While collaborations with William Orbit and the Chemical Brothers once ensured that melancholic British songstress Beth Orton was known for laidback electronic fare, her more recent material—starting with 2002’s Ryan Adams-aided Daybreaker—has veered deep into vintage-tinged, Joni Mitchell folk-pop territory. The Comfort of Strangers, released this past February on dance/electronica imprint Astralwerks, features the production work of ex-Sonic Youth member Jim O’Rourke, as well as contributions from indie singer-songwriter M. Ward, who co-wrote the title track. Set against minimal guitar, piano, bass and drums, Orton’s blithe, unvarnished vocals drift through barbed meditations on the disappointment of relationships and other topics. Strangers displays a brooding, heavily laden soul whose elegant touch and pleasing melodic sensibilities remain intact. Fresh off the release of Mine At Last, UK trio Clayhill open. 3rd & Lindsley —JEWLY HIGHT MUSIC THURSDAY, 13THLEE ROY PARNELL This native Texan released Back to the Well, his first studio album since 2001, back in March; the time off (if that’s what it was) served Parnell well. Though the disc demonstrates the flair for economy Parnell honed during his fruitful days in the Nashville songwriting machine, Well exudes a laid-back vintage-soul vibe that sounds like the result of his having avoided the Music City whirlwind for a while. This stuff isn’t in a hurry to get anywhere, yet thanks to Parnell’s mellow croon and his band’s supple groove, you don’t mind the poky pace. Make sure he doesn’t rush through understated gems like “Something Out of Nothing” tonight. ( www.leeroyparnell.com ) 3rd & Lindsley —MIKAEL WOOD MARSHALL CHAPMAN Chapman is a legend in these parts. A Spartanburg native, her songs have been recorded by better known fellow raconteurs such as Jimmy Buffett, Emmylou Harris and John Hiatt. It used to be that Chapman’s local shows—which still draw songwriting’s finest—were followed by substance-fueled shenanigans that still draw howls from The Bluebird Café’s old guard. She’s over that now—as the title of her latest recording, Mellowicious, indicates—and has settled into her role as the elder (but not older) stateswoman of Nashville’s folk-rock songwriters. Anyone interested in reliving Nashville’s hard-partying past, however, need only pick up Chapman’s book, Goodbye, Little Rock and Roller, published in 2004. ( www.tallgirl.com ) The Radio Café ––PAUL V. GRIFFITHRHONDA VINCENT & THE RAGE/DOYLE LAWSON & QUICKSILVER The reigning queen of hard-charging bluegrass strikes a good working balance in mixing a bit of silkier pop country with the aggressive style that makes her band appropriately named. Vincent’s rich, plaintive voice and her handling of lyrics makes the combination a convincing whole. She’s writing more material herself lately on her new All American Bluegrass Girl. Doyle Lawson, for the record, is not the star of this show, but a full dose of vocals from his always evolving outfit should get this double-barreled grass night off to a compelling start. There’s no act in this field, or many others, that sings this powerfully so consistently. Doyle’s reception this year of the NEA National Heritage Fellowship, the nation’s highest award for traditional arts, underscores the point. Ryman Auditorium —BARRY MAZOR FRIDAY, 14THDAWSON WELLS CD RELEASE Besides being on the short list for best CD title of the year, RE: RE: No Subject marks a notable leap for forward for Dawson Wells. Under the name “Dawson Wells, Some Hot Chicks & Bob,” the singer-guitarist played a few entertaining shows in the last year that featured bachelor-pad decor and a bevy of flirtatious backup singers. But if the kitsch factor and indie-rock-lothario persona had anyone thinking “novelty act,” RE: RE: No Subject makes clear that Wells is serious about his music. He and co-producer Butterfly Boucher borrow from the best pop influences of the last five decades while pledging allegiance to none of them, all the while revealing the sensitive guy stuck inside the player. Standout tracks include “Silly One,” which kicks off with a nasty synth hook; the dissonant and introspective “Painted Stars”; “Timebombs 4 Katie,” the