A plane passes overhead, and Sudanese refugees cower involuntarily: they’ve been conditioned to live in terror. Stepping in at great personal risk where the mainstream media have shown little interest, filmmakers Aisha Bain, Jen Marlowe and Adam Shapiro took cameras into the devastated Sudanese region of Darfur and refugee camps in neighboring Chad, where hundreds of thousands of men, women and children have been displaced. Ravaged by the Sudanese military and the bloodthirsty Janjaweed militia, the refugees report their experiences directly to the filmmakers’ cameras in chilling detail. The movie makes its Nashville premiere 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the Belcourt as part of a worldwide day of protest and rallies to end the genocide in Darfur. The local event will include speakers from Tennesseans Against Genocide, and Klint Alexander, a local attorney with a background in public policy and international affairs, will discuss the global obligations to stop the suffering. The $10 admission will benefit Mazon and the World Food Program, which supply food to Darfur; if nothing else, those who attend can say they made some small effort against the holocaust of our generation. For more information, call Avi Poster at 831-0681. —JIM RIDLEY MUSIC THROUGH SUNDAY, 17TH AUSTRALIAN MUSIC FESTIVAL This year’s bill of outback tunesmiths at the Australian Music Festival may not offer much for celebrity seekers—Men at Work’s Colin Hay, best known for the patriotically cornball 1982 hit “Down Under” seems to be the festival’s biggest name. But for music buffs not looking for Russell Crowe’s latest vanity project or Nicole Kidman sightings, the festival fires on all cylinders. Warumpi Band founder Neil Murray has a penetrating social consciousness, with songs that explore Australian race relations and indigenous culture. Didjeridoo performer Lewis Burns (featured on the Discovery Channel’s Monster House) enlivens the festival’s Saturday night proceedings with fiercely original muralist art, and Australian roots-rock band Bushwackers provide the grand finale fireworks. Hands On Kids Cricket Clinic, an Australian Film Festival featuring Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and the Down Under Marketplace are just a few of the gala’s attractions outside of music. ( www.australianfestival.org ) Centennial Park —JOEY HOOD THURSDAY, 14TH BERNARD FANNING Fanning’s day job is fronting Powderfinger, one of Australia’s biggest rock acts. But on his debut solo disc, Tea & Sympathy (just released in the States through Lost Highway, following its 2005 appearance Down Under), Fanning makes like a mid-’70s country-folk hunk, singing about women and wine over rootsy acoustic guitars and lightly shuffling drums. He made the album in England with producer Tchad Blake, but you won’t hear any of the fussy studio trickery Blake usually employs to dress up straightforward fare like Fanning’s. His stuff doesn’t need it. ( www.myspace.com/bernardfanning ) 12th & Porter —MIKAEL WOOD FRIDAY, 15TH RAJEEB CHAKRABORTY AND JESSE BANNISTER This concert of Indian music features an unexpected combination of lead instruments—sarod and saxophone. The sarod is one of the less common Indian stringed instruments, smaller than the sitar and reportedly very hard to play, while the sax, of course, has no traditional role on the subcontinent. The pairing here represents a collaboration between British sax player Jesse Bannister and two Indian musicians, Chakraborty on sarod and Subhen Chatterjee on tabla. While sax might seem out of place in Indian music, this grouping underscores its adaptability. Structures for improvisation are the basis for organizing Indian classical music, as opposed to the more static compositions of Western music known by the specific instruments assigned to them (say the Brahms Violin Concerto). And as Western instruments go, the sax has a clear timbral affinity to Indian instruments. The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. Sri Ganesha Temple —DAVID MADDOX SATURDAY, 16TH THE DAMNWELLS The tender melancholia of Alex Dezen’s voice is made for the dramatic TV denouement—the ailing loved one, the cataclysmic romantic decision—except its better than that. It is so smooth and rich that, at moments, it’s possible to forget that he’s also a damned good rock singer. The Damnwells are masters of the breed of literate pop rock that actually seems to be making its way onto the radio these days (think The Fray, with whom The Damnwells tour in November). The band rise to the top due to a palpable sense of joy and the occasional knock-out lyrical gem that’s simultaneously silly and wonderful. On “New Delhi,” off their debut Bastards of the Beat, Dezen sings, “What’s the deal with you Lucinda? / She said that you broke her hymen while playing kickball,” and you can hear the delightful hint of a smirk. ( www.thedamnwells.com ) The End; Sunday at 3rd & Lindsley —LEE STABERT DR. DOG This exceedingly likable Philadelphia combo play self-consciously