Our Critics Picks
Juggleville
THURSDAY 3/20
Three-Ring Vandy
JUGGLEVILLE III
Vanderbilt Juggling and Physical Arts is a 5-year-old student-run
organization whose performers entertain on campus and in the community.
The group’s big formal showcase is this annual event, this year
subtitled “Catch-a-Sketch,” in which the 60-member cast, including dancers,
gymnasts and musicians, blends acrobatics and physical comedy to
portray a young girl’s fantasy world as it comes alive through her
magical coloring book. Local hula-hoop artist Fiona Flaherty takes on
the leading role. Youthful energy and a circuslike atmosphere prevail.
View the three performances via live webcast at juggleville.com. A
portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Monroe Carell Jr.
Children’s Hospital. 8 p.m. Thursday and 2 & 8 p.m. Saturday at Ingram Center for the Performing Arts —MARTIN BRADY
Music
BLACK LIPS
After several years of grinding it out in a smelly ol’ van, the Black
Lips finally got their break. Signed by the taste-making Vice Records,
the Atlanta-based indie darlings released two albums for the label in
2007: the live-in-Tijuana document Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo and the studio album Good Bad Not Evil.
The latter contains such instant addictions as “Veni Vidi Vici,” “O
Katrina” and “Cold Hands,” which infuse the feel of oldies and
surf-rock with raw, punky swagger. What the Black Lips are selling is a
return to rambling, Nuggets-style rock ’n’ roll voodoo—at least
a reasonable facsimile for our times. And lately, it’s taken them to
the Middle East and put them on the U.K. charts. Should we expect
anything less from a band whose influences include both The 13th Floor Elevators and Robitussin? 9 p.m. at Mercy Lounge — AARON JENTZEN
Music
HONI DEATON & DREAM
Honi Deaton grew up singing gospel and then country out west before
arriving at bluegrass. She’s got a big upright bass and a big
voice—along with a sometimes impish sense of humor onstage—and she’s
not afraid to use them. She and husband Jeff Deaton (guitar, mandolin)
have some enthusiastic fans, too, drawn not only by Honi’s forthright
appeal but by a whiz-bang band that digs into showstoppers like their
extended rave-up version of “Mystery Train.” But she can also quiet
things down convincingly, and even has been known to drag a keyboard
along for a distinctively non-hardcore turn, which helps to move the
group out of the run-of-the-mill category. 9 p.m. at Station Inn —JON WEISBERGER
12-Step Hilarity
GEORGE SINGLETON
Once upon a time, novelists like Faulkner and Welty struggled to make
sense of life in the South. Nowadays, native sons like George Singleton
have pretty much decided you can’t make any sense out of it, but you
sure can scratch your head and laugh at it. Take Harp Spillman, the
black out-plagued protagonist of Singleton’s Workshirts for Madmen.
He’s a recovering alcoholic who makes obscene ice sculptures of noted
Southern Republicans before hiring a group of misfits to help him
create giant angels out of rusting bolts on a North Carolina
mountaintop. And then it gets weird. 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, Cool Springs —MICHAEL RAY TAYLOR
Natalie MacMaster
Music
NATALIE MACMASTER
Perhaps it’s a rite of passage, but it seems every roots musician en
route to becoming a household name needs to jam with that purveyor of
eclecticism, Béla Fleck. But even if Natalie MacMaster’s name isn’t on
everyone’s lips, she’s become as much of a pop star as you can be while
playing fiddle in the traditional Cape Breton style. Her early-’90s
recordings were a young virtuoso’s straightforward explorations of the
repertoire of her native Nova Scotia and its roots in Scottish and
Irish folk. But by 2003’s Blueprint, she was jamming with Fleck, and by 2006’s Yours Truly
she’d taken “Danny Boy” to the streets, collaborating with yacht-rocker
Michael McDonald. Thus it ever shall be, perhaps, for folkies taking
their arcane craft to a larger audience, but MacMaster just might have
the grace to pull it off. Performing with the Nashville Symphony, 7 p.m. at Schermerhorn Symphony Center —AARON JENTZEN
Music
BELLAFEA W/SOUND & SHAPE AND THE TITTS
Judging from their music’s hard-edged angularity and serpentine,
post-punk pulse, Bellafea’s heart must pump molten steel. The Chapel
Hill power trio are prepping their debut full-length, which arrives in
May. Their early material shook and rattled with ragged distortion,
balancing delicacy with roar in oddly shaped arrangements, as
frontwoman Heather McEntire’s sweet, breathy trill drifted like fog
over choppy guitar that built into a storm. Their latest trades more in
moody post-rock shimmer-scapes that build in tension with little
release, recalling Jawbox in their noisier moments, or the tuneful
Sonic Youth-style squall of ’90s acts Arson Garden and Band of Susans.
