An introverted, laid-back man who loved extroverted, larger-than-life artists, Emerson was one of the central figures in the rise of rock ’n’ roll in Nashville during the 1980s. The co-founder of Praxis International with longtime business partners Andy McLenon and Kay Clary, Emerson died unexpectedly of a heart attack on Nov. 22. Although he’d recently battled respiratory ailments, including a lung-wrecking bout of double pneumonia, his death at age 43 came as a shock even to his closest friends and associates. At a recent memorial service at the Belcourt Theatre, several hundred mourners gathered to toast a man who all agreed had a rare integrity and a well-developed vision of the future of American roots rock. The performances that night were powerful, with each artist performing a favorite Emerson track that, in one way or another, dealt with fate, spirituality and finding one’s place in the world. The stories had as much impact. McLenon spoke of his friend’s generous spirit, his fan-centered way of dealing with artists and his unusually honest way of handling business. McLenon and others also spun tales about Emerson’s relationship with each of the long list of major artists with whom they’d worked. Many of those artists performed that night, including Steve Forbert, Dan Baird of The Georgia Satellites, Scott Miller of The V-Roys, Webb Wilder, Bill Lloyd and Steve Earle, as well as Jason Ringenberg and Warner Hodges of Jason & The Scorchers—the band that Emerson co-founded and that inspired him to form Praxis. This week’s monumental event underscores just how powerful Emerson’s musical legacy is. The lineup includes John Hiatt & The Goners (including ace guitarist Sonny Landreth), Billy Joe Shaver, Jason & The Scorchers, Steve Earle (backed by The Scorchers), Steve Forbert, Webb Wilder, Tim Krekel & The Sluggers, Jake Brennan and Bill Lloyd. It’ll be a historic night celebrating a man whose work testifies to the enormous force an individual can have on his community—indeed, on his generation. Tickets are available at www.mercylounge.com or by calling (800) 594-8499. Proceeds from the show will help defray the medical costs that Emerson and his family incurred during the months before his death. Mercy Lounge

—Michael McCall

Music

Thursday, 11th

Caroline Herring With all the emphasis on songwriting in today’s folk/Americana world, it feels like cheating to credit a musician for something she didn’t entirely create—her voice. But Herring’s womanly voice sets her apart. Warm and low, with a Mississippi accent and a thrill in her throat, it simultaneously coddles and energizes the listener. Herring’s second album, Wellspring, combines personal tales (“Magnolias”) with stylishly goofy country-swing fare like “Texas Two-Step.” On “Mortified,” she makes humiliation downright danceable. On the rich, catchy “Colorado Woman,” she colors the place where strength and interdependence meet: “Tonight, I want to be your strong Colorado woman / I don’t want to be your Mississippi girl.” A former Southern studies scholar, Herring also writes searching stories from the region’s past. What you’ll keep coming back to, though, is that voice. Radio Cafe

—Danielle Dreilinger

Shiner Massive One of the first acts on the newly revived Slash Records, Brooklyn eclecticists Shiner Massive aim to save the world (or at least your soul) with a politically informed amalgam of rap, punk, reggae, funk and jazz. On their self-titled debut, this concept manifests itself as dizzying maelstrom, like a slacker Rage Against the Machine, more Hendrix than Public Enemy. Onstage—at least judging by the DVD that accompanies their CD—Shiner Massive come across as energized young noisemakers desperate to communicate. Though their chosen medium opens the band up to accusations of self-righteousness (not to mention derivativeness), committed pop activists are still rare enough to be exciting, and maybe even essential. Exit/In

—Noel Murray

Friday, 12th

The Vulgar Boatmen The story of the Vulgar Boatmen is the tale of two bands—or, at least, of the hearts of two bands beating as one. The first, formed in 1981 by future Silos frontman Walter Salas-Humara, was a Florida unit that became the vehicle for Robert Ray, a professor of literature and film. The second, a group from Indiana, is the brainchild of erstwhile punk Dale Lawrence, who once took a class taught by Ray. Together, the two men wrote songs and quilted records long-distance, both of them singing and playing guitar parts that didn’t qualify merely as rhythm but certainly weren’t leads. The three albums they released—highlights of which were recently reissued on Wide Awake—were mesmerizing revelations in the spirit of The Velvet Underground’s third LP and The Feelies’ Good Earth, but were beholden to neither. Tuneful yet droning, quiet yet roiling, quotidian yet transcendental, the Vulgar Boatmen’s deceptively simple, incomparably subtle records plumb the heart’s secret recesses without pretense or ambition, as if that’s all there is to do, which of course is plenty. This gig pairs Lawrence and his unit with fellow Hoosier, former punk and Nashville favorite Tim Carroll. The End

