Avalon poses on the cover of his eponymous debut like a character from an early Gus Van Sant flick captured by the late Helmut Newton, suggesting the boy toy of some wealthy disco habitué. This illustrates the tale presented in his bio, a former Hollywood male prostitute and junkie turned shock-jock MC. His shaggy hair and Robert Plant stance may suggest novelty rap, but Avalon’s just as real as any rapper who spins outrageous tales of sexual conquest and hustling johns, flowing in a monotone more like Mase than Beck. As an appropriate accompaniment to his American gigolo persona, most of the music on his self-titled debut sounds like Giorgio Moroder’s back catalog. It makes sense that Avalon would empathize with L.A.’s other hustler king, Snoop Dogg, to whom he seems to pay tribute on “Hustler Hall of Fame.” Avalon has a reputation for delivering a lewd, entertaining live performance. Coolout opens the set. Play Dance Bar —MARK MAYS MUSIC THURSDAY, 16TH NASHVILLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA If Ellen Taaffe Zwilich suddenly decided never to write another note of music, she’d still be a composer of historic significance. In 1975, she became the first woman in history to earn a doctorate in composition from The Juilliard School, and eight years later she became the first woman composer to win a Pulitzer Prize. Zwilich usually writes in an idiosyncratic style that blends the elegance and poise of classicism with the hothouse emotion of romanticism. Her Fantasy for Orchestra, which the Nashville Symphony performs as part of its American Encores series, is a decidedly romantic piece, a sonic travelogue that conveys Zwilich’s impressions of Lombardy, Italy. The concert, which repeats Friday and Saturday, will also feature pianist Awadagin Pratt in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major and Wagner’s Orchestral Excerpts from Der Ring des Nibelungen. Schermerhorn Symphony Center. —JOHN PITCHER RAGMAN SON REVUE Though he keeps a fairly low profile, Angelo Petraglia gets around. Known just as “Angelo,” he’s written songs for Emmylou Harris and Martina McBride, produced some of the early Be Your Own Pet recordings and co-wrote and produced the Patty Griffin hit “One Big Love.” Not to mention co-writing all of Kings of Leon’s first album, 2003’s Youth & Manhood, then producing their second and third albums, Aha Shake Heartbreak and Because of the Times (the latter scheduled for a March 2007 release). This week, Angelo’s own band, Ragman Son Revue, play their first show here in over two years. Combining hip-hop grooves, horns, hard-rock guitar, sultry background vocals, loops and samples, they sound something like Dr. John fronting Beck’s band with Joe Perry sitting in. The band feature some of the best players in town, including guitarist Kenny Vaughan, saxophonist Jim Hoke and recent Nashville arrival Frank Swart on bass. It’s some of the best booty-grinding music you’ll find in Nashville. The Basement —JACK SILVERMAN FRIDAY, 17TH-SATURDAY, 18TH OPRY AT THE RYMAN The Grand Ole Opry left the Ryman for reasons that remain to this day: limited seating, uncomfortable pews, a cramped backstage area and snarled downtown traffic and parking. But fans and artists still prefer performances there for reasons that also remain: the intimate setting brings a spark to shows while the acoustics add a vibrant clarity to the music. As the Opry returns to its beloved home this weekend, the lineup ratchets up too: Friday and Saturday find Emmylou Harris, the Del McCoury Band, Nanci Griffith, Radney Foster, Jean Shepard, Hal Ketchum, Jon Randall and others walking on the same boards once trod on by Hank Williams, Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb and Patsy Cline. Meanwhile, Tuesday’s show sounds worthy, too, with the entertaining bluegrass family band Cherryholmes joining contemporary country singer Jeff Bates and Country Music Hall of Famer Bill Anderson. (opry.com) The Ryman —MICHAEL McCALL FRIDAY, 17TH AUTOMUSIK Automusik revel in art-as-grand-illusion: dressed like scientific soldiers from a future that looks a lot like the nuclear past, one man (named Automusik) channels his music through two beautiful femmes subordinately named Female Rock Unit .1 and .2. It’s like Devo biting hard on the Motorik bit—mechanical electronic music hooking on inane dogma. But that’s the joke. The tunes, at best, are decent, but they’ll swear they can kick every musical ass in the galaxy. Upon