McEntire’s voice grows flinty against the cold gleam of the new album’s
guitars, its beauty peeking out infrequently lest it undermine the
churning rumble. Local progressive rockers Sound & Shape break out
their Yes and King Crimson vinyl, while The Titts are old-school cock
rockers of the first order. 9 p.m. at Springwater —CHRIS PARKER
FRIDAY 3/21
Music
PETER COOPER CD RELEASE Whether he’s covering it in The Tennessean,
discussing it on CMT or teaching about it in a college course, Peter
Cooper is always associated with high-quality country, bluegrass and
other tradition-steeped music. But his way with words isn’t just
limited to the printed page—he’s also a sharp singer-songwriter in his
own right. Cooper just released a new country-tinged folk collection, Mission Door,
that’s rife with vividly detailed, down-to-earth storytelling. He
co-produced the album with steel guitar legend Lloyd Green, and Green’s
keening, fluid notes are evident throughout. Against a primarily
acoustic backdrop—from pensive story-songs to harmonica-laced roots
rock—Cooper delivers literary yet plainspoken narratives in his scruffy
tenor. As one might expect, or at least hope to hear, from an
accomplished, multi-disciplinary writer like Cooper, substantial and
well-crafted lyrics occupy their due place of honor throughout the
album. 9 p.m. at Station Inn —JEWLY HIGHT
Pros and Con
FULL MOON TATTOO & HORROR FESTIVAL
If you’re one of those sickos who gets off on gory trash, monster
movies and lurid stalk ’n’ slash sagas full of half-naked scream
queens, you must be…me. Which means we’re bound to have fun at this
three-day expo of celebrity signings, screenings and such devoted to
the dark arts. Of special note is a Nashville appearance by filmmaker
George A. Romero (see below), but the lineup should tickle anyone with
a lifetime Fangoria subscription: stars Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog), Dee Wallace (The Howling), Tony Todd (Candyman) and Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes); gore FX master Tom Savini; The Goon
comic creator Eric Powell; painter Basil Gogos; organizer/horror
filmmaker/tattoo artist Ben Dixon; and many more listed at
lonewolfbodyart.net/festival8.html. A one-day pass is $15; $35 covers
all three days. Friday through Sunday at the Nashville Airport Marriott (600 Marriott Drive) —JIM RIDLEY
Live Dead!
GEORGE A. ROMERO/DIARY OF THE DEAD Is Pittsburgh’s sultan of splatter one of the most important filmmakers in movies today? Cahiers du Cinema says yes, Film Comment agrees—and their proof’s in the legendary director’s latest film, Diary of the Dead, a gore-drenched YouTube apocalypse that extends the blighted universe Romero first explored in 1968’s landmark Night of the Living Dead.