—Bill Friskics-Warren

The Handicaps Punk idealism is anti- a lot of things: authority, industry, hegemony, bigotry and plain old ennui. It’s never anti-fisumping, anti-dance or anti- any form of physical expression that gets that frustration out, as long as it’s not self-destructive. Nashville’s Handicaps are a rocking beacon of hope that not all pre-teens are weaned on a steady diet of vocoded waste. The group recently added a fourth member, Jesse Weilburg of The Sex, to play guitar, leaving the group’s kinetic vocalist Devin Mason to rail against school bullies and all manner of banalities that, when multiplied, make a teen’s world tough. These guys even do Germs covers. Bongo After Hours Theatre

—Chris Davis

Friday, 12th-Saturday, 13th

North Mississippi Allstars A quartet whose membership includes the sons of Memphis producer Jim Dickinson and bluesman R.L. Burnside, North Mississippi Allstars espouse a carefree approach to stylistic breadth that, under different circumstances, might have had record execs hounding them to narrow their sound. Their music spans funk, Southern rock, Hill Country blues, pop and psychedelia that verges on progressive—sometimes within the same song. It’s precisely this lack of concern for restrictions, coupled with lighthearted lyrical themes, that dictates the pleasant vibe of their performances. Befitting of artists embraced by the jam-band community, the Allstars play long sets that vary in content from night to night. Exit/In

—Saby Reyes-Kulkarni

Saturday, 13th

Opry Night at the Ryman w/The Del McCoury Band, Terri Clark, Ronnie Dunn, Rhonda Vincent, Hal Ketchum, Jon Randall and more Offering producer Carl Jackson the opportunity to showcase his acclaimed new Louvin Brothers tribute album on the stage of the Ryman is the kind of thing the Opry does best, making the decision to do so a no-brainer. The only real question is, “How many of the CD’s stars could he line up?” Answer: a more than adequate number to fill the show’s televised hour. As if that weren’t enough, the unavoidable absence of some of the album’s participants gives Jackson the chance to make some new pairings—Rodney Crowell and Del McCoury, anyone?—and gives fans the chance to catch a live supplement to the Grammy-nominated album’s duet magic rather than a mere re-creation of it. Ryman Auditorium

—Jon Weisberger

Wednesday, 17th

Rocket From The Tombs Punk antecedent Rocket From the Tombs will play more gigs on their current reunion tour than they did during their mythologized heyday. Formed around singer-performance artist David Thomas (a.k.a. Crocus Behemoth), RFTT played a handful of shows in their Cleveland hometown during the mid-’70s and left a recorded legacy that consisted of spotty demos and bootlegged live performances. Fortunately, the band’s iconic status doesn’t rely on their output, but on their anarchic organizing principles, which presaged punk, and on the fact that they split into two of that movement’s most influential groups. Thomas and late guitarist Peter Laughner formed the artier Pere Ubu, while guitarist Gene O’Connor (Cheetah Chrome) and drummer Johnny (Blitz) Madansky joined singer Stiv Bators in the ill-mannered Dead Boys. Along with Thomas and current Nashville resident O’Connor, the RFTT reunion lineup includes original bassist Craig Bell, Television guitarist Richard Lloyd and recent Pere Ubu drummer Steve Mehlman. Exit/In

—Paul Griffith

Dance

The Nutcracker Nashville Ballet’s 2003 staging of the Tchaikovsky classic features artistic director Paul Vasterling’s enhanced choreography, new costumes and an expanded cast of Nashville-area children, resulting in a spruced-up retelling of the story of little Clara, the Nutcracker Prince and their battle against the evil Rat King. The Nashville Symphony provides the timeless music. There are eight performances in TPAC’s Andrew Jackson Hall, Dec. 12-21. For tickets, phone 255-ARTS. Williamson County residents seeking local holiday entertainment have their own chance to see a version of The Nutcracker when the MidSouth Ballet Theater presents three narrated full-length performances, Dec. 12-14 at the Artsitorium in College Grove. For more information on that production, phone 368-2052.

—Martin Brady

Theater

A Christmas Carol For a few years now, Mark Cabus has performed this one-man version of the Dickens holiday classic to critical praise. This restaging finds his Green Room Projects at its new home, located in the Shelby Theater of Freedom Middle School in Franklin. Taking advantage of fresh surroundings, Cabus plans a few new wrinkles in the presentation, and his performances the first weekend (Dec. 11-14) will coincide, fittingly enough, with downtown Franklin’s “Dickens of a Christmas” celebration. The production continues for a second weekend, Dec. 18-20. For tickets and reservations, phone 665-3066.

—Martin Brady

Seven Guitars Nashville’s grassroots black theater artists continue to show their restive spirit with this staging of August Wilson’s story concerning the life and death of a blues singer-guitarist in posorld War II Pittsburgh. Barry Scott directs the production, which is recommended to anyone looking for a serious alternative to the holiday-themed material currently flooding local theaters. Presented by Hailey-Lemuel Productions, Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 11-20, at Tennessee State University’s Performing Arts Center. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster at 255-9600. See the story on p. 70.

