Our Critics' Picks

THURSDAY 12/13

War and Remembrance NPT’S NASHVILLE WWII STORIES It is impossible to watch Nashville WWII Stories, the latest NPT original production, without making comparisons to Ken Burns’ The War (especially as the latter has been shown so frequently this fall). Justin Harvey’s film focuses on just one part of the country, telling the wartime stories of some of the 300,000 Middle Tennesseans who served, beginning with where they were when they heard about Pearl Harbor (seeing a movie at the Belle Meade Theatre, for example). Several pilots—including “Tiger” Joe Thompson, who shared his reminiscences and photographs in an eponymous book last year—describe their training and missions. Other veterans discuss being captured by German troops, and readjusting to life after the war. Created in a shorter timeframe and definitely on a smaller budget than The War, this film is no less meaningful. 7 p.m. on WNPT-Channel 8 —MICHELLE JONES

Music PETER HOLSAPPLE It’s a rare opportunity to see indie royalty of Holsapple’s status perform in a venue as intimate as the Family Wash—after all, this is the guy who, along with Chris Stamey, formed the core of jangle-pop progenitors The dB’s, joined REM in the late ’80s (he played on the Green world tour, then played and co-wrote material on 1991’s multi-platinum Out of Time), then hooked up with the Continental Drifters. He won’t have his reunited dB’s in tow (check out his MySpace blog for thoughts on last week’s set during Yo La Tengo’s Hanukkah run at Maxwell’s in Hoboken)—just himself, a guitar and a catalog that would make most indie rockers, um, green with envy. 8 p.m. at Family Wash, before Mark & Mike’s Christmas Extravaganza —JACK SILVERMAN

Jingle Genealogy ANDREW PETERSON: A CHRISTMAS CONCERT When the words “Christmas” and “musical” are uttered in the same breath, the mind leaps to children in bathrobes, fake beards and cockeyed halos singing “Silent Night” and “We Three Kings” endearingly off-key. But that’s not Christian singer-songwriter Andrew Peterson’s idea of a “Christmas musical.” His is a cohesive cycle of original songs done in intricate, acoustic-based arrangements—maybe no more heartfelt than kids in a pageant, but with a lot less squirming and a lot more subtlety. Peterson wrote 10 songs that narrate biblical accounts of Christ’s birth—right down to a genealogy-put-to-music called “Matthew’s Begats” that drops scriptural names like “Amminadab”—and rounded them out with a couple of traditional ones. Now it’s a tour—in its eighth year—and an album, Behold the Lamb of God. Peterson’s Ryman Christmas show always features a host of guests, and Ron Block and Pierce Pettis are among those on tap this year. 7:30 p.m. at Ryman Auditorium —JEWLY HIGHT

Music TOMMY AND THE WHALE W/KYLE ANDREWS AND THE LONELY HEARTS Somehow Kyle Andrews remains Nashville’s own precious little secret. His recently released EP Find Love, Let Go finds the young singer-songwriter in a more introspective mood. Though skillful with quirky electro-pop numbers like “Get Mad,” it’s on the quiet tunes where he manages to thoroughly break your heart. When he pleads, “Don’t take my lackluster love for granted / I can only give what I have” on the spare acoustic number “Lackluster Love,” you can feel the crushing desperation of inadequacy. Andrews is currently working to compile a treasure trove of unreleased material into a sophomore LP. Headliners Tommy and the Whale are also readying an LP. Led by sweet-voiced frontman Tommy Hans, this local five-piece tinge their easygoing pop with a sly soulfulness—and the occasional trumpet. 9 p.m. at The Basement —LEE STABERT

Music RIGOR MORTIS W/ARSON ANTHEM When Dallas thrash-metal quartet Rigor Mortis came out with their gore-filled debut in 1988, the fact that Capitol actually released it seemed just as shocking as the lyrical content. Much of their violence sounds quaint by today’s standards, and the trailer-trash point of view suggests that the band had a lurking sense of humor all along. But a song like “Bodily Dismemberment,” a first-person account of sexual gratification that steers an S&M session into cruel homicide, manages to still sound surprisingly gratuitous, and points to an underlying rage that threatens the music’s B-movie charm. Fans, of course, will just wanna headbang again. RM’s cult status has been steadily stoked by their various members’ ongoing work in Ministry, Speedealer and GWAR, so the reunion makes sense. And don’t miss the opener, the Phil Anselmo/Hank III vehicle Arson Anthem in its official live debut, one of just three national dates scheduled. 9 p.m. at Exit/In —SABY REYES-KULKARNI

FRIDAY 12/14

Theater BLACK NATIVITY Amun Ra Theatre builds on a holiday tradition with its fourth annual production of this revue-style adaptation of Langston Hughes’ poetic interpretations of biblical Nativity accounts. If last year’s production is any gauge, there’ll be plenty of serious musical talent onstage and soaring gospel-inspired performances. The cast includes Shonka Dukureh, Todd Suttles, Craig Robinson and Elliott Robinson, under the direction of Persephone Felder-Fentress. Peter A. Fields Jr. choreographs, with musical direction by Melvin Lightford Jr. Dec. 13-16 at Looby Theatre; encore performance, Dec. 18 in Cox/Lewis Theatre on the TSU campus. —MARTIN BRADY