A dream come true for local horror fans, this midnight preview
screening with Romero in attendance is already sold out; a second
midnight show has been added for Saturday, as an enticement for the
movie’s regular run next week at the Belcourt. As of press time, Romero
is not scheduled to attend the Saturday show. Midnight Friday & Saturday at the Belcourt —JIM RIDLEY
Theater
THE SEPIA CHRONICLES
First performed in 2007 at the Second Annual Shades of Black Theatre
Festival, Michael L. Walker’s series of provocative monologues and
vignettes explores contemporary issues in the African American
community, among them the war, church, black male sexuality and
parenthood. Shawn Whitsell directs this mounting, and the promising
cast features some experienced actors with serious game, incuding
Tamiko Robinson, Rashad Rayford, Mary McCallum and Alicia Ridley. Friday & Saturday at Darkhorse Theater —MARTIN BRADY
Comedy
THE SECOND CITY TOURING COMPANY
What do the following last names have in common: Belushi, Murray,
Aykroyd, Ramis, Radner, Levy, Farley, the other Belushi, Myers,
Odenkirk, Carell, Colbert, Fey? Well, besides being much funnier than
you, and having made far more money than you ever will, they’re all
alumni of legendary comedy troupe The Second City. Originally founded
in Chicago, the company has spawned four additional live theaters, a TV
show and countless imitators over the course of five decades, and its
performers—known as Second Citizens—are lightning-quick, creating
scenes entirely on the fly. Perhaps you’ll be one of the first to see
the next Sudeikis, Bakkedahl or McBrayer. 8 & 11 p.m. at Vanderbilt’s Sarratt Cinema
—JULIE SEABAUGH
Music
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY CD RELEASE On their first full-length, Sue, local
trio Happy Birthday Amy traipse, gallop and at times crawl seductively
through 11 tracks of fanciful, jazzy piano-oriented pop. Despite
complex arrangements performed with playful virtuosity, the songs
themselves never get convoluted and still feature lively, classic pop
melodies that will have you singing along before you’ve heard the whole
song. Featuring lush orchestration and layered harmonies counterpointed
with a bare-bones piano-bass-drum assault, Sue often sounds like a collaboration between Tom Waits and Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys fronted by Ethel Merman. HBA will perform their new CD in its entirety. 9 p.m. at The End —SETH GRAVES
Music
LIGHTNING 100 BIRTHDAY SHOW
In this era of corporate airwave takeover, it’s remarkable that
WRLT-Lightning 100 has stayed independent while staying true to its
roots. Few commercial Nashville stations have been such influential
tastemakers, even fewer have given so much airtime to local artists,
and none has survived so long while maintaining essentially the same
format. Now old enough to vote and go to war (though not to drink),
Lightning celebrates its 18th birthday with live sets from The Gabe Dixon Band, Dave Barnes, Griffin House, Katie Herzig and Trent Dabbs. 9 p.m. at Mercy Lounge —JACK SILVERMAN
SATURDAY 3/22
Music
RANDY KOHRS & THE LITES A distinctive resonator guitarist and powerful singer whose most recent video did well on CMT’s Pure 12-Pack Countdown, Kohrs has gotten growing attention for his other musical roles—most notably as producer of Jim Lauderdale’s Grammy-winning The Bluegrass Diaries, which was recorded at his Slack Key Studio—and the design of his kitchen, which earned him a recent appearance on The Rachael Ray Show.
Hey, take opportunity where you find it, right? Onstage, though, Kohrs
is all about the music, and he’s got a muscular band of youngsters that
includes progressive banjoist Mike Sumner and Chris Wood on drums,
which should give you some idea of his disdain for bluegrass
convention. Brash and occasionally outspoken, Kohrs has the talent to
back it up, and while the transition from hot session player to
bandleader isn’t an easy one, he’s getting the job done nicely. 9 p.m. at Station Inn —JON WEISBERGER
Music
AMELIA WHITE & THE BLUE SOUVENIRS W/BYRDS AUTO PARTS So far, Amelia White has leaked only three unmastered tracks from her soon-to-come album—Motorcycle Dreams
(currently without a label home)—but that’s enough to know she’s got
some good stuff in the can, stuff on par with the strong songwriting
and affecting alt-country moodiness of 2006’s Black Doves,
which featured the sublimely dark lounge-pop number “Snakes and
Pushers.” The new album’s title track sounds mildly stoned in the best
possible way: The band is in a thoroughly laid-back groove, there’s a
haze of reverb and tremolo in the air, and White slurs the words and
melody a little, with a tough-sounding sort of nonchalance. Another
early disclosure is “Morning Song,” a positively sunny duet with Jon
Byrd that the two will do live in town for the first time at this show.