—Martin Brady

Hope for the Holidaze Music Row’s Belmont Church is typified by its socially aware spirit and its flair for the musical. This year, congregation members have teamed up to craft this original, issues-oriented Christmas play, which probes serious modern problems such as substance abuse and sexual identity, yet also strives to leaven the discussion with an upbeat Christian message and the appropriate seasonal ambience. The music, under the supervision of Wayne Tester (whose “The Change” was recorded by Garth Brooks), includes carols and other holiday fare. The free performances are Dec. 12-14 at the worship center, 68 Music Square East. Recommended for ages 12 and up. For further information, phone 256-2123.

—Martin Brady

Art

Andrew Kaufman and Donna Stack, “Synergy”/ Ruby Green Contemporary Art Center Kaufman (from the MTSU faculty) and Stack (teaching in Washington state) are installation artists who incorporate video elements in much of their work. A central feature of this show promises to be the variety of ways viewers will interact with the work. Some of the pieces, particularly Stack’s, use architectural strategies that require viewers to enter an enclosed space in order to view material. Drawing people into this space also serves to make them part of the work to people who may be standing outside it. Kaufman for his part uses video and other elements (glasses of water, shopping carts) in ways that should reverse and fracture expected perspectives. For both artists, depth of interaction and variety of perspective are in service of engaging viewers with the complexities of social realities such as AIDS and ethnicity. Kaufman and Stack ask viewers to take part in the work (and in the phenomena they draw from) more directly than by simply standing back from a wall and gazing. Opening Dec. 13, 7 to 10 p.m.

—David Maddox

“Inspiring Beauty”/Prestige Gallery This three-woman show featuring floral paintings and still lifes by Camille Engel, Lisa Ernst and Joan Lawler also represents the grand opening of Prestige’s new Gallery Wing. Located on Thompson Lane, next to Yellow Porch Restaurant, the gallery holds an all-day celebration on Saturday, Dec. 13, with an artists’ reception from 4 to 8 p.m.

Film

The Weather Underground Panel Righteous activists or domestic terrorists—how has history judged the Weathermen, the 1960s protest group that backed up its revolutionary rhetoric with homemade bombs? Vanderbilt University professor (and Scene contributor) Bruce Barry moderates a discussion of the Weathermen’s legacy Thursday at the Belcourt after the 7 p.m. screening of Sam Green and Bill Siegel’s documentary The Weather Underground. The Belcourt’s posilm panels have been unusually lively, and the lineup for this one promises sparks: singer/songwriter Steve Earle, Vanderbilt political-science professor and author Carol Swain, Belmont professor and ’60s demonstration organizer E. Michael Harrington, and longtime activist Jane Hussain. For more information, see www.belcourt.org or call 846-3150.

—Jim Ridley

Stuck on You Double your pleasure, double your fun with Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as Siamese twins in the latest comedy from There’s Something About Mary writer-directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly. The movie opens Friday along with Love Don’t Cost a Thing, the who-asked-for-it remake of 1987’s Can’t Buy Me Love.

—Jim Ridley

Carnage You’ll never look at a steak the same way after this peculiar, fascinating episodic drama by writer-director Delphine Greize, who interlocks several stories by following the parts of a butchered bull to their eventual destinations. The French film opens Friday at the Belcourt; it’s reviewed in our Movie Guide on p. 77.

—Jim Ridley

Party Monster After flourishing briefly in the 1990s as a fixer and fixture of Manhattan’s clubland party circuit, Michael Alig flamed out in a ghastly bender of drugs, excess and ultimately murder. Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, documentarians who made The Eyes of Tammy Faye as well as an earlier doc about Alig also called Party Monster, make their fiction-film debut with this sordid exposé, opening Friday at Green Hills. With Macaulay Culkin as Alig, Chloë Sevigny, Natasha Lyonne, Seth Green and Marilyn Manson.

—Jim Ridley

The Flower of Evil Nasty family secrets, corrupt bourgeoisie, a dead body crumpled in a posh French manse—welcome back, Claude Chabrol! The Nouvelle Vague master revisits the elegant mystery in his 50th film, which stars Nathalie Baye and Benoît Magimel. It opens Friday at Green Hills.

—Jim Ridley

Something’s Gotta Give Older man (Jack Nicholson) romances younger woman (Amanda Peet), only to fall for woman’s mom (Diane Keaton), who catches the eye of the man’s younger doctor (Keanu Reeves). If this cast and premise offered stock options, we’d buy. Writer-director Nancy Meyers’ romantic comedy starts Friday.

—Jim Ridley