sloppy jangle-pop that sounds like it’s being written on the spot. When frontman Scott McMicken stumbles upon a catchy vocal melody—which he does in nearly every song on the band’s new EP, Takers and Leavers—he seems genuinely surprised that no one’s ever come up with the same tune before. Still, what really distinguishes Dr. Dog’s stuff is the band’s sense of detail—the way they’ll throw in an unexpected bit of barbershop-quartet singing or pair post-Pavement guitar fuzz with a mellow Motown bass line. ( www.myspace.com/drdog ) The Basement —MIKAEL WOOD NELLIE MCKAY Nellie McKay can’t escape the comparisons: she looks like Doris Day, sings like Peggy Lee, wore red lipstick way before Christina Aguilera decided on her new pre-WWII image, and hit the music scene in 2004 when American girls had just discovered that they didn’t have to wear thongs and get implants if they didn’t want to. McKay’s debut album, Get Away From Me, fused 1940s jazz and piano pop and made critics’ hearts flutter. Then, on the eve of her sophomore album’s release and with a national tour scheduled, Columbia Records dropped the Next Big Thing. When Columbia wanted to cut the album, Pretty Little Head, by seven tracks, McKay distributed the email address of Columbia’s chairman to fans at shows, instructing them to write. The record company caved. A release date was scheduled, but then Columbia changed its mind and cancelled the project. With her album shelved, McKay has focused on other endeavors, including a starring role in the Broadway performance of The Threepenny Opera and the soundtrack to the Jennifer Aniston bomb Rumor Has It. Pretty Little Head still has no release date, but McKay has started touring again, in all of her acerbic, red-lipsticked, throwback glory. The Belcourt —CLAIRE SUDDATH STARSAILOR W/PETER WALKER The onetime saviors of English guitar-pop (at least according to the U.K. music press, which anoints next big things on a biweekly basis), Starsailor have never had much use for the small gesture. They bravely titled their 2001 debut Love Is Here and hired none other than Phil Spector to contribute Wall-of-Sound polish to two songs on 2003’s Silence Is Easy. Tastemakers have since moved on from the band’s brand of big-hearted balladry, but Starsailor still sound like they’re playing to arenas on their latest, On the Outside, which comes loaded with lighter-waving choruses and plenty of earnest woe-is-me from pretty-boy frontman James Walsh. L.A.-based opener Peter Walker plays fuzzy, tuneful pop-rock with a slight folk-roots twang. ( www.starsailor.net ; www.peterwalkermusic.com ) 3rd & Lindsley —MIKAEL WOOD SUNDAY, 17TH NASHVILLE JAZZ WORKSHOP 6TH ANNUAL FUNDRAISER With Nashville Jazz Workshop, pianist Lori Mechem and bassist Roger Spencer have managed to build not only a thriving education program, but also a jazz community—no small feat in a city that doesn’t exactly welcome jazz with open arms. NJW’s annual fundraiser at the University Club of Nashville features a silent auction, hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar and the evening’s centerpiece, the All-Star Faculty Jam, whose lineup boasts a collective résumé that includes stints with Herbie Mann, Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich, Weather Report, Lou Rawls, Frank Zappa, Max Roach, Arturo Sandoval, Aretha Franklin and Sara Vaughan, to name a few. Not too shabby. In addition to Mechem and Spencer, participating musicians include Beegie Adair, Roy Agee, Don Aliquo, Bruce Dudley, Sandra Dudley, Tom Giampietro, Jeff Hall, Liz Johnson, Rod McGaha, Lori Mechem, Denis Solee, Roger Spencer, Chester Thompson and George Tidwell. The event runs from 4 to 8 p.m. Admission is $30. For tickets, call 242-JAZZ. ( www.nashvillejazz.org ) University Club of Nashville —JACK SILVERMAN MONDAY, 18TH BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, EIGHTEEN VISIONS One of England’s hottest young metal acts, Bullet for My Valentine opened recent shows for Metallica and Guns N’ Roses (and next month they’ll warm up for Iron Maiden). Yet the band’s thrilling debut, The Poison, suggests that frontman Matt Tuck and his bandmates long ago internalized those groups’ lasting lesson—namely, that muscle and melody can coexist. Orange County’s Eighteen Visions know the same thing. On their new self-titled disc they rough up soaring emo-glam melodies with bratty gutter-punk noise. ( www.bulletformyvalentine1.com ; www.eighteenvisions.com ) Exit/In —MIKAEL WOOD TUESDAY, 19TH CHAD VANGAALEN There’s no denying the folk in Calgary singer-songwriter Chad VanGaalen’s work, with its rubbery-metallic acoustic guitar sound, ponderous tempos and narrative emphasis. But VanGaalen stretches the boundaries of the form nearly beyond recognition. With a penchant for experimentation and a strangely pitched voice that sometimes sounds about as human as a train whistle (a good thing), VanGaalen sings of subjects like blood circulating via a giant machine that connects us all. His imagery, combined with a