Rumor has it the song is getting pitched to Tim and Faith, but it’s
plenty charming here as a frayed-edge, pedal steel-washed ballad.
Byrd’s own roots-rock band is also on the bill. 7 p.m. at 3rd & Lindsley —JEWLY HIGHT
Pub-lishing
DENNIS O’ROURKE O’Rourke
is a musical fixture in America’s Irish pubs. Born in Massachusetts,
he’s been riding the Irish folk wave since the early ’60s, stopping
occasionally to write and pitch songs. (His “Honky Tonk Moon” was a No.
1 hit for Randy Travis in 1988.) Additionally, O’Rourke is a writer and
editor whose recent collection, Clean Cabbage in the Bucket, is
a compilation of road stories as told by five veterans of the Irish
music circuit: Frank Emerson, Seamus Kennedy, Harry O’Donoghue, Robbie
O’Connell and O’Rourke himself. As experienced pub musicians, this
motley (and mottled) crew knows a thing or two about telling stories,
which in this case take the form of first-person memoirs and extended
dialogues, their poignant-to-bawdy subject matter being familiar to
road musicians of all stripes. 1 p.m. at Rhino Booksellers (4918 Charlotte Pike) —PAUL V. GRIFFITH
Music
THE DIRTBOMBS
If music criticism were a science, one of the first laws would be that
you can judge any band by the strength of their psychedelic freakouts.
If an ensemble has the chutzpah to try one after, say, 1972, they
deserve credit for an audacious move. If said trip is of the truly
mind-blowing, noggin’-expanding variety, they should be praised as true
craftsmen. And if that prismatic razzle-dazzle happens in the midst of
some righteous, fuzzed-out punk ’n’ soul, you know you’re listening to We Have You Surrounded,
the new LP by Detroit garage gods The Dirtbombs. However improbable it
may sound, America’s best rock ’n’ roll band is even more rockin’ than
before, basically turning the awesome up to 11 and letting it blast
until your dome explodes. Be sure to catch their afternoon in-store at
Grimey’s for a double dose of rad. 9:30 p.m. at Mercy Lounge —SEAN L. MALONEY
Chocolate and Rabbits and Eggs, Oh My!
CHEEKWOOD SPRING ART HOP Just
like the late comedian Bill Hicks, we’ve read the Bible, and we can’t
find the words “bunny” or “chocolate” in there anywhere. Still, the
rabbit is out of the cage, so to speak, and there’s no way in, uh, that
other place, you’re going to convince your kids they’re not entitled to
egg-shaped confections delivered by a giant cottontail. But at least
Cheekwood is here to help: The Spring Art Hop features Easter egg
hunts, the Nashville Public Library’s Puppet Truck, face painting,
balloon artists, art activities, magician Rodney Kelley, spring songs
with Rachel Summer and, of course, the titular long-eared,
high-jumping, carrot-eating mammal. It’s free to Cheekwood members, $10
for non-member adults, free for children 18 & under. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens & Museum of Art —JACK SILVERMAN
Music
ANNA KRAMER
Like P.J. Harvey raised on grits and Southern Comfort, Anna Kramer
opens the bar with a brassy vocal strut. Her second release, The Rustic Contemporary Sounds of Anna Kramer & The Lost Cause,
reeks of Jack, cigarettes and bloozy country-soul, as Kramer juggles
styles like men, with casual promiscuity and aplomb. Backed by her
band, the Lost Cause, she wanders from Latin swing through
Weimar-inflected piano pop and garage rave-ups, but her heart was sown
in the country and she doesn’t stray for long. No classic beauty
vocally, Kramer gets by on bluster, grit and saucy attitude, as when
she complains, “I thought I knew you, but I didn’t know that much / The
only time you tell me how you feel is when you’re drunk,” during “You
Think You Know Me.” The trio works dusty amble and sweaty shimmy with
equal swagger. Rootsy indie-popsters All We Seabees headline. 9 p.m. at The Basement —CHRIS PARKER
SUNDAY 3/23
Ghost to Show You
THE HAUNTING As a palate cleanser between West Side Story and The Sound of Music,