moving to Austin in September, they issued an open letter to the city challenging bands named after utensils (i.e., Spoon) to match wits. At least they’re probably more fun than Spoon live. The Basement (myspace.com/automusik) —GRAYSON CURRIN SUZAHN FIERING On first listen, you might think Suzahn Fiering’s Paris Without His Kiss is a collection of jazz standards, but in fact Fiering composed all but one track. A nimble vocalist, Fiering writes songs that sound instantly familiar, due to her knack for lilting melodies and smart, spacious arrangements. The material ranges from sultry Latin grooves and straight-ahead swing to ballads and modern fusion. She also handles guitar and/or piano duties on all the tracks, and is tastefully backed by an assortment of local jazz talent including saxophonist Jim Hoke, organist Moe Denham, bassist John Voght and drummers Liz Ficalora and Nioshi Jackson. Joining Fiering for this CD release party/birthday bash are drummer/percussionist Tom Roady, saxophonist Harold Jean Pierre and bassist Woody Lingle. (suzahn.com) 6 p.m. at 3rd & Lindsley —JACK SILVERMAN MAT KEARNEY The night before this Nashville resident begins a rare two-night stand at the Exit/In, his song “Where We Gonna Go From Here” will debut on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy. With its rush of words and ripe melody, the acoustic song has a brainy, playful hipness that fits right in with the hit medical drama. Kearney also appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien last week, and he’s currently being promoted on a VH-1 new-artist segment. Then he begins 2007 as the opening act for the next John Mayer tour. To take a line from the title cut of Kearney’s latest album, Nothing Left to Lose, “Mark my words, something’s ’bout to break.” Kearney’s literate songs, while sweet and non-challenging, exude a buoyant intelligence that breaks beyond acoustic-pop’s current obsession with breezy good times and forced beats. He’ll share the stage with other bright, local acoustic acts: Griffin House opens the first night, Holly Williams the next. (matkearney.com) Exit In —MICHAEL MCCALL NASHVILLE JAZZ ORCHESTRA W/KIRK WHALUM Trying to eke out a living playing music is precarious enough, but when jazz is your passion, it takes on Sisyphean proportions. That’s why many of Nashville’s best jazz players earn their keep on the road and in the studios with country and rock acts. But thanks to the tireless efforts of director/trumpeter Jim Williamson, the Nashville Jazz Orchestra provides these musicians with an outlet for their talents, and provides the city with top-flight performances of classic big-band charts and more progressive original material, not to mention clinics and performances in local schools. It’s fitting, then, that the NJO teams up with saxophonist Kirk Whalum, another musician with his feet in a variety of genres. In addition to his solo career—which leans toward contemporary jazz, with gospel and R&B flourishes—Whalum is a sought-after session and road musician, having worked with Al Green, Whitney Houston, Quincy Jones, Babyface and Barbra Streisand. Also performing will be the Airmen of Note, the United States Air Force’s jazz band. Ingram Hall, Blair School of Music —JACK SILVERMAN SATURDAY, 18TH MIXEL PIXEL If Brooklyn electro quartet Mixel Pixel occasionally leave you stranded, it’s not your fault. Though they come from a borough that’s turned the multifarious creative interests of its younger denizens into revitalization for American music, Mixel Pixel’s collagist tendencies never coalesce. Like curious gadflies landing on a new rack in an independent record store every few minutes, Mixel Pixel jump from ’60s psychedelics and chirping J-pop to international beat-mashing and anti-folk cuteness, while rarely remembering what the last obsession felt like. Their latest, Music for Plants, is at times a winning swing through swaths of gluttony, but—by disc’s end—you’ll be trying to remember the name of the band. They’ll occasionally realize the trans-genre hybridization for which they strive, but when they don’t, you’d better hope the beat is at least somewhat kinetic. The Muse (mixelpixel.com) —GRAYSON CURRIN KENNY & AMANDA SMITH BAND Since winning IBMA’s Emerging Artist of the Year award in 2003, the Smiths have made steady progress refining vocal and instrumental finesse and insightful song selection into a substantive contemporary bluegrass blend. Their third album for