As rock ’n’ roll nears its sixth decade, it’s just as staggering to think that there’s enough stylistic room under the umbrella for both Elvis Presley and Can as it is to imagine Nashville as a birthplace of any shakes, rattles or rolls. But we had our own rock group appear as early as 1956 with The Casuals, an eager combo born out of East Nashville’s Inglewood community. At the helm was Buzz Cason, who, at 17, had the cojones to ignore the advice of Minnie Pearl, who told him to go back to school because “this business would wait” for him. Instead, Cason and his Casuals went from lip synching covers on local deejay Noel Ball’s TV show Saturday Showcase to backing Brenda Lee on the road, replacing The Everly Brothers on tour and hopping on a two-week stint with Jerry Lee Lewis just after he married his 13-year-old cousin. Cason’s 2004 book, Living the Rock ’n’ Roll Dream, chronicles the giddy free-for-all of rock’s embryonic, pre-Beatles golden age, when hits recorded on Friday were on the radio by Monday, when touring meant playing fairs and skating rinks and when you got into rock not for the money, but for the girls. The reunited band features Cason and original Casual Richard Williams for a celebration of 50 years in the biz, with special guest Mac Gayden. Douglas Corner —TRACY MOORE MUSIC THURSDAY, 7TH JOE JACK TALCUM W/TIGERS CON QUESO With no end in sight of emo bands sobbing into the microphone about lost girlfriends, what the indie-rock world needs now is Joe Jack Talcum, who lent his glorious nasal whine to Dead Milkmen tracks such as “Takin’ Retards to the Zoo,” “Instant Club Hit (You’ll Dance to Anything),” the ubiquitous “Punk Rock Girl” and other bitingly funny tunes from the snotty Philadelphia punk band who generated more laughs than, say, any band during the entire history of the Warped Tour. As The Dead Milkmen have no plans to reunite, the appearance by Talcum, who has spent years in other bands and playing solo, is as close to a reunion as you are going to get. Happily, his approach hasn’t changed, and his newer “Sex Sting,” about an Internet chat gone awry, is as funny as any of those tunes by his former band. Openers Tigers Con Queso are a good fit for the bill—duo Casio Casanova and local rock photog Steve Cross play strummy, nasally acoustic punk with a clear Dead Milkmen influence. (jacktalcum.com; myspace.com/tigersconqueso) Grand Palace —WERNER TRIESCHMANN JASON HOWES Jason Howes really doesn’t care if people have to strain their ears and max their volume knobs to hear the quietest portions of his new album. In fact, he likes it that way. Beechwood Avenue—the Nashville artist’s brand new self-produced album—ventures into the dark, secluded corridors of cynicism, melancholy and other delicate emotions. Howes is a self-described purveyor of “sad bastard music,” trafficking in images of dethroned religion, tenuous love and the solace of a beer bottle. The album’s 13 tracks are lush electro-folk soundscapes, sometimes tapering off to only finger-picked acoustic guitar and Howes’ shaky, ravaged, half-whispered vocals, sometimes bathed in ambient sounds, keyboards and programmed beats. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because his dad is longtime WTVF-5 weatherman Ron Howes. Not that the music needs a family name to lean on, though—it stands entirely on its own. The Basement —JEWLY HIGHT J.D. CROWE & THE NEW SOUTH Back in town to celebrate the long-awaited release of Lefty’s Old Guitar, banjo giant J. D. Crowe brings along what a number of fans consider to be the best lineup he’s had in more than 30 years of New South history. Considering alumni like Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas and Keith Whitley, that’s a bold assessment, but hardly an unjustifiable one. Tempered by five years of shared experience, the group—mandolinist Dwight McCall, singer Rickey Wasson (guitar), fiddle phenom Ron Stewart and bassist Harold Nixon—offer a powerhouse vocal trio, stout picking and, most importantly, sensibilities perfectly attuned to Crowe’s healthy eclecticism in selecting a repertoire. The new album convincingly ranges from bluegrass chestnuts to country weepers, and in concert, the quintet roam even more widely through the catalog of New South favorites and obscurities, from Gram Parsons, Townes Van Zandt and Fats Domino, to the