Robert Wise directed this throwback to the atmospheric 1940s shockers
he made for producer Val Lewton: an eerie version of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House
that boasts unnerving sound design, super black-and-white camerawork,
and lots of suggestive chills. (Stay away from that bulging door!) Come
for the spooks, stay for Claire Bloom as one of the screen’s first
non-predatory bisexuals. Selected by Belcourt staffer Jason Shawhan as
part of the theater’s Staff Picks series. Saturday & Sunday at the Belcourt —JIM RIDLEY
The Iraq War: Five Years and Counting
IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS
Photographer James Longley examines Iraq from the splintered
perspectives of its Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish populations in his
visually stunning documentary, a 2006 Oscar winner. The film is
tonight’s offering in Vanderbilt’s ongoing movie series examining the
Iraq War, followed at 7 p.m. Tuesday by Robert Greenwald’s exposé Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers. Both screenings are free and open to the public. 7 p.m. at Sarratt Cinema, Vanderbilt —JIM RIDLEY
Down-Home Food
STIRRING UP THE PAST
With all the trendy and tortured efforts to eat more deliberately, more
sustainably and more locally, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that
today’s fast-paced and far-flung dining habits are actually the result
of centuries of progress. Long before Tennesseans started frequenting
high-priced restaurants to eat homegrown and hand-slaughtered food,
they ate that stuff because it’s all they had. From the cooking culture
and recipes of Native Americans to Civil War cuisine and modern kitchen
technology, this exhibit looks at the evolution of cooking across the
state. Apparently it wasn’t always Krystals and GooGoos. Through June 13 at Tennessee State Library and Archives —CARRINGTON FOX
Will Berry, “Moves Like a Flamboyán”
MONDAY 3/24
Art
LA LUZ DE LOS COLORES
When you think about art at a law school, your mind conjures images of
dusty portraits of thin-haired, neatly dressed gentlemen gazing nobly
into grand horizons of Order and Justice. Zeitgeist Gallery has
something else in mind. With their ongoing series of contemporary art
exhibitions, Gallery gurus Janice Zeitlin and Lain York have taken art
out of its usual white-walled environment and displayed it in the
public spaces at the Vanderbilt University Law School, making it a
go-to destination for Nashville art-abouts. Their latest show features
paintings, monotypes and etchings by Zeitgeist favorite Will Berry.
Berry incorporates impressionistic techniques into his new, large-scale
abstract pieces to explore the interplay of light, color and time. La Luz finds its origins in the plein air sketches Berry completed on recent trips to France and Mexico. Through May 15 at Vanderbilt Law School —JOE NOLAN
Art
BLUE SKIES: THAR SHE BLOWS In
an East African legend, a gigantic whale with a limitless appetite
teaches the vain King Sulemani a lesson in humility. In his latest
installation, local multimedia sorcerer Jack “Dingo” Ryan conjures a
cautionary tale of his own. Pulling from popular culture, Blue Skies
finds Ryan mixing familiar cultural signifiers with his wilderness
obsessions to create a dialogue about the relationship between
gluttonous media consumption and the depletion of the natural world.
Ryan unites his disparate elements—including video, sculpture and found
objects—into a grab-bag of symbols and surprises, insights and
in-jokes. The starting point of Ryan’s fable is the well-known YouTube
staple of an exploding whale. Through April 4 at Tennessee Arts Commission Gallery —JOE NOLAN
Stars
TUESDAY 3/25
Music
STARS
Arguably the greatest of the several acts that share members with
Canadian collective Broken Social Scene, Stars progress their cause
with their fourth full-length, In Our Bedroom After the War.
