Our Critics' Picks

THURSDAY 9/13

MusicDAMIEN RICE This Irish songwriter hit a home run with his beautiful, lovelorn paean “The Blower’s Daughter,” but has run into trouble crafting music that walks the line between sad and miserable. Rice’s sophomore slump is heightened by the acclaim that greeted his 2003 debut, O. What was fragile, honest and evocative feels overwrought, precious and broodingly earnest on last year’s follow-up, 9. The debut nicely balanced strings, his thin aching croon and strong melodies abetted by the counterpoint vocals of Lisa Hannigan. Her presence is missed on much of the new album, and while Rice still demonstrates his charms, it lacks the light, easy touch of say, Jens Lekman, coming off more as a sexless marriage of David Gray and Coldplay (with the exception of the raucous rock throwdown, “Me, My Yoke & I”). The piano-driven tunes seem the most ponderous, and Rice might benefit from returning more to the folksy, acoustic approach of O’s “Cannonball” and “I Remember.” 7:30 p.m. at the Ryman —CHRIS PARKER

Classical MusicGIANCARLO GUERRERO W/NSO The buzz around the Schermerhorn Symphony Center this week is all about Guerrero, who has just been appointed the Nashville Symphony Orchestra’s new music director. A 38-year-old Costa Rican maestro, Guerrero made a huge impression in Nashville last May, conducting the music of Sibelius, Daugherty and Respighi with unbridled power and emotion. This weekend, he makes his first appearance as the NSO’s music director, and he’ll bring with him a program full of color and romance starting with American composer Claude Baker’s tribute to Robert Schumann entitled “Aus Schwanengesang (From Swan Song)”. He will also conduct Ravel’s Suites No. 1 and 2 from Daphnis and Chloé and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major (with violinist Midori). 7 p.m. Sept. 13 and 8 p.m. Sept. 14-15 at Schermerhorn Symphony Center —JOHN PITCHER

MusicPNUMA TRIO Catch Pnumamania tonight—you don’t even have to know what pnuma means. These Memphis-bred electronica musicians—a keyboardist, bassist and drummer—don’t just noodle around. Their jazz chops are solid and they sport real instruments rather than laptops. Though admittedly, their newer tracks sound more robotic and electronically produced than their organic debut Live From Out There, which could have been a ’70s Miles Davis record without the Miles. It’s an obvious appeal to the more commercialized dance-floor crowd, and they may have to break out the laptop for those, but here’s hoping that they give Nashville a taste of their inceptive acid jazz. 9 p.m. at Exit/In —MAKKADA B. SELAH

MusicBEATS BEYOND BORDERS This concert and dance party to benefit the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition features a fast-growing Nashville sound—Latin roots music. Danny Salazar will be crooning breathless melodies over the insanely catchy, cumbia and Mexican-influenced rhythms of his band Trova Urbana. Also on hand will be Trio Ginga, a swinging Brazilian outfit fronted by a blond alto beauty named Kenya. The Trio is tight, spare and very danceable while avoiding the same old samba clichés. Rounding out the evening’s Caribbean influence will be reggae/dancehall purveyors Seed & Soil. Get ready to bailar till the roof comes off. 7 p.m. at the Rutledge —P.J. TOBIA

 FRIDAY 9/14

Trans-Musical Theater

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH The protagonist in this musical is quick to sing about his biggest—ahem, we mean smallest—problem: “My sex change operation got botched / My guardian angel fell asleep on the watch / Now all I’ve got is a Barbie Doll crotch / I’ve got an angry inch....” A musical about a transgendered singer may not seem all that adventurous these days. (Surely we’re all jaded enough.) Still, this 1998 off-Broadway hit (and 2001 feature film) should definitely challenge the creative powers of People’s Branch Theatre, which begins its first full season under artistic director Ross Brooks with a punk-rock bang. Hedwig’s story is variously based on librettist John Cameron Mitchell’s life growing up as an army brat with sexual identity issues. The influences in Stephen Trask’s songs can be traced to Lou Reed (“The Origin of Love”), Iggy Pop (“The Angry Inch”), New York Dolls (“Hedwig’s Lament”) and post-Beatles John Lennon (“Wicked Little Town”), while the score is chock-full of clangorous electric guitar. If it all sounds somewhat Rocky Horror, PBT’s scheduling of a Sept. 14 midnight showing confirms the connection. So Hedheads get ready. Brooks directs, Tim Fudge mounts the music and versatile funnyman Eric Tichenor takes on the title role, with an assist from Brooke Bryant as Yitzhak, Hedwig’s backup singer. The production is a Nashville premiere. Sept. 13-22 at the Belcourt Theatre —MARTIN BRADY

MusicRICK SPRINGFIELD If anyone had taken Rick Springfield seriously in the ’80s, they might have urged him to seek psychological help. Listen again to his string of superbly crafted pop hits from that decade—“Jessie’s Girl,” “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” “Affair of the Heart,” “Souls,” and especially the lacerating “Alyson”—and you’ll hear a gifted singer and songwriter brooding on the topic of doomed, obsessive love to a borderline masochistic degree. Springfield’s chiseled good looks and status as a soap-opera star allowed him to slip such dark thoughts into Top 40 playlists, while those same attributes sentenced him to purgatory playing ’80s nostalgia shows. But age has added to his gravitas, and 2005’s respectful Written in Rock: Rick Springfield Anthology restored the true arc of his artistic output—which actually began long before that cursed decade, and continues today. 8 p.m. at Wildhorse Saloon —CHRIS NEAL