chorus of which recalls vintage Bowie; and “Gracey & Henry Martin’s 1st Summer,” whose grand faux-string intro sounds like it was pulled straight off a ’50s movie soundtrack. ( www.myspace.com/dawsonwells ) The Basement —JACK SILVERMAN SATURDAY, 15THASHLEY CLEVELAND The direction that the winds of commercial success happen to be blowing has little bearing on what Ashley Cleveland does with her robust, brassy vocal instrument. The Nashville singer-songwriter—who happens to be married to producer/guitar-wizard Kenny Greenberg—has weathered session work as a backing vocalist throughout the ’80s, a one-record shot at major label rock, a CCM record deal and indie status with gravelly, edgy, blues-tinged gumption and a knack for naturally blending spirituality with sensuality in her songwriting. Cleveland’s blistering rendition of “Gimme Shelter” is heady stuff. 3rd & Lindsley —JEWLY HIGHT SUNDAY, 16THTREY ANASTASIO AND MIKE GORDON WITH THE BENEVENTO-RUSSO DUO Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon have had their share of side projects through the years, with mixed results: at Bonnaroo last month, Anastasio’s Oysterhead set (with drummer Stewart Copeland and bassist Les Claypool) was pretty wanky, even by jam-band standards. Still, in the right setting, Anastasio is a thrilling guitarist, armed with far more musicality and quirk than most of his peers. For Phish fans, this may be the most hotly anticipated tour since the band’s breakup, for the presence of both Gordon—who’s exceptionally in synch with Anastasio after so many years of playing together—and the Benevento-Russo Duo, a terrific organ-drum outfit who reimagine funky soul-jazz with the same fervor and daring as Medeski, Martin and Wood. ( www.beneventorussoduo.com ) Ryman Auditorium —JACK SILVERMANDWIGHT YOAKAM Last year’s Blame the Vain revealed a Dwight Yoakam who was comfortable with his weirdness, his obsessive conflation of country-music tradition and the shock of the new. On record he can come across as a formalist all too willing to substitute glamour for emotion, but live he’s the embodiment of intelligent post-Bakersfield country. Out on tour, he’s been performing Buck Owens songs as a tribute to his great predecessor, and he’s got a fine band that includes guitarist Eddie Perez, whose textural playing complements Yoakam’s underrated rhythm-guitar work. He seems looser and funnier, so wacked-out songs like Blame the Vain’s “Intentional Heartache” come across as the confident jokes of a performer who seems slightly removed from his own myth. Yoakam’s always been a complex, elusive artist, and this show should provide an opportunity to see him make sly with that elusiveness. ( www.dwightyoakam.com ) City Hall —EDD HURTDEF LEPPARD/JOURNEY It probably didn’t occur to dudes with mustaches banging their heads 20 years ago to “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” but Def Leppard might’ve been the smartest act of the mid-’80s hair-metal posse: as anyone who’s cued up last year’s double-disc best-of Rock of Ages can attest, these guys’ shapely, insanely catchy tunes have endured where many of their peers’ material has not. The English outfit’s currently on tour supporting Yeah!, an appealingly high-energy set of covers of ’70s-era bubblegum classics such as T. Rex’s “20th Century Boy” and Badfinger’s “No Matter What”—a songwriting tradition Def Lep wisely aspire to. Though they too have crafted their fair share of golden oldies, the Leppards’ tourmates in Journey are currently struggling to keep the wheel in the sky turning: Last week Jeff Scott Soto was called in to replace throat-infected lead singer Steve Augeri—himself a replacement for true Journey frontman Steve Perry. ( www.defleppard.com ; www.journeymusic.com ) Starwood Amphitheatre —MIKAEL WOODGOAPELE There are break-up songs and then there are “Should I stay or should I go” songs. Bay area chanteuse Goapele’s new single “Different” is the latter; as a woman who loves too much, she keeps hoping and wishing he’d be just what the title exclaims. Rapper Clyde Carson plays the evasive lover perfectly with lines like, “I promise I’ll change/ If I don’t gotta hear your lip,” or the more pointed, “You got some