beautifully warped sense of atmosphere (and an ability to capture it so that his lo-fi means don’t sound so lo-fi at all), dissolves the undeniable folk aspects of his playing in a wash of ambience that borders on heavy psychedelia. Whatever alternate realm VanGaalen’s muse originates from, it’s safe to bet it has appeared only to him. Exit/In —SABY REYES-KULKARNI BAND OF HORSES Neil Young has been the name that comes up again and again when describing the sound of these bearded Seattle dudes, out in support of Everything All the Time, their strum-happy debut on Sub Pop. The Young comparison would be apt if Band of Horses didn’t act like they were skittish around loud noises or were devoted to something more than conjuring up an atmosphere of acute melancholy. Still, lead singer Ben Bridwell’s tenor works well off the reverbed guitars, and there’s a pleasant we’ll-get-there-when-we-get-there vibe generated by the best songs, “The Funeral” and “The Great Salt Lake,” the latter of which contains the line, “There’s country music playing and we don’t like it all.” FYI, Nashville. ( www.bandofhorses.com ) Exit/In —WERNER TRIESCHMANN KARL DENSON TRIO Pure jazz may not be the most commercially viable of genres these days, but Karl Denson isn’t the typical jazz artist. Shape-shifting has been the hallmark of the virtuoso saxophonist’s two-decade career. Denson supplied horn support during what were inarguably Lenny Kravitz’s best years (Let Love Rule through Mama Said and Are You Gonna Go My Way?), while simultaneously exploring more traditional territory on a series of jazz quintet albums with culinary-themed titles (Blackened Red Snapper, Herbal Turkey Breast, Chunky Pecan Pie and Baby Food). Denson’s prowess on tenor and alto sax and flute has played a pivotal role in a couple of high-energy touring acts, first acid-jazz outfit Greyboy All-Stars, then nimble funk sextet Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, the latter of which is much-beloved by the jam-band set. While KDTU is on hiatus, Denson has reverted to a leaner, but no less danceable, setup, with keyboardist Anthony Smith and drummer Brett Sanders. Mercy Lounge —JEWLY HIGHT WEDNESDAY, 20TH MATISYAHU In pop culture, there is no dearth of Christian performers proclaiming their faith, writing songs about their god, or talking about how religion guides their lives. So, for many young Jews in America, even those who consider themselves thoroughly secular, Hasidic reggae superstar Matisyahu, with his black hat, beard and tzitzit, has been a revelation. When he cries out, “I want moshiach now,” or introduces a song with wisdom from the tales of King David, they hear the words of their childhood, of Hebrew school and holiday dinner tables. At Lollapalooza, in the midst of the war in Lebanon, with Israeli flags held aloft in the crowd, Matisyahu lept off the stage, grabbed one, and wrapped himself in the blue and white. Then he prayed for peace, providing a moment of genuine emotion and community, something rarely seen over the course of the three-day festival. It didn’t hurt that his combination of infectious reggae beats, rapid-fire delivery and almost cantor-like chants is an uplifting, undeniably catchy package. ( www.matismusic.com ) Ryman Auditorium —LEE STABERT GOMEZ Imagine a sonic experiment rooted in the old-school British blues-rock of Jethro Tull and Cream, overlaid with the trip-hop of Portishead, Kinks-inspired retro pop and Wilco’s rootsy indie rock. The end result would sound much like British quintet Gomez. Terms like sweeping and cinematic don’t quite get at the feel of the band’s five studio releases. Hard-edged blues guitar riffs play alongside jaunty banjos, electronic overdubs, mellow pop chanteys and world-beat rhythms to produce a sound that is otherworldly. Like fellow genre-jumpers Calexico, Gomez defy categorization with their blend of hypnotic love songs and introspective rockers. And, like Calexico, Gomez only get better with age. Ten years into their career, the band seemingly reinvent themselves at will without compromising artistic vision or integrity. These are musicians who both rock and think. (gomeztheband.com ) Ryman Auditorium —TRACY M. ROGERS M. WARD There are moments on Post-War, singer-songwriter M. Ward’s stunning new album, that are so pretty, exuberant or quietly devastating that the effect is redemptive. With understated prowess, Ward presents simple, naked sentiments, as on “Requiem” when he sings, “He was a good man, and now he’s gone.” Or on “Chinese Translation” when, offered the chance to ask three questions of a wise man, he musters, “What do you do with the pieces of a broken heart.... And if life is really as short as they say, then why is the night so long?” “Magic Trick,” co-produced with Jim James of My Morning Jacket, opens with the rustic sound of applause, conjuring the intimate acoustics of an old concert hall, or maybe even a county fair, and develops into a boisterous, rootsy gem. Aching, weathered and nostalgic, Ward’s sound feels