THURSDAY 8/23

Music

A TASTE OF MUSCLE SHOALS FEAT. DONNIE FRITTS AND FRIENDS Donnie Fritts has only issued two solo albums over more than four decades of writing and creating music, but that’s enough to have set the bar for laid-back country funk. Of course, he’s contributed much more to American music by writing classic songs—Waylon Jennings’ “We Had It All,” Jerry Lee Lewis’ “A Damn Good Country Song” and Dusty Springfield’s “Breakfast in Bed” among them. The variety of artists who’ve cut his songs—from Percy Sledge and Wilson Pickett to Loretta Lynn and Charlie Rich to The Pretenders and Robert Plant—underscores how well he blends R&B, country and rock into a unique form of Alabama soul music. Fritts hasn’t performed much in recent years due to health problems, but this special club gig brings together several of his old-school Muscle Shoals compatriots for a one-of-a-kind evening of sweet Southern soul. 9 p.m. at Douglas Corner —MICHAEL McCALL

Fat Thursday

MARDI GRASSMERE AT ALLIGATOR COVE Ga lee! Dem gators is pretty big down in N’awlens. They’re pretty big down at the Nashville Zoo, too. In honor of these worthy denizens of the bayou, the zoo is holding a new after-hours social event called Mardi Grassmere at Alligator Cove. The location offers an exotic place to mingle, listen to music and sample Cajun fare. You can enjoy cold beer and hurricanes (of the mixed-drink, not meteorological, variety). And you can throw Mardi Gras beads. Best of all, you’ll have lots of good company, of both the mammalian and reptilian kind. This event is open only to adults 21 and older, so dôn even tink about bringin’ dem peeshwanks. 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere —JOHN PITCHER

FRIDAY 8/24

Music

STEVE CONN Conn is a well-regarded journeyman with a multiplicity of gifts that bridge classic rock and Southern vernacular music. A keyboardist and accordionist, he can switch easily from a Cajun stomper to a bluesy adult-pop tune that would program well between Bonnie Raitt and Bruce Hornsby. He’s that rare sideman who’s as strong a singer and bandleader as the artists he’s helped along the way, and as of late, his songwriting has taken on a more forceful political bent—as in his blistering anti-Bush rant, “How Does It Feel,” which Neil Young has been highlighting on his website in recent months. A former fixture on the Nashville club scene, Conn hasn’t played a solo gig here in three years. For his return, he’s got a top-notch quartet featuring Jack Silverman on guitar, Tim Marks on bass and Brian Brignac on drums. 7 p.m. at 3rd & Lindsley —MICHAEL McCALL

Music

THE KINDERGARTEN CIRCUS Now that Be Your Own Pet are wizened geezers of around drinking age, somebody in Middle Tennessee has to flush the Geritol out of garage punk’s system. Our money’s on the Murfreesboro trio of Dillon Watson, Aaron Browning and Logan Sissom (average age: 15), who do young, loud and snotty as if they were weaned on powdered razorblades. “If I wasn’t broken, there’d be nothing to fix,” Watson sings with study-hall-bandit bravado on one of their originals, and the occasional missed beats only add to their sloppy, overamped passion. Until their Grand Palace EP comes out, the only place to hear them is on their MySpace page (myspace.com/thekindergartencircus), where you can sample the thrash-meets-trashy-blooze of “Wu,” the cymbal-bash workout “Werewolf Syndrome” and a medley that somehow rams “Helter Skelter” head on into Dylan’s “Outlaw Blues” and—I kid you not—Screaming Lord Sutch’s “Jack the Ripper.” If you were cool enough to know any of those three before you had your driver’s license, you can carry their amps. Fellow Grand Palace subjects S.J. & the Props are also on the bill. 9 p.m. at The Rutledge —JIM RIDLEY

Music

JOHN LEE HOOKER BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE Do you wanna boogie, chillen? Then baby, please don’t go nowhere but the Family Wash Friday night, ’cuz Scissormen and Reeves Gabrels’ East Nashville Aristocrats gonna shoot you right down, right off o’ your feet with a John Lee Hooker birthday celebration. Hooker—who, to evade contractual obligations to music biz robber barons, also recorded under the names Texas Slim, Delta John, Birmingham Sam, John Lee Booker and the Boogie Man—would have been 90 this week. Few American musicians of any genre are as influential or instantly recognizable as The Hook, and few Nashville musicians are as qualified to talk that talk and walk that walk as Scissormen frontman Ted Drozdowski, who interviewed Hooker several times and wrote the centerpiece essay for the 2006 Hooker box set, which was named reissue of the year by Rolling Stone. Expect a few special guests, including steel guitar savant Pete Finney (Dixie Chicks, Patty Loveless), Curt Perkins and Jamie Rubin. A-haw haw haw haw. 8:30 p.m. at Family Wash —JACK SILVERMAN

