Late Edition
On Sunday, as it does this time every year, the Belcourt Theater turns into the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for one night only. The Belcourt's 6th annual Oscar Night America is the city's only party officially sanctioned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and there'll be plenty to do while you wait for Jamie Foxx and Million Dollar Baby to lug home sackloads of statuettes. You can stroll up the red carpet in dazzling finery, sample gourmet food from various restaurants, and watch Hollywood celebrate the movies the Belcourt is wise enough to ignore the rest of the year. Tickets range from $50 to $1,000, with all attending bells and whistles: hurry if you still want to get in, as the event sells out every year. Call 846-3150 for more information.
♦ If hastily delivered acceptance speeches aren't your bag, drop by Brown's Diner 6 p.m. Sunday for an early-evening gig featuring singer/artist Ann Tiley. The winning acoustic performer and commemorator of a disappearing Nashville joins several friends and collaborators, including John Allingham, Carole Edwards, Poppy Fields, Leah Freeman, Karen Layne and Tim Jones. Come for the music, stay for the burgers.
♦ A young Nashville photographer who has spent a lot of time documenting musicians, Lisa Russell also travels in a variety of fine art forms, the first fruits of which are now hanging at Basante's on West End. Her debut show features a series of industrial photography printed on gold leaf paper, in addition to a series of canvases executed in acrylic, watercolor, spray paint, pencil, markers and oil pastel. Several of the mixed-media works incorporate found items such as twigs, leaves, wire, the artist's old x-rays and rubber stamps, with equal parts whimsy and thoughtfulness at work here. The exhibit's run is open-ended, with an artist's reception 4 p.m. Feb. 27. A portion of the sale proceeds are earmarked for Nashville CARES. For more information, phone 554-7085. (1719 West End Ave.)
♦ Blending guitars, bass and drums with computer bleeps and glitches, Birmingham, Ala.'s Crane Orchard knit together a soft-hued sonic gloom that, though it may not be high on the list for a dance-club remix, has an undeniably seductive melancholy—imagine Syd Barrett producing a Neil Young record with the musicians from Portishead (minus the hip-hop grooves). Hell, let's face facts—happiness may be more fun, but morose reflection makes better music. It should be interesting to see how they combine the laptop with the hands-on in live performance. And if your serotonin levels slip to dangerously low levels, the piano-pop mayhem of Murfreesboro's Fluid Ounces will be on hand to resuscitate you. Kick it bipolar-style Friday night at the 5 Spot.
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♦ It's not often you get the chance to mention Hall & Oates and the Black Crowes in the same sentence, let alone to describe the same band. But the Plastic Rulers, featuring front man Warren Pash (who wrote the Hall & Oates megahit "Private Eyes,") and former Black Crowes guitarist Audley Freed, will be rocking the Family Wash, joined by bassist Billy Mercer and drummer Keith Brogden. Pash's songs are smart and melodic, and, despite his writing credentials, are all rawk and no slick. If you thought cojones and brains were mutually exclusive, the Rulers are here to prove otherwise. Since it's George Harrison's birthday, might they pay tribute to the quiet Beatle? Go find out for yourself. (Warning acidheads: if you ever hallucinated that you saw Woody Allen fronting the Stones, beware of flashbacks.)
♦ Who wouldn't want to drink chardonnay and hear a conservative Bush basher (who happens to be gay) all at once? Talk about cred. Tickets are still available for Saturday night's Tennessee Human Rights Campaign dinner, featuring noted writer Andrew Sullivan and actress Ashley Judd. Cost is slightly staggering at $175 a ticket, but the evening at Loews Vanderbilt Plaza is sure to stimulate, and it helps raise money to support the goals of gay and transgender equality. Lipstick optional. Tickets can be purchased by contacting Box Office Tickets at 1-800-494-8497 or by visiting www.boxofficetickets.com.
♦ Anyone with an interest in the under-sung history of African American art in Nashville shouldn't miss "From a Master's Hands," featuring works by Gregory Ridley, who has been active for more than a half-century in a variety of media, including sculpture, painting and repoussé, or metal relief. Ridley studied with Aaron Douglas and maintained a lifelong friendship with the great Harlem Renaissance artist. The show opens with a reception, 5-8 p.m. at Woodcuts Gallery & Framing. (1613 Jefferson St. 321-5357)
♦ The following night, and just up the street, is another opening at In the Gallery. A longtime presence in North Nashville, just across from the Bicentennial Mall, In the Gallery focuses on work by African American artists, among them the first-rate painter Sam Dunson, who'll be joined by William Buffett, Robert Crutcher, Pat Kabore, Edwin Ray McSwine, Babalola Seyi and Jared Small in a show of mixed-media works called "Talking Pictures: The Artist Speaks." Artist reception 5-8 p.m. Feb 26. (624-A Jefferson St. 255-0705)
♦ Check out the survey of gallery artists at Hanging Around Eclectic Arts & Framing, a Music Row-area gallery specializing in tasteful works by local and regional artists. Titled "Out of the Blue," the show opens Friday night with a reception 6-9 p.m. (113 17th Ave. S. 254-4850)
♦ In Dear Mama Williams, Dale Vinicur and Hank Williams' stepdaughter Lycrecia Williams Hoover have collected some of the many sympathy cards and letters that the Williams family received after the singer's death. The authors will be at Ernest Tubb Record Shop to sign copies of the book 3-5 p.m. on Saturday—giving Grand Ole Opry-bound folks plenty of time to get on up to the Opry's early show. (417 Broadway 255-7503)