Rebel Records, Tell Someone, is easily their best yet; though there are some joyful up-tempo numbers, it’s mostly restrained and contemplative—a mood that’s all too rare in bluegrass gospel—and played and sung with a grace that has room for plenty of subtle, creative surprises. Featuring an almost depressingly young and exceedingly talented edition of their band that includes “veteran” Jason Robertson on mandolin and newcomers Zak McLamb (bass) and Jason Davis (banjo), the album won’t hit stores until the end of January, but the husband-and-wife team will have plenty of copies on hand at the show. The Station Inn —JON WEISBERGER SUNDAY, 19TH THE RACONTEURS If Jack White eventually found the trashy blues of The White Stripes limiting, he’s managed to both expand and lowercase himself with The Raconteurs. Broken Boy Soldiers finds him stretching into a part power-poppy, part garage-rock (and even a little proggy), Technicolor stomp that owes as much to The Kinks as it does to the blues. Here, White’s fevered guitar work and pained warble become fleshed out and vibrant, as on the madly delirious “Store Bought Bones.” But by sharing vocal, guitar and songwriting duties with the considerably sweeter pop leanings of Brendan Benson (and by adding the precision of The Greenhornes’ rhythm section), tracks such as “Together,” with its love-ballad croon, or “Blue Veins,” with its steamy lounge-blues swagger, show no traces of White’s rawness. The band have since relocated to Nashville for all the same reasons people who live here tend to leave it. This marks their first show on home turf, and if they had any inkling they might stay under the radar in this slower-paced city, too bad—the show’s been sold out for weeks. City Hall —TRACY MOORE MONDAY, 20TH BOBBY BARE JR. The son of C&W great Bobby Bare calls his new album The Longest Meow, but it probably required the shortest studio session he’s ever experienced: back in March, Bare Jr. cut the disc in 11 hours with help from members of My Morning Jacket, Lambchop and ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, among others. Meow sounds just as rushed and scrappy as its backstory suggests, but in Bare Jr.’s alt-country sphere that’s not such a bad thing—most of his peers could stand a shot of his beery bar-band urgency. Keep an eye out for Ghostfinger’s Richie Kirkpatrick and Van Campbell on guitar and drums respectively. (bobbybarejr.com) Exit/In —MIKAEL WOOD IMOGEN HEAP Half of the English electro-pop duo Frou Frou (whose “Let Go” scored the climactic airport-embrace scene in Zach Braff’s Garden State), Imogen Heap puts the solo into solo career. On last year’s aptly titled Speak for Yourself, she layers dense tapestries of her own multitracked vocals over bouncy, tuneful grooves created on a computer in her London home studio. On the album’s best cut, the OC-featured “Hide and Seek,” Heap actually does away with the grooves and depends solely on her spine-tingling vocals. In January in New York, I caught the first American gig Heap did in support of Speak for Yourself. Let’s just say that the show pointed up what a talent she is in the studio. With nearly a year of performances under her belt (and a live projectionist now featured onstage), improvement seems likely. (imogenheap.co.uk) City Hall —MIKAEL WOOD CENTRO-MATIC There are moments in Centro-matic songs so quietly addictive that they lodge themselves in the brain—delicate, melancholy juxtapositions of lurching melody and buried vocals that bewitch. On this Denton, Texas, quartet’s latest, Fort Recovery, everything feels filtered through a sublime haze. Guitar lines echo and smudge, and frontman Will Johnson sings with impassioned restraint as muddy, rootsy soundscapes ebb and flow in the background. There is something seductive about that opaqueness, and something attractive about having to wade in past your knees. But that’s not to say Centro-matic aren’t a badass rock ’n’ roll band: “For New Starts” is a swelling, ironic declaration of hope and “Patience for the Ride,” a lilting, head-noddin’ sing-along that just cries out to be included on your next road-trip mix. Opening for Bobby Bare Jr. (centro-matic.com) Exit/In —LEE STABERT TUESDAY, 21ST GUY CLARK The great Texas-born songwriter doesn’t make a lot of studio records, but Workbench Songs, his 11th, stands alongside Texas Cookin’—if not Old No. 1—as one of his most purely entertaining efforts. Without appearing to try, Clark combines the mythic with