Mmmm…Maggie Cheung

HERO When a foreign movie slips out of Nashville theaters, your chances of seeing it again on the big screen decrease to Powerball odds. But if any movie deserves to be seen on the biggest possible canvas, it’s Zhang Yimou’s ravishing 2002 martial-arts epic, a color-coded saga of individual desires in conflict with the goals of the state. Jet Li is the nameless warrior called before the powerful warlord who means to unite China’s seven kingdoms. In a devious flashback structure, he recounts his battles against three would-be royal assassins (Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Donnie Yen)—each choreographed by action specialist Ching Siu-Tung (A Chinese Ghost Story) and photographed by master cinematographer Christopher Doyle (Chungking Express) in a different brilliant hue. The film is free and open to the public, in conjunction with the Frist’s current exhibits on Chinese painting and photography, and it’s every bit as bold a work of visual art. In Mandarin with English subtitles. 7 p.m. at the Frist Center —JIM RIDLEY

Music

THE CONCERT FOR TIBET You might not realize it here in Jesus City, U.S.A., but Siddhartha Gautama, a.k.a. Buddha, has more than a few fans, among them the folks at The Padmasambhava Buddhist Center of Tennessee. A gathering place for local practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism, the center is under the guidance of two exiled Tibetan lamas, the Venerable Khenpos, who now live in a monastery in the Catskills and visit Nashville regularly. This fundraiser supports the Khenpos’ efforts to preserve and restore sacred treasures from their ancestral home. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with a silent auction featuring art from Myles Maillie, Sheila B., Lisa Hoke, Dan Brawner and many more. Musical guests include Beth Nielsen Chapman, Mindy Smith, Daniel Tashian, Kirby Shelstad, OTTO and more. Local South Indian dance maven Monica Cooley will also perform. You don’t have to be Buddhist to appreciate the plight of Tibetan exiles, among them the Dalai Lama. And come your next incarnation, a few bucks in the karma bank couldn’t hurt. Auction at 6:30 p.m., concert at 8 p.m. First Unitarian Universalist Church —JACK SILVERMAN

Music

KING DJANGO, A.K.A:RUDIE, DR. RING-DING & THE DRASTICS For several years, Ska has been in danger of becoming like Celtic music—a genre with strong cultural roots that’s enjoyed and performed mostly by cultural outsiders and dilettantes. This doesn’t mean those outsiders can’t skank with the best of them. King Django, a roots stylist and horn player straight outta New Jersey, will share a bill with Nashville’s a.k.a:Rudie, a band that’s been kicking out the ragga jams for nearly two decades. Their sound recalls the days when “2 Tone” ska cracked the pop charts—though the band mixes in a chunk of traditional music with their Madness. The other acts performing offer music from the outer edges of the Caribbean music diaspora. Dr. Ring-Ding, a hulking German, ads a light touch with Soca and dancehall tunes. His accented singing adds an interesting layer to the music, though it disappears when he starts “toasting.” The Drastics’ mesmerizing dub reggae is as foreboding as their name implies. 9 p.m. at Windows on the Cumberland —MARK MAYS

SATURDAY 8/25

Music

ALISON KRAUSS & UNION STATION In an age overrun with aggressive marketing and overt posturing, where nothing is too contrived or over-the-top, Krauss has remained an oasis of tasteful virtuosity. After hundreds of shows together, Union Station—Barry Bales on bass, Ron Block on banjo and guitar, Jerry Douglas on dobro and Dan Tyminski on guitar and mandolin—are seemingly seamless, yet their intuitive interplay has a spark of improvisation that rewards attentive listening. A fixture at each year’s Grammy Awards, Krauss steadfastly follows her own muse, embracing acoustic music’s traditional values without limiting its outside influences or popular reach. Her duet album with Robert Plant arrives in October, a signifier that, at age 36 there’s still no telling what she might do next. 8 p.m. at Sommet Center —MICHAEL McCALL

