centennial Park —MARTIN BRADY

Music

JENNY OWEN YOUNGS/JEREMY FISHER Like other smart, tough-minded female artists who precede her, Jenny Owen Youngs realizes the power of a well-placed sexual expletive. The most attention-grabbing song on the 25-year-old’s debut, Batten the Hatches,was “Fuck Was I,” in which the nervy New Jersey resident balances details of a devastating relationship by drolly muttering on the chorus, “What the fuck was I thinking?” Featured on the Showtime series Weeds, the track got Youngs’ 2005 album picked up by Nettwerk Records and re-released in April. In the studio, she blends acoustic guitar, gentle electronics and chamber strings to support cuttingly observational tunes—and she’s as wickedly funny in person as on record. Opening act Jeremy Fisher, a Canadian whose U.S. debut arrives in September, is already a YouTube phenom thanks to clever, homemade videos for tuneful songs that deserve their frequent comparisons to Paul Simon’s early solo work. 9 p.m. at The Basement—MICHAEL McCALL

Music

THE GOLDEN SOUNDS “Introspective” doesn’t begin to describe the deeply personal nature of Lo-Fi Sounds for a Hi-Fi Heart, the latest release from The Golden Sounds. The creation of frontman Todd Evans, Lo-Fi must be the byproduct of a painful breakup—there’s no ambiguity in lines such as “Am I the one that’s fucking up / You said my action’s not enough.” But despite the frequently bitter or crestfallen lyrics, the music is more dreamy than sad. A few tracks feature phone messages to the dejected protagonist from concerned friends—a hopeful, if eerie, shout-out to the power of moral support. This show will be a sing-along, complete with printed choruses for the crowd and maybe even a few tambourines—think of it as group therapy. 8:30 p.m. at Family Wash —JACK SILVERMAN

Music

THE PEASALL SISTERS On this year’s Anchored in Love: A Tribute to June Carter Cash, The Peasall Sisters match Billy Bob Thornton’s deadpan narration of “Road to Kaintuck” with their tart three-part harmonies. “Every Injun in them hills has gone berserk / And you’re never going to make it to Kaintuck,” they sing, and their austerity enhances Cash and Helen Carter Jones’ tale of life, death and westward expansion. The sisters first got noticed when they lent their voices to two exquisite songs for 2000’s O Brother, Where Are Thou?, a movie that refracted traditionalism in much the same way their music does. They can write and they’re maturing: lately they’ve been performing songs such as “Not That Kind of Girl,” a Christian-country statement of belief that’s gratifyingly tough-edged. 8 p.m. at Station Inn—EDD HURT

FRIDAY8/17

Music

DESPISED ICON This Montreal death-metal outfit have the ingenuity, technical prowess and lyrical craft to rank among the genre’s current crop of front-runners, and they’ve gotten so good at songwriting that they now make entire albums listenable and engaging, despite a sound that’s essentially a busy, atonal flurry. As some of their peers push the envelope with music that’s eye-poppingly technical or harsh, Despised Icon use a more discreet approach that works to their advantage. Obvious traces of Suffocation, Dillinger and fellow French Canadians Cryptopsy and Gorguts lie unhidden in the band’s grooves, and newfound touches of New Wave of British Heavy Metal-style riffing add power to, rather than water down, the sound, which sidesteps clichés entirely. This sense of balance consecrates the band’s mark on death metal’s burgeoning renaissance. 7 p.m. at Rcktwn —SABY REYES-KULKARNI

Music

BROTHER HENRY For most groups, playing live is an ad for their latest record, like those old medicine shows that made their nut hawking snakebite cure-alls in the 19th century version of a merch booth. But for Nashville’s Brother Henry, the band’s new CD is an enticement to their live dates—and unlike the tonics of old, their product is actually good for what ails you. Their third studio album, Love Survives, showcases all the jangly pop smarts, reedy harmonies and winsome instrumental brushstrokes that have made twin musicians David (cello) and Ned (guitar) Henry session men of choice on either side of the board for Ben Folds, R.E.M., Yo La Tengo, the Indigo Girls, Josh Rouse, Mindy Smith and the Silver Jews, among dozens of others. (Dig their spot-on cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” for a sample.) The Henrys are so confident that they’re making the album available for free download on their website (brotherhenry.com). “All you have to do is spread the word to five friends,” says David Henry. First, though, they’ll alert the faithful with a full-band hometown show, featuring brother Jeff on bass and non-sibling Park Ellis on drums. David Spencer opens. 8 p.m. atthe Belcourt—JIM RIDLEY