thoroughly unconcerned with anything outside itself, yet remains communal—a reminder of where we’ve been musically as a culture, and where we can still go. ( www.mwardmusic.com ) Belcourt Theater —LEE STABERT THEATER AIDA This Disney-nurtured extravaganza—an adaptation of the ancient tale that inspired Verdi’s classic 1871 opera—logged 1,852 Broadway performances between 2000 and 2004, and was first presented locally in 2003 when a touring production played TPAC. Despite the presence of glittery creative names like composer Elton John, lyricist Tim Rice and writer David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly), what really sets this staging apart are the glitzy sets, lighting and costumes. Aida’s typically billed as a “rock musical,” but John’s score is more eclectic than that, encompassing reggae, Motown, gospel, pop and exotic influences from Africa, India and the Middle East. Theatergoers who like their fare excessive, loud and unabashedly commercial may find enjoyment in the new Roxy Regional Theatre mounting in Clarksville, Sept. 15 through 30. This is the first regional production of the show. For information, call (931) 645-7699. —MARTIN BRADY ON GOLDEN POND Ernest Thompson’s script about family angst and rapprochement at a lakeside cottage was both a Broadway and movie hit, and certainly has to be considered well-worn fare at this point. This new road-show version stars two television semi-icons, Tom Bosley (Mr. Cunningham from Happy Days) and Michael Learned (Ma Walton from The Waltons), in the roles that Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn made famous in the film version. Long before he started doing late-night TV ads for computer learning, Bosley won a Tony Award; Learned is the winner of four Emmys. Performances are Sept. 19 through 24 at TPAC’s Jackson Hall. For tickets, call 255-ARTS. —MARTIN BRADY ART “A GATHERING OF ARTISTS, LOVERS AND FRIENDS: THE LAST PICTURE SHOW” One can make the case that over the generations, Nashville’s most distinguished art has come from its African American community and institutions, which have been home to major figures like Aaron Douglas and David Driskell. For 19 years, photographer Carlton Wilkinson has contributed to keeping this tradition alive and vital with In the Gallery on Jefferson Street. The gallery has championed and provided a critical commercial outlet for African American artists like Sam Dunson, Sammie Nicely and the aforementioned Driskell, as well as art from Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America. Wilkinson, a native Nashvillian, is closing the gallery in October to take a position at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. His final show features sculptor Faheem Majeeb and painter Bobby Bagley. The gallery is scheduled to close on Oct. 15, although Wilkinson is developing an Internet gallery that will continue after the physical one closes. —DAVID MADDOX WORK BY BILL STEBER, GRAY AND JONATHON KIMBRELL Timed to coincide with the opening of the Schermerhorn Hall a few blocks away, The Arts Company features three artists who use visual art to get closer to music. Steber has photographed life in the heart of Mississippi’s blues culture. His work has taken on even more of a devotional quality as he has moved into new methods like printing on copper and multimedia installations—some of the pieces in this show incorporate charred remains from Junior Kimbrough’s Mississippi juke joint, which burned down in 2000. Gray is a self-taught painter who also writes songs, and many of his works depict places, such as church services, where music happens. Kimbrell, an artist new to the gallery, paints images of blues, country and rock icons with a strong graphic presence. The show opens with a reception, part of the gallery’s Salon Saturday series, from 2 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16. —DAVID MADDOX “D.I.G. (DIALOGUE: AN INTERACTION FOR GROWTH)” The Downtown Presbyterian Church has been hosting its “D.I.G.” art exhibits for years, but this is the first show to be scheduled outside of the church’s Lenten calendar. Organized by local artist and Twist Gallery co-owner Beth Gilmore, this will be the second found-object show Nashville has seen this year, after the highly popular “Found” exhibit at Belmont University. The show’s theme, “found objects in ordinary time,” alludes not only to the beauty one can find in the everyday, but also to the contemplative implications of a spiritual dialogue during “ordinary time”: the span of days between Pentecost and Advent. Artists participating in the show include Richard Feaster, J. Todd Greene and Shane Doling, who won the Purchase Prize at the last “D.I.G.” show this past spring. This show’s winner will be announced at an opening reception, 7 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Downtown Presbyterian Church, 154 Fifth Ave. N. —JOE NOLAN DAVID KROLL AND KIT REUTHER: “ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND” This show at Cumberland Gallery features