the quotidian in ways that make it clear he knows more than he’s letting on. He doesn’t make many Nashville appearances, either, so tonight’s show celebrating Workbench’s release should be an ideal setting for students and fans of popular song to see the man up close and personal. (guyclark.com) Station Inn —EDD HURT COMEDY THE CABINET OF DR. CROFTONARI Want to join the ranks of saps who had the chance to see Dave Chappelle, Denis Leary or Bill Hicks early on—before those gentlemen even hit the two-drink-minimum circuit—but stayed home to watch Barnaby Jones reruns instead? Avoid that sorry fate by catching this live album taping for Nashville comic, Alcohol Stuntband frontman and John Denver-obsessed radio host Chris Crofton. Not only will Crofton perform his blue-and-blazing stand-up act, he’ll be joined by Save Macaulay the Band and the latest NC-17 puppet show from the marionette-abusing sickos known as the Pull the String Players. (This one’s a peek inside the sordid world of monster porn entitled “Boogie Frights.”) Eric Williams serves as MC. The smile-time variety show begins 9 p.m. Nov. 22 at the Belcourt. —JIM RIDLEY THEATER THAT ’60S CHRISTMAS SHOW You know the holidays are just around the corner when local theater companies begin to roll out their seasonal-themed shows. This Lewis Kempfer/Jamey Green musical revue celebrates and spoofs those saccharine Christmas TV variety shows of the past—think Andy Williams, if you remember him, and you get the drift. Mounted previously with success, the 2006 version features some new material added to the collection of sketches, commercial parodies, behind-the-scenes folderol and pop holiday favorites. Talented original cast members like Megan Murphy, Melodie Madden Adams, Lauri Bright and Alan Lee have returned, supported by such Boiler Room Theatre standbys as Daniel Vincent, Dan McGeachy and Mike Baum. The show opens Nov. 17 and runs through Dec. 23. For tickets, phone 794-7744 or visit BoilerRoomTheatre.com. —MARTIN BRADY PULPITS Michael L. Walker’s script, which concerns a young Mississippi pastor who takes the reins of an urban church, was first presented in August as part of the Shades of Black Theatre Showcase. The original production lacked firm direction, but drew some strength from a handful of creative performances. This remounting, featuring many of the original cast members, offers the Dream 7 producing group a shot at building on the prior positives and sharpening the drama’s overall focus. Nov. 17-19 at the Darkhorse Theater. For tickets, call 474-0161 or email dream7productions@yahoo.com. —MARTIN BRADY ART HERB WILLIAMS: “THE COLOR OF LUCK” A few years ago, while searching for a medium that would allow him to sculpt in pure color, Arts Company artist-in-residence Herb Williams began to use bits and pieces of crayons. The unique palette and texture resulted in an unmistakable style that has garnered Williams his share of collectors. This new show at the Arts Company, which will also feature limited editions of Williams’ stencil art, makes use of Las Vegas imagery—roulette wheels, dice, sharks—to explore the role of luck and chance in art and gambling alike. An artist reception will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18. The show will run through St. Patrick’s Day. —JOE NOLAN SYDNEY REICHMAN AND TRACEY LANE: “ELEMENTS” Local artist Reichman’s most recognizable works are copper sculptures of stylized human figures, but she also makes colorful wall constructions that combine elements of painting and sculpture. For this exhibit, Gallery One pairs her with Lane, an Atlanta-based artist who paints nature scenes built up with layers of material that emphasize the environment’s quiet energy. The show opens with a reception from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18. —DAVID MADDOX ALAN LEQUIRE AND BRENDA STEIN These two artists are well-known locally—LeQuire for such monumental sculptures as “Musica” and the Parthenon’s “Athena,” and Stein for her expertly turned vessels made from native wood. In a collaborative project, LeQuire added delicate line drawings burnt into the wood of Stein’s pieces. The figurative images play off the wood grain and have the elegant, airy classicism of such mid-20th century artists as Jean Cocteau. The show opens with a reception at the LeQuire Gallery on Saturday, Nov. 18, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. —DAVID MADDOX FILM AFTER DARK HORRORFEST It’s an awesome idea: a festival of eight independent horror films getting a three-day national release, more exposure than they’d ever get on DVD (their likely destination). Are they any good? A better question: could they be any worse than what major studios typically dump on horror fans? Thanks to Regal Cinemas, the package will be showing in Nashville through the weekend, giving local gorehounds a chance to sample obscurities such as the psychological shocker Penny Dreadful and the grisly ghost story The Gravedancers. For more details, see the individual blurbs in our Movie Listings on p. 82. —JIM RIDLEY THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE “Badges?” sneers Alfonso Bedoya’s crooked Gold Hat, etching his dialogue into granite. “We don’t need no badges. I don’t have to show you any stinkin’ badges!” John Huston scripted and directed this 1948 film of the novel by the mysterious B. Traven, the German novelist who may have carried his true identity to the grave (although Huston was convinced the odd man who appeared on location acting as Traven’s agent was the author himself). Humphrey Bogart plays Fred C. Dobbs, the “fellow American down on his luck” south of the border; Tim Holt and Walter Huston (the director’s father) are the companions whose company becomes troublesome once gold enters the picture. Through the end of the year, the Belcourt devotes its Weekend Classic Matinees to legendary actor-director pairings; this one runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday, followed next weekend by Bogie in Huston’s The Maltese Falcon, then a pair of Cary Grant-Alfred Hitchcock jewels: North by Northwest and a sparkling new print of Notorious. See www.belcourt.org for more information. —JIM RIDLEY THE LATE SHOW: FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke and Benicio del Toro as Dr. Gonzo are somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs begin to take hold. So begins Terry Gilliam’s skin-crawling 1998 adaptation of the Hunter S. Thompson book, maybe the most bewildering major-studio summer release of all time. An all-star cast ranging from Tobey Maguire and Christina Ricci to Lyle Lovett and the late Michael Jeter fills Thompson’s hallucinatory account of epic substance abuse amid the crass horrors of the Nixon-era Las Vegas Strip. Show up 11:30 p.m. Friday at the Belcourt for the Vegas-inspired burlesque stylings of Lady & the Tramps and the obligatory Hunter S. Thompson look-alike contest, bats optional. —JIM RIDLEY RENAISSANCE In his second two-dimensional hero’s role this week—the other being James Bond in the much-hyped Casino Royale—Daniel Craig plays a hard-boiled cop in Paris 2054 hunting for a kidnapped scientist (Romola Garai) who may hold the key to eternal life. Did we mention that Christian Volckman’s sci-fi noir is a rotoscoped animated feature—or that it’s in beautifully stark black-and-white not unlike the recent Sin City? The anime-like thriller opens Friday for a week’s run at the Belcourt: see the review on p. 81. —JIM RIDLEY 2006 NASHVILLE JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL The early 20th century musicians who made their Yiddish background swing and the perils facing the Middle East’s indigenous Jewish populations are among the subjects as Temple Nashville’s sixth annual film festival enters its closing weekend at the Belcourt. The fest closes 8 p.m. Saturday at the Belcourt with the winner of the Student Film Competition, devoted to the memory of the festival’s late co-founder Kathy Gutow; it precedes the Nashville premiere of the French comedy Local Call, starring Sergio Castellitto (Mostly Martha) and Michel Serrault (La Cage Aux Folles). For screening times and more information, see www.belcourt.org. —JIM RIDLEY THE THONG REMAINS THE SAME Thong Girl, the buxom Nashville superhero who pulverizes perps with the power packed in her panties, has more important things to worry about than getting the Gallatin mayor in hot water or turning heads on Legislative Plaza. Find out why as Thong Girl writer-director-creator Glen Weiss hosts a screening of the Cupped Crusader’s first two adventures Friday night at Church Street Cafe, 1707 Church St. Yes, there will be a Thong Girl look-alike contest, so don’t wait another day to have your butt cleavage waxed. Attention Christmas shoppers: there’ll also be passes given away to the premiere of Thong Girl 3: Revenge of the Black Widow next February. For more information, call 321-3234. —JIM RIDLEY