Music

LOVENOISE LIVE FEAT. DWELE This Detroit native helped hip-hop crew Slum Village go gold when he laid down a smoky vocal hook for their 2002 hit “Tainted.” Dwele followed up with his own solo record, a neo-soul exercise that, despite his considerable chops, was indistinguishable from works by contemporaries like Bilal and Musiq Soulchild. His next LP Some Kinda… was a more personal work featuring considerable improvement on the songwriting tip. He also incorporated contemporary R&B phrasing and rap beats into his old soul flavor. While it’s been a while since he’s released a studio album, Dwele has been keeping busy by working the rap/R&B collaboration game. With his most recent team-up, he lands a prime spot alongside Kanye West on conscious rap poster boy Common’s new single “The People.” 8 p.m. at Gibson Showcase —MARK MAYS

Audio Pocky

ELEKIBASS Two years ago, I heard about this Japanese pop group playing at the now-defunct Hair of the Dog. I was sorta intrigued—mostly by the prospect of five Tokyo dandies apparently costumed by Zorro and Dr. Seuss taking the stage at a 12 South hamburger joint—but not enough to show up on time. I walked in to find the entire audience bounding around the room in a conga line, a masked guitarist striking ye-gods-of-metal poses at the furthermost edge of the stage and a grinning accomplice passing out kazoos for the big finish: a bubblegum audience-participation anthem called “All the People Come, Let’s Get Down.” Imagine a Tropicàlia Bay City Rollers performing their roller-rink sing-alongs in Japanese and ad-copy English, and you still have little inkling of the magic in store. Make that literally in-store: the afternoon show is free at Grimey’s. 5 p.m. at Grimey’s —JIM RIDLEY

Comedy

ANDREW “DICE” CLAY You don’t have to find Andrew “Dice” Clay the least bit funny—and chances are you don’t—to be fascinated by his Nashville show, and concerned about his possible reemergence onto the national scene. Dice, the leather-clad, muscle-bound, naughty nursery-rhyming shock comic, had a short-lived peak around 1989, the year MTV banned him for life after a profane performance on the Music Video Awards. The comic would disagree, claiming he’s been the “undisputed heavyweight comedy champ” the whole time, and that any lack of mainstream acceptance just means he’s a First Amendment hero. The truth is Dice is a heavyweight (as in fat) civil rights hero to nobody but himself, and only funny to people who have a high tolerance for raunchy, tasteless jokes that went out of style about 10 years before the man even donned a leather jacket. All we can do is hope that VH1 isn’t serious about giving the guy his own series. 7 p.m. at Wildhorse Saloon —WERNER TRIESCHMANN

Sun Salutation

OUTDOOR YOGA As of late, the only time reasonable people have deemed it safe to leave the house and partake in physical activity—that isn’t poolside—is in the wee hours. This heat keeps up and we might as well go nocturnal, or at the very least rise with the sun. If you’re taking the later option, why not start your Saturday with some outdoor yoga at Belle Meade Plantation. This week marks the final session of downward-dogging among the birds and the bees. To gain admission, all you have to do is join the Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation (tenngreen.org), an organization dedicated to the preservation of our state’s natural resources. Get fit while going green—it’s win-win. You can also join up at Hot Yoga’s Elliston Place location (where you’ll get a coupon for a free class). 7:30-8:30 a.m. at Belle Meade Plantation —LEE STABERT

SUNDAY 8/26

Music

DR. POWERFUL This week, Murfreesboro’s Grand Palace Records issues one of the most solid releases available thus far on the small imprint: Daydripsnake, the full-length debut from Sanford, N.C.-based Dr. Powerful. Recalling many of the hallmarks of mid-’90s indie rock luminaries such as Unwound, Drive Like Jehu and, most notably, drummer Eddie Watkins’ old band Polvo, Dr. Powerful layer guitars and the occasional synthesizer into a sprawling mess of intricate melodies that seesaw between shrill dissonance and taut harmonies. But rather than simply replicate the successes of their drummer’s old band, the good Dr. manage not to sound dated by infusing a fair amount of pop sensibility into their jackhammer approach with unabashedly big choruses. 9 p.m. at The 5 Spot —MATT SULLIVAN