With this album they get more accessible, running the gamut of emotions
as well as tempos. Hopelessly theatrical, Stars’ dreamy pop pulls at
both heartstrings and dance shoes with expressive lyrics set in perfect
harmony to pulsing beats and angelic keyboards. It’s the best of both
worlds, as the sugary-sweet voices of Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan
guide the listener through Smiths-inspired rock anthems and sleepy
soliloquies. The Belcourt’s intimate setting will allow Stars’ stories
to resonate with listeners before the synthetic rhythms take over the
body. Clever and quirky indie-folk singer Martin Royle starts the show.
8 p.m. at the Belcourt —ELIZABETH JONES
Music
JOHN VANDERSLICE When not producing some of the best albums of the past few years (Spoon’s Gimme Fiction, Mountain Goats’ Sunset Tree)
at his analog studio, Tiny Telephone, Vanderslice weaves entire worlds
into baroque-scented tapestries. He favors expansive conceptual
backdrops, telling the tales of odd, misanthropic characters, as on
2002’s The Life and Death of an American Fourtracker or last year’s alluringly off-kilter Emerald City,
which features an elaborate terror/war-based narrative. Unusual sounds
and percussion abound, producing eerie atmospheres that shade his
chamber pop tendencies from Beulah toward the Bad Seeds. This makes the
moments of simple, understated beauty even more poignant—“Promising
Actress,” with its fugue of droning cello, guitar jangle and tinkling
keyboards, is like a glimmering winter landscape. Vanderslice opens for
Stephen Malkmus, whose meandering post-Pavement psychedelic “jams” are
as inscrutable as his lyrics, and liable to leave you regarding Phish
fondly by comparison. 9 p.m. at the Mercy Lounge
—CHRIS PARKER
Mostly Martha
COOKING CLASSES WITH MARTHA STAMPS
Southern food maven and restaurant owner Martha Stamps will serve as
sous to her pastry chef Garrett Williams as the two co-host a series of
Tuesday-night classes beginning March 25. The two-hour workshops begin
at 6 p.m. in the kitchen at Martha’s at the Plantation. Each class
costs $45, or take all four—biscuits, cupcakes, cream puffs and ice
cream—for $150. Dinner in the strictest sense will not be served, but
the evening promises plenty to eat. Call 353-2828 to enroll. 6 p.m. Tuesdays at Martha’s at the Plantation (5025 Harding Road) —CARRINGTON FOX
Readings
BEYOND OUR BEGINNINGS
In the university, as elsewhere, it’s become apparent that diversity is
a complex issue involving more than just race and culture. With this in
mind, Vanderbilt’s 2008 Visiting Writers Series Spring Symposium will
feature readings by four women writers from lower- and working-class
backgrounds who will explore the role class and gender play in shaping
the human experience. South Carolina native Dorothy Allison was awarded
the 2007 Robert Penn Warren Award for Fiction. Her best-selling novels
include Bastard out of Carolina and Cavedweller. Heather Sellers teaches English at Michigan’s Hope College. Among her recent publications are the collections Georgia Under Water and Boys I Borrow. A forthcoming memoir, Face First, recounts Sellers struggles with a rare disorder in which you can’t distinguish facial features. Joy Castro’s memoir, The Truth Book,
tells of a difficult upbringing in an adoptive Cuban American family of
Jehovah’s Witnesses. She’s currently on faculty at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln. Karen McElmurray is an assistant professor at Georgia
College and State University whose books include Strange Birds in the Tree of Heaven and the memoir Surrendered Child, a story of a mother giving up her child for adoption. Allison and Sellers read at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Castro and McElmurray at 6 p.m. Wednesday, at Vanderbilt Divinity School.
—PAUL V. GRIFFITH
Hoedown Hilarity
THE DOYLE AND DEBBIE SHOW Nothing has essentially changed on the D&D
front: It’s still a Music City phenomenon drawing both new audiences
and returning cult enthusiasts who can’t get enough of co-stars Bruce
Arntson and Jenny Littleton and their tasty lampoon of the country
music scene. After its long run at Bongo After Hours Theatre, plus a
slice of national exposure on Late Night With Conan O’Brien, the dynamic duo have relaunched local performances at the Station Inn, where they’ll perform at 7 p.m. on Tuesday nights. Through May 27 at
Station Inn —MARTIN BRADY
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The Waybacks
WEDNESDAY 3/26
Music
WAYBACKS
The “taking the boy out of the country/country out of the boy” maxim
gets plenty of mileage because those childhood roots go deep. So while
Nashville expat James Nash may have demonstrated tremendous skill on
electric guitar and relocated to San Francisco, it was perhaps
inevitable that his roots come back to the surface with the Waybacks.