recent work from two of the gallery’s artists. Reuther’s new work combines painting and drawing and seems to push into a more abstract realm—lines take on independent life as the traces of mark-making activity, and references to the world of objects reside in more diffuse images. Kroll paints exquisite imaginary still-life scenes that bring man-made objects and the natural world into contact, often on surrealistic terms. The show opens with a reception on Saturday, Sept. 16, from 6 to 8 p.m. —DAVID MADDOX UNTITLED ARTIST GROUP: “CONCRETE” Nashville’s Untitled Artist Group kicks off the fall season with “Concrete.” The show’s title was inspired by its setting at Werthan Mills Lofts, the hip Germantown living space originally built in 1882 as part of a cotton mill. Airbrushed models will wander through the crowds at this happening, which drew over 2,000 people last year. At the center of the festivities will be a large showing of art in a variety of media, organized by a group that deserves praise for exposing Nashville to new talent. The party, including complimentary food, drink and music, runs from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 15, at 1400 Eighth Ave. S. —JOE NOLAN LECTURES TERRY GROSS If you’ve ever had a little too much wine and accidentally spilled your entire story to a bemused cocktail party guest whose name you will forget in the morning, you might have some idea of what it’s like to be interviewed by Terry Gross. The host of NPR’s Fresh Air and author of All I Did Was Ask, Gross has a knack for coaxing dark secrets out of her guests and has been called the best cultural interviewer in America. She so fully familiarizes herself with her subjects’ lives that she sometimes throws guests off with references to unfinished projects and forgotten events, such as Nicholas Cage’s experience eating a live cockroach in Vampire’s Kiss or Jodie Foster’s reaction to John Hinckley’s attempt to win her affection. Gross will speak at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19, in MTSU’s James Union Building; the lecture was originally scheduled for last April, and all tickets for that date will be honored. —CLAIRE SUDDATH FILM THE BLACK DAHLIA The movie I most want to see this year. Working from a James Ellroy noir, Brian De Palma prowls the seedy underbelly of 1940s Tinseltown while revisiting the era’s most gruesome unsolved mystery: the murder and mutilation of Elizabeth Short, known to the tabloids as the Black Dahlia. The cast includes Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart, Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank; see the review on p. 89. Also opening this week: Zach Braff in the comedy-drama The Last Kiss and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in Gridiron Gang. —JIM RIDLEY FYLMZ.COM FESTIVAL COMPETITION Having taken his own feature, the well-received biopic High Roller (a.k.a. Stuey), down the usual path of festival screenings and home-video distribution, Tony Vidmer now wants to help other indie filmmakers blaze their own trail. As part of a search for new talent and alternative distribution methods, his new site Fylmz.com is sponsoring a competition for features and short films. The site’s members can view and vote on nearly 70 hours of short films in genres ranging from comedy and documentary to horror; the winning feature will receive $100,000 and a distribution deal through the site, and the winning short will get $3,500. Deadline for submissions is Nov. 1. For more information, see www.fylmz.com. —JIM RIDLEY DONNIE DARKO Rivaled only by Garden State or Napoleon Dynamite, Richard Kelly’s moody, provocative 2001 sci-fi fantasy has connected with teens and college students more intensely than any movie of recent years: its combination of Christian allegory, ’80s nostalgia and anti-authoritarian angst amounts to emo cinema. Jake Gyllenhaal is the tormented teen who receives intimations of the apocalypse to come; somehow, the movie’s narrative ellipses and unexplained oddities make it all the more compelling. Featuring Patrick Swayze, Mary McDonnell, Jena Malone and Drew Barrymore (who produced), the cult fave is this weekend’s selection in the Belcourt’s ongoing Sundance retrospective. —JIM RIDLEY CASABLANCA The most fail-safe date movie in the history of cinema, and for one weekend only it’s yours. It’s got Bogie and Bergman; it’s got Claude Rains’ Renault, kicking off the start of a beautiful friendship by rounding up the usual suspects; it’s got Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet and Conrad Veidt and Marcel Dalio, and Dooley Wilson singing “As Time Goes By.” If you’ve only seen it on TV, you don’t know how it feels to sit among a huge crowd falling in love simultaneously: a friend once attended a screening where the audience was moved enough to stand up and sing the “Marseillaise” along with the patrons of Rick’s Café Americain. It’s the Belcourt’s “Weekend Classic Matinee” Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 11:30 a.m. —JIM RIDLEY