issues too.” Many of the songs on Goapele’s new lounge album Change it All explore similar scenarios of lopsided love and longing. But on “Different,” Carson’s oblivious ad libs over Goapele’s quiet, hand-drum-punctuated indictments are riotous: “I mean, what are you saying?” he asks, befuddled, and, “Well, what do you want me to do?” Here’s a suggestion: cut back on the home-cooked meals, girlfriend. Bar Car —MAKKADA B. SELAH MONDAY, 17THPETE YORN Pete Yorn is a Jersey boy—which explains his unassuming charm and Boss worship. It’s obvious that he was reared on classic rock ’n’ roll, but his tightly produced and versatile music is undeniably modern. His songs are full of quirky details and emotionally pointed observations—the delightfully ironic sing-along chorus from “For Nancy (Cuz it already is)” remains a perfect pop moment. In anticipation of his third album’s fall release, Yorn has booked an all-acoustic club tour with in-stores in almost every city, an admirable effort to win hearts the old-fashioned way by pressing the flesh and kissing some babies instead of just MySpacin’ (though he is blogging from the road—posting news, pictures and videos for fans). Yorn seems to have a genuine belief in the power of live music (he released Live From New Jersey in 2004) and his likable attitude and distinct aesthetic translate remarkably well to the stage. Oh, and get psyched for the inevitable Springsteen cover. ( www.peteyorn.com ) Exit/In; Grimey’s at 6 pm —LEE STABERT WEDNESDAY, 19THCHRIS BERRY & PANJEA Chris Berry was raised in Sebastapol, Calif., and moved to Africa at 18 with his drum teacher, Titos Sompa, a native of Congo. Ten years after mastering the ngoma drum and mbira (thumb piano), Berry enjoys a pop star’s acclaim in Zimbabwe and Mozambique, racking up platinum sales and selling out stadiums with his blend of indigenous music, dance hall and hip-hop. His new world-music project, Panjea, is made up of musicians from Africa and the U.S., and combines R&B horns, jazz guitar and funk bass with the rhythms of southern Africa. Love and unity are major themes in Berry’s lyrics, but his immediate desire is to make you dance. ( www.chrisberry.net ) Exit/In —COLLIN WADE MONK THEATERBUDDY: THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY Rockabilly singer-songwriter Jody Evans, a finalist on Nashville Star 3, stars in this stage version of the life of the legendary pop star. Not to be confused with the 1978 biopic starring Gary Busey, this musical tribute, with a book by Alan Janes and Rob Bettinson, closed in London in 2002 after a run of nearly 13 years and continues to be performed stateside by touring and regional companies. The script focuses minimally on characterization and story, instead serving primarily as a feel-good vehicle for 20 great Holly hits, including “Peggy Sue,” “Oh Boy,” and “That’ll Be the Day.” Phillip Ocampo is featured in the role of Ritchie Valens. The Roxy Regional Theatre production opens this week and will be onstage in Clarksville through Aug. 26. For tickets, call (931) 645-7699 or visit www.roxyregionaltheatre.org. —MARTIN BRADYJOHNNY GUITAR: THE MUSICAL Most critics view Nicholas Ray’s 1954 movie version of Roy Chanslor’s novel as a Western in setting only. Strong female personalities, played by Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge, held center stage in a colorfully bold drama of psychosexual obsession that, besides evoking parallels to the McCarthy-era witch hunts, influenced the work of filmmakers such as Sergio Leone. (Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut were known to be big fans as well, and certainly Clint Eastwood’s High Plains Drifter echoes the film’s dark weirdness.) Somehow, this storied, brooding piece of allegorical camp—in which the titular cowboy hero slings a guitar but not a gun—made the transition to Off-Broadway musical hit, a winner of the 2004 Outer Critics Circle Award. Creators Martin Silvestri and Joel Higgins take the source material in the only logical direction, spoofing the melodrama and supplying the lead characters with songs that wander stylistically through doo-wop, country and Broadway ballad. The result is, ironically, family-friendly