first-generation bluegrass greats at whose feet Crowe sat as a kid. Get there early. The Station Inn —JON WEISBERGER BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA’S CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA Lots of entertainers are eager to catch your cash this Christmas season with lame renditions of well-worn holiday faves. Former Stray Cats frontman Setzer is one of the few who don’t seem embarrassed about putting on the Santa hat and giving the kiddies what they want. His eponymous orchestra’s Christmas Extravaganza, currently celebrating its fifth anniversary, is a full-on big-band spectacle in which Setzer seems genuinely psyched to put his good-natured rockabilly stamp on nuggets like “Winter Wonderland” and “Jingle Bell Rock.” It’s fun for the whole family, and not just because Setzer declines to wear a thong—his earnest example could do much to temper the teenaged cynicism too often condoned by guys with guitars. (briansetzer.com) Ryman Auditorium —MIKAEL WOOD THAD COCKRELL Just as it’s not all country in Nashville, within the realm of steel guitars and whiskey songs, it’s not all mainstream country, either. Thad Cockrell, an old-school troubadour, typifies what Nashville has the potential to foster in the shadows of Music Row, where country returns to its most basic, pure and elemental. Cockrell’s shy, unassuming persona is the perfect match for a voice that’s powerfully quiet but startlingly charming—an air of melancholy this intoxicating isn’t taught, but rather, earned. His 2003 album Warmth & Beauty is full of meandering country songs about pain, rejection, self-doubt, rainy weather and Willie Nelson on the radio—all the good stuff—but he sings with a palpable love of music-making that never fails to rein them in from the brink of despair. (thadcockrell.com) Mercy Lounge —LEE STABERT FRIDAY, 8TH JENSEN SPORTAG Jensen Sportag would be right at home scoring a Michael Mann film. Their setup—all samplers and laptops—sounds something like the crying baby of Wendy Carlos and Aphex Twin, not too unlike Nashville laptoppers Hands off Cuba, but with more of an emphasis on dance. The band are Benjamin Craig and Austin Wilkinson, who celebrate the release of their eponymous full-length, which melds everything from industrial clashes to horror-movie screams and synthy dreamscapes. The band also have some impressive short films on YouTube, including an elaborate bio that claims Jensen Sportag is actually a wealthy Danish man who composes all of their music in his head, then enlists the duo to translate it to sound. Warming up the party are Hey You Guise and Casio Casanova, with an into-the-night after-party spun by the popular Left Can Dance crew. Don’t forget your sweatbands. (jensensportag.com) The End —ERIC WILLIAMS SATURDAY, 9TH CATS LIKE US The Country Music Hall of Fame continues its series of shows in conjunction with its ongoing Ray Charles exhibit, this time by joining together four songwriters whose country material Brother Ray covered. “Cats Like Us” features Richard Leigh, Troy Seals, Micheal Smotherman and Tony Joe White. You probably know Charles’ take on White’s “Rainy Night in Georgia,” but the 1983 “3/4 Time” is one of the Genius’ most charming later recordings. The author of “Shakin’ Your Head,” Smotherman survived a mid-’70s stint with Captain Beefheart before making his mark as a tunesmith, while Seals penned Charles’ only number-one Billboard country single, “Seven Spanish Angels.” Leigh, whose “It Ain’t Gonna Worry My Mind” was cut by Charles, is perhaps best known for writing Crystal Gayle’s 1977 smash, “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.” (countrymusichalloffame.com) 2 p.m. at Ford Theater, Country Music Hall of Fame —EDD HURT SNEHASISH MOZUMDER W/VISHAL NAGAR Mozumder has become a prominent musician in India and abroad in recent years, appearing at festivals around the world. In 2002, at the request of Ravi Shankar, the North Indian mandolinist played at the George Harrison Memorial Concert at Royal Albert Hall in London. The Indian mandolin is bigger than the Western version, and features thick bass strings and a mellower tone. Mozumder will perform ragas and other styles of Indian folk music, accompanied by tabla player Vishal Nagar. 