Film

OUSMANE SEMBENE TRIBUTE: MOOLAADÉ A warm, eloquent and righteously angry human comedy, the last film of Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene’s nearly 40-year career lays out its central conflicts in the first few minutes, then spends the rest of the film getting us to feel them in our bones. Faced with female circumcision in a Burkina Faso village, four young girls seek sanctuary in the home of a tribal leader’s favored wife. The woman invokes the tribal custom of moolaadé, or protection, and soon a battle rages not just between women and men, but between ancient traditions and the modern world that’s chipping away at them. It’s an ultimately joyous film, and a fitting benediction for the Belcourt’s monthlong Sembene matinee series. Coming up next month: a freakin’ unbelievable five-film salute to Jean-Luc Godard. Noon Aug. 25-26 and 4:30 p.m. Aug. 26 at the Belcourt —JIM RIDLEY

Music

RICHARD BELL: A CELEBRATION OF LIFE Pianist Richard Bell, who died in June after a long battle with cancer, had a storied career, including stints with Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, Janis Joplin’s Full Tilt Boogie Band and, from the early 1990s on, The Band. Also a prolific studio musician, Bell played on over 400 recordings, including albums by Bob Dylan, Joe Walsh, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Cockburn and the Cowboy Junkies. Bell’s good friend and collaborator, Nashville guitarist/songwriter Colin Linden—also a prolific session guy—has organized this memorial celebration, featuring musical tributes and reminiscences from friends and family. 2 p.m. at Lyrix Music Bar and Café —JACK SILVERMAN

MONDAY 8/27

Music

LAUREN LUCAS EP RELEASE PARTY Lauren Lucas’ new EP If I Was Your Girl opens with one of the more whiplash-inducing one-two punches country fans have heard in a long time. The propulsive “Riverstone” is an artfully elliptical Southern-gothic murder parable. But there’s barely time to absorb the elements of revenge, religion and suicidal guilt in that tune before you’re thrown headfirst into “Borderline Divine,” a sweetly sunny over-the-moon ode to one man’s wonderfulness. That Lucas can believably deliver such disparate roles on record—much less write them in the first place—owes something to her background in musical theater, and even more to her naturally supple voice and the grounding in country and soul she received growing up in South Carolina. If I Was Your Girl’s five other tantalizing cuts are just as impressive, as everyone who attends will discover—a copy comes free with admission. 8 p.m. at 12th & Porter —CHRIS NEAL

Art

JAIRO PRADO & MELISSA KENNEDY Longtime Watkins professor Jairo Prado is an eclectic artist. He has painted big, colorful and unapologetically populist murals of ordinary people in everyday situations. (The best of these works call to mind the artist’s Colombian roots and show diverse people hugging, smiling, even playing guitars.) In a very different vein, he has also crafted abstract sculptures that are more about eliciting raw emotions than creating exact likenesses. Melissa Kennedy creates mixed media through an intense process: she rubs raw pigments, crushed pastels, common spices, chalk and other powdered forms onto wood canvases that are then sealed with polyurethane. The polyurethane reacts chemically with the powders to create paintings that glow with vibrant warmth. Through Nov. 2 at Metro Arts Gallery —BRITTANY CONNER

TUESDAY 8/28

Art

A NASHVILLE NEIGHBORHOOD An arts village isn’t worth remembering until it starts producing artists and artwork that make it memorable. With his bold colors, in-your-face portraiture and nearly photo-realistic images of street- and cityscapes, Tony Teal is one of many artists helping to set East Nashville on the course to being more relevant in our city’s visual arts community. Teal balances between soft, hazy colors in his street scenes and bold, straightforward color and tone in his portraiture. All of his works show strength of technique and a budding mastery of material. Through Sept. 15 in the West Gallery at The Parthenon —LISA DONOVAN

Music

THE NORTHRIDGE RANGERS The brainchild of former Slack bassist Ben Slack, The Northridge Rangers originally consisted of a few bedroom recordings through which the bass player indulged in his love for classic, reverb-drenched surf rock. Since the breakup of his former band, Ben Slack has become Ben W, switched over to guitar and recruited a handful of local musicians to round out a gigging version of the Rangers. Joined by the Clutters’ Doug Lehmann and Jake Rosswog on guitar and bass respectively and onetime Reverbian and Eggroller Ryan Sweeney on skins, the Northridge Rangers go for retro. Paying homage to the Ventures, Dick Dale and the Challengers, the Rangers’ instrumental surf rock is equal parts beach house and