fare, and Chaffin’s Barn Dinner Theatre will present the Nashville premiere from July 18 through Aug. 26. David Compton directs, Tim Fudge provides the musical direction and Martha Wilkinson, Kimberly Nygren and Joseph Robinson are the principal performers. For reservations, phone 646-9977. —MARTIN BRADYSORDID LIVES Besides having worked as a producer and writer for TV shows like Touched by an Angel, Queer as Folk and Dharma & Greg, Texas native Del Shores also wrote plays, including The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife, Daddy’s Dyin’ (Who’s Got the Will?) and Southern Baptist Sissies, all of which gained attention in award-winning Los Angeles productions. The same is also true of Sordid Lives, a slice of dysfunctional small-town Southern life in which the funeral of a family matriach draws together a wacky, sometimes delusional cadre of relatives. (Though it received less than rave reviews from critics, a 2000 film version starring Olivia Newton-John, Delta Burke and Bonnie Bedelia became a bit of a cult favorite.) D. Richard Browder directs this mounting by Out Front Productions, performed July 13-22 at the Rutherford County Center for the Arts in Murfreesboro. The play contains strong language and adult themes. For tickets, call 904-ARTS. —MARTIN BRADY COMEDYPATTI VASQUEZ Vasquez has been a steady presence on the Chicago stand-up scene for nearly a decade, looming large among Latin comedy divas. The brassy comedienne draws liberally upon her origins in the Windy City’s culturally diverse Northwest Side, with specific focus on her own Mexican-Irish heritage, a background she plays upon in the title of her debut CD Just Call Me Peppermint. She possesses as much attitude as she does girlish charm, smiling her way through an expletive-laced rap that touches on family matters, politics, society, marriage and, more recently, motherhood. Vasquez performs July 19-22 at Zanies on a bill that also includes comedian Drew Hastings. Both comics appear as a part of the “Friends of the Bob and Tom Show” comedy tour. For information, call 269-0221. —MARTIN BRADY ARTJOHN DONOVAN: “BOTHERSOME LITTLE THINGS”/BRADY HASTON: “HEADING WEST” This show brings out new work from two of Zeitgeist’s stalwarts. Donovan makes ceramic constructions that riff on the forms of old-school toys, arranged and combined in comic tableaus that carry a strong undercurrent of violence, danger and fear. His pieces also play visual tricks by using heavy glazes that mimic metal. Brady Haston’s paintings and prints develop graphic ideas suggested by the urban landscape—buildings, overhead wires, graffiti and signage. Zeitgeist opens the show with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 15. —DAVID MADDOX EVENTSFarmers Market’s Ugliest Tomato Contest Many people don’t realize that the perfectly round, red orbs we buy in the grocery store are bred for their looks (like people from L.A.), as opposed to their flavor (like people from Nashville). Fortunately, the heirloom tomato movement, which celebrates the quirks and colors—not to mention the flavor—that industrial agriculture has been trying to convince us we don’t want, is making ugly cool again. This Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Farmers Market hosts an Ugly Tomato Contest, featuring tomato tasting, kids’ activities, giveaways and live music from John England & the Western Swingers and Les Kerr & the Bayou Band. Search your garden for the gnarliest-looking sucker you can find, and bring it with you—the ugliest tomato will be crowned at 1 p.m. on Sunday. —LEE STABERT FILMA SCANNER DARKLY The latest addition to the mind-boggling canon of Philip K. Dick adaptations—and we still have Matt Wilder’s eagerly awaited biopic Panasonic to come—Richard Linklater’s animated head trip envisions drug use (and the drug war that combats it) as a psyche-splintering descent into jittery oblivion. Keanu Reeves plays a drug warrior so deeply undercover that he doesn’t know he’s actually targeting himself; Winona Ryder, Woody Harrelson and a maniacal Robert Downey Jr. are among the substance-abuse casualties piling on his couch. Rotoscoped in the manner of Linklater’s Waking Life (but less fancifully), this is