While frequently described as bluegrass, that’s a disservice to their
rich stylistic palette. Jazz, Bakersfield swing, Bay Area cosmic folk,
Memphis soul, honky tonk and traditional country all compete in clever
acoustic arrangements employing a range of instruments and displaying
warm, unpretentious humor. A lineup change brought in
mandolinist/fiddler Warren Hood, who shares songwriting with Nash on
their fourth album, Loaded. It was inspired by a pair of gigs
with Bob Weir, during which they newgrass’d some Dead tunes as well as
some Zeppelin. That spirit translates into their most adventurous and
accomplished disc. 7 p.m. at 3rd & Lindsley —CHRIS PARKER
Film
PIXOTE The link between Luis Buñuel’s Los Olvidados and Fernando Meirelles’ City of God,
and at the time an international wake-up call to Latin America’s
churning cycles of poverty and violence—which went largely
unheeded—Hector Babenco’s shattering 1981 feature about a soul-sick
11-year-old (Fernando Ramos da Silva) growing up fast and ruthless on
the streets of Sao Paolo has never been forgotten by anyone who saw it
then. It’s especially heartrending today in light of its young star’s
tragic fate: he returned to thug life and died in a hail of police
bullets in 1987, at age 19. In Portuguese with subtitles, the film will
be projected from DVD, free and open to the public. 7 p.m. at Vanderbilt’s Sarratt Cinema —JIM RIDLEY
Todd Bottorff
Reading & Writing
TODD BOTTORFF Maybe you’ve heard the story about Jane Austen enthusiast David Lassman, who last summer sent the opening chapter of Pride and Prejudice
to 18 of the U.K.’s biggest book publishers, only to receive 18
rejection slips—including one from Penguin Books, which publishes
Austen’s work. So does this mean most book publishers wouldn’t know a
masterpiece if it landed on their desk? Maybe. Or it could mean Lassman
just didn’t write a compelling cover letter. For all those would-be
authors out there tired of struggling in obscurity, you won’t want to
miss Todd Bottorff’s appearance at the upcoming Writers’ Night at the
Cool Springs Barnes & Noble. The president and publisher of Turner
Publishing in Nashville, which Bookmarket.com recently named one of the
top 101 independent publishing companies in the U.S. Bottorff will
offer an inside look at the state of publishing today, including advice
on how writers can avoid the dreaded “slush pile,” where manuscripts go
to die. 6 p.m. at Barnes & Noble-Cool Springs —CHRIS CLANCY
Triple Threat
THE DAMIEN HORNE/NATHAN LEE/JACKIE WILSON SHOW
Two of his brothers were killed in gang wars, two others wound up in
jail, and now, after 18 homeless months on the streets of Los Angeles,
he’s an ordained minister and up-and-coming singer-songwriter in Music
City. No, it’s not a Hollywood script pitch—it’s the real life story of
Damien Horne, whose uplifting soul-pop caught the attention of the
MuzikMafia crew, of which he’s now a part. Nathan Lee’s gritty piano
pop is heavily indebted to Springsteen (with a nod to Billy Joel), and
he clearly shares The Boss’ give-it-all performance ethic, evidenced by
several smokin’ live tracks on his website. And though this Jackie
Wilson is alive and has no Y chromosome, she shares her legendary
namesake’s love for R&B and soul—and her bold, rangy voice serves
his memory honorably. The three acts join forces for a Wednesday night
series that continues indefinitely at the once-again-reopened 12th & Porter. 7:30 p.m. at 12th & Porter —JACK SILVERMAN