6:30 p.m. at Sri Ganesha Temple —JACK SILVERMAN MONDAY, 11TH PEARLS & BRASS The Indian Tower, the second record from Nazareth, Pa., band Pearls & Brass, is easily the most disappointing release of an otherwise banner year for Chicago’s Drag City, who enjoyed success with Smog, Joanna Newsom, Loose Fur and Six Organs of Admittance. After all, the time is right again for stoner choogle, and Pearls & Brass—all tampered blues riffs built expertly on unorthodox rhythmic steps and non-strictures—seemed poised to make the barroom just a little brainier, tightening sludge and successfully streamlining the psychedelia. But The Indian Tower feels polished and shiny when you want it to be dirty. Though I can’t endorse the disc, the trio’s live set—a wall of amplifiers, a mess of facial hair, a cavalcade of sweaty mops stained with club smoke—is one of the best I’ve seen this year. When they opened for Japanese psych lords Boris on that band’s headlining U.S. tour, P&B warmed the tube amps and almost stole the stage. (dragcity.com/bands/pearls.html) Springwater —GRAYSON CURRIN TUESDAY, 12TH MONSTER MAKER D.C. turntablist Shaun Sharkey and journeyman rapper C-Rayz Walz have teamed up as Monster Maker. A mainstay of the indie rap scene, Sharkey has been known to mix the disparate likes of Outkast’s “Roses” with Queens of the Stone Age’s “Art of Keeping a Secret” in his solo sets, only to show that they’re not so disparate. And whatever’s playing, the frenetic Walz, a storied rapper of the New York scene, is gonna kick it. Featuring a live band with Sharkey on keyboards, samplers and drum machines and C-Rayz Walz spitting rhymes out the wazoo, this won’t be the typical DJ-turntable setup you might expect. The End —MAKKADA B. SELAH WEDNESDAY, 13TH CIRCLE JERKS California slam punks the Circle Jerks are actually still together—at least the reunited version who reformed in 1995, including former Black Flag man Keith Morris, Greg Hetson (also of Bad Religion) and Zander Schloss. 1980’s Group Sex was all hyper-fueled aggression in less than 15 minutes that put skate punk on the map. Later releases, and the band’s on-again, off-again relationship would make sustaining the intensity difficult, but, then again, hardcore bands were practically destined to pass out from too many pit injuries eventually. Luckily, pioneering slam-dancer Morris has joined the other side, as an A&R director at V2 Records, which doesn’t mean you can’t still count on a mosh pit. City Hall —EMILY ZEMLER “NASHVILLE UNLIMITED” BENEFIT CONCERT FOR ROOM IN THE INN With a setting as gorgeous as the lineup, Dave Pomeroy’s yearly benefit to raise money and awareness for the Campus for Human Development’s homeless program is pretty much a no-brainer, even in a season filled with events in support of worthy causes. As it has been for the previous six years, the program is an eclectic one, from the crystalline tones of the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble to the funk-grass of bassist Pomeroy’s Three Ring Circle, from the soulful wail of John Cowan to Emmylou Harris’ plaintive twang. But the music shares its roots in the ongoing sense of community that meshes perfectly with the evening’s purpose. Other performers include John Prine, Jon Randall, Don Henry, Will Smith and Lorianna Matera, and Pomeroy promises another round of mystery guests too. Christ Church Cathedral —JON WEISBERGER MICAH DALTON When you combine an earthy, easygoing songwriting style, the influence of Donny Hathaway and Paul Simon and a penchant for warm, understated instrumentation, there’s a good chance you’ll get ear-pleasing results. Micah Dalton has done just that, and he calls it “alt. soul.” Earlier this year, the Atlanta singer-songwriter released an EP titled Advancement, the follow-up to 2004’s long player These Are the Roots. Advancement opens with the ultra-cool, ultra-smooth soul of “Just Stay (To Be With Her),” followed by the gospel-sweetened acoustic slow burn of “Jet Lag” and the psychedelic R&B of “Sharks Only Bite in the Water.” The second half of the record gently exhales with a handful of spare acoustic ballads. Dalton—a staple of colleges and coffeehouses throughout the eastern U.S.