an unusually effective entry in the just-say-no genre—a skin-crawling immersion in junkie paranoia. The film opens Friday at Green Hills. —JIM RIDLEYTHE LATE SHOW: EVIL DEAD 2 The first entry in the Belcourt’s new 11:30 p.m. late-show series—The Wizard of Oz paired with Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon—actually sold out its opening night. Come get some at this weekend’s attraction: Sam Raimi’s exuberantly silly, splattery sequel to the ultimate experience in terror, featuring cleft-chinned cult hero Bruce Campbell in his defining role as surly zombie fighter Ash, the Han Solo of chainsaw cinema. With Chiller Cinema host Dr. Gangrene on hand to host—and to perform impromptu lobotomies as needed—the fun Friday night includes prizes for the best Ash look-alike, the best cleft chin, the best zombie and the best horror scream. There’s a no-frills repeat show 11:30 p.m. Saturday for those chained in the basement. Coming soon from Late Show organizers Kirk Futrell and Josh Hayes: Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, The Goonies and the immortal Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo. —JIM RIDLEYSTRANGERS WITH CANDY The tender tale of how 46-year-old ex-con Jerri Blank (Amy Sedaris) went from chasing cellblock bitches to joining the student body of Flatpoint High, with some help from dear old (comatose) Dad. Yes, it’s the movie version of the Comedy Central cult fave, with regulars Stephen Colbert, Greg Hollimon and Paul Dinello joined by ringers such as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Allison Janney, Sarah Jessica Parker and Ian Holm. Strongly recommended to fans of sick humor, who will likely respond as if they’ve been gassed, the movie opens Friday at the Belcourt; in honor of the cast’s Second City roots, Improv Nashville has worked up a little surprise before the 7 p.m. showing opening night. Also opening this week in theaters: Owen Wilson in You, Me and Dupree and the Wayans brothers yukfest Little Man. —JIM RIDLEYDOWN IN THE VALLEY Nice to see Edward Norton back, in David Jacobson’s offbeat drama about the edgy romance between a mysterious cowboy (Norton) and a correction officer’s 18-year-old daughter (Evan Rachel Wood). The film opens Friday at Green Hills. —JIM RIDLEYTHE SECOND CHANCE If you missed Steve Taylor’s thoughtful Nashville-shot indie drama about a white suburban minister (Michael W. Smith in his starring debut) who clashes with the strong-willed pastor (jeff obafemi carr) of an inner-city church, check it out on the big screen 7 p.m. Monday at the Belcourt before its national DVD release. Several actors from the film will be on hand; the $12 tickets benefit carr’s Amun Ra Theatre, which enjoyed a blockbuster turnout for its recent staging of James Weldon Johnson’s God’s Trombones, co-starring Eddie George. (Rumor has it that so many people were turned away from the door that an encore performance is in the works.) Call 846-3150 for more info. —JIM RIDLEYWORDPLAY A hit at this year’s Nashville Film Festival, Patrick Creadon’s surprisingly engaging doc examines the lure and lore of crossword puzzles, focusing on New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz and the hopefuls en route to the national championship in Stamford, Conn. Featuring celeb puzzlers ranging from Jon Stewart and the Indigo Girls to former President Bill Clinton, the doc opens Friday at Green Hills. —JIM RIDLEYTHE LAND The Frist Center’s current “The Quest for Immortality” exhibit continues to stir curiosity about all things Egyptian, and that includes the work of Youssef Chahine, the country’s most famous filmmaker, who has spent a career balancing the demands of pop entertainment and political awareness. (Critic Chris Fujiwara compared his work to the vintage Hollywood craft of Fritz Lang and Otto Preminger.) Showing for what may be the first time in Nashville, Chahine’s 1969 film—regarded by some as the finest in Egyptian cinema—concerns a town facing the loss of its farmers’ land to a government-built road, which triggers a crisis among the many residents. Shot in bold color, the film screens one night only at the Belcourt, 7 p.m. Tuesday, sponsored by the Frist Center. —JIM RIDLEY