—often takes the stage armed only with his acoustic guitar and husky croon, but his sometime live band—featuring bassist James Gregory and vocalist Jason Eskridge—only enhances the alt. soul experience. The Basement —JEWLY HIGHT HAGS-A-NOVA Has Nashville’s drinking supply been dosed with caipirinhas? First comes word that Swan Dive is recording a full album of bossa nova, and now there’s an entire residency devoted to the sinuous tropical pop sound of 1960s Brazil. Every Wednesday night in December, yeoman bassist James “Hags” Haggerty leads a heavyweight house band consisting of Brad Jones (who’s producing the Swan Dive record), The Bees’ Daniel Tashian, Ken Coomer, Jen Gunderman, Jim Hoke, Marty Lynds and Tom Mason on classics from the songbook of Antonio Carlos Jobim, Caetano Veloso, Jorge Ben, João Gilberto and others—songs undeserving of their reputation as cocktail-lounge exotica, or at least deserving of a reputation as something more. Gently swaying their hips in the melodic breeze will be a succession of guest vocalists, including Haggerty’s old Joe, Marc’s Brother bandmates Joe Pisapia and David Mead, Keri Pisapia, Melissa Mathes, Dan Tyler, Carey Kotsionis and Adam Landry. Arrive early for The Ornaments, Gunderman and Lynds’ side project with Jim Grey, who will perform the Vince Guaraldi soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Christmas at 7 and 8:30 p.m. Family Wash —JIM RIDLEY THEATER LITTLE DONKEY TPAC’s new “Family Field Trip” series starts Friday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. in the Polk Theater with this imaginative musical tale performed by the award-winning Theater Terra of Amsterdam. The performing troupe comprises expressive, English-speaking actors working larger-than-life puppets in the same Japanese Bunraku tradition used with tremendous effect in Disney’s The Lion King, which just concluded its six-week run in Nashville. The production’s lovable characters, based on those found in books by Rindert Kromhout and Annamarie van Haeringen, experience adventures that teach child-centered lessons about friendship and caring. An interesting alternative to the more typical holiday-season family outings. Phone 255-ARTS. —MARTIN BRADY SANTA’S CHRISTMAS CAPER Nobody embraces the holidays like Chaffin’s Barn Dinner Theatre. They’ve added this original play by Lydia Bushfield to their already bustling seasonal lineup, a Santa Claus tale pitched right at the kiddies and performed on the theater’s Main Stage at 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 7 through Saturday, Dec. 9. Additional performances are Dec. 12-16 and Dec. 19-23. Santa’s available for picture-taking following the performance, and the theater will accept unwrapped toys on those dates for distribution to various local charities. For reservations, phone 646-9977. —MARTIN BRADY THE SANTALAND DIARIES Actor Bob Roberts reprises his role in this ultra-sardonic David Sedaris one-man show about an underemployed fellow who takes a job as an elf at Macy’s during the busy Christmas season. One night only, Dec. 7 at 8 p.m., Boro Bar & Grill in Murfreesboro. Phone 895-4800 or visit www.myspace.com/pendulum3theatre. —MARTIN BRADY 365 DAYS/365 PLAYS SistaStyle Productions presents this collection of short plays by Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks. The production will exploit such offbeat styles as performance art and explore political consciousness in the transplantation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth to an urban ghetto. It will also celebrate famous yet diverse American lives. Also on the bill is a preview of the company’s 2007 production of Pretty Fire, Charlayne Woodard’s earthy tale of African American sisters, the family bond and Southern racism. The cast includes Tamiko Robinson, Marlon Styles and Mary McCallum. Shawn Whitsell directs. One show only, 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9 at the Darkhorse Theater. For reservations or more information, phone 781-3904 or email sistastyle_productions@yahoo.com. Admission is pay-what-you-can (suggested donation: $10). —MARTIN BRADY COMEDY PRIORITIES This Christmas-themed sketch comedy show finds Improv Nashville troupe members taking irreverent aim at seasonal topics such as family, work, food, commercialism and gift-giving. The goal is to elicit laughs, of course, but in a slight departure from the company’s usual improv fare, this show features material that may be inappropriate for those under 17. Performances are at 8 p.m. Dec. 9 and 16 at the 12th South Arts Venue. A more conventional Improv Nashville show—featuring the Mainstage and Troupe 93 companies—with scenes based on audience suggestions will be presented on Dec. 8 at 8 p.m. For more information, phone 418-0905 or visit www.improvnashville.com. —MARTIN BRADY FILM SATANTANGO It has taken only 12 years for Béla Tarr’s landmark film to reach Nashville, and we will be the only city in the entire Southeast to play it during its first major U.S. tour—not Atlanta, not Memphis, not Miami. Is it a big deal? You bet your ass it is.  —JIM RIDLEY NOTORIOUS The best, and (rivaled only by Rebecca) the kinkiest, of Alfred Hitchcock’s romantic thrillers. Ruthless American agent Cary Grant may love tarnished Ingrid Bergman, but that won’t stop him from pimping her out to Nazi collaborator Claude Rains—or keep him from resenting her when she does her job only too well. Elegant, nerve-racking and coolly perverse—it’s hard not to feel sympathy for Rains’ cruelly manipulated villain, even with that wine cellar full of contraband uranium—this remains a bracingly adult entertainment. It’s the Belcourt’s Weekend Classics Matinee this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 11:30 a.m. —JIM RIDLEY WATKINS FILM SCHOOL SCREENINGS The next Scorsese, Spielberg, Charles Burnett, Errol Morris or Kelly Reichardt might already be working quietly in our midst—as a student filmmaker toiling away on his or her production project. But you won’t know for sure unless you check out this all-day screening of fiction and documentary shorts by film students at the Watkins College of Art & Design. Working with local casts and crews, from composers to cinematographers, Watkins Film School students create some 30 shorts each semester, ranging in length up to 20 minutes. For the first time, the films are being shown publicly before a judging panel of film-industry professionals; honors for Best Director, Editor, Cinematography, Screenplay and Picture will be awarded in each class, with an audience award and a special critics’ prize for the best overall film. Free and open to the public, the event starts at noon Monday, Dec. 11 at the Belcourt and lasts approximately eight hours, but audiences are invited to stay for as long or little as they like. Come meet the young filmmakers while they’ll still return your calls. —JIM RIDLEY BEING THERE Like to watch? You’re in luck: the Frist Center offers a free screening of Hal Ashby’s 1979 satire, with Peter Sellers as the tabula-rasa simpleton whose blank demeanor is mistaken for sagacity in the corridors of power. The film shows 7 p.m. Friday in the Frist’s auditorium, with complimentary popcorn. —JIM RIDLEY DHOOM 2 Under international conversion rates, Dhoom 2 looks about equal to Ocean’s Twelve: a blithely implausible, rapid-fire bauble full of gorgeous matinee idols playing cops-and-robbers while soaking in scenery. Only this one’s in Hindi, with the Bollywood dream team of Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Hrithik Roshan and Bipasha Basu mixing splashy dance numbers amid stops-out stuntwork and action scenes. The film plays two shows only, 6 and 9 p.m. Thursday at the Belcourt; count on at least one of the shows selling out. —JIM RIDLEY A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS Those saints would seem to include Scorsese and Fellini in Dito Monteil’s autobiographical first feature, based on his adolescence hanging with street toughs in the Astoria section of Queens. Robert Downey Jr. plays the grown Dito, with Shia LaBeouf as his youthful self circa 1986; the cast includes Dianne Wiest, Chazz Palminteri, Channing Tatum and Rosario Dawson. The film begins a week’s run Friday at the Belcourt. —JIM RIDLEY A SCANNER DARKLY/FILMS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED So that movie you kept hearing about had disappeared from Green Hills by the time you finally got around to seeing it, huh? The Belcourt’s annual holiday series offers a second shot at some of 2006’s highest-profile indie titles, starting Tuesday with Richard Linklater’s daring animated version of the Philip K. Dick drug novel. Also on the menu: potential Oscar contender Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson; the punk doc American Hardcore; Neil Marshall’s horror hit The Descent; and Michel Gondry’s fanciful The Science of Sleep. See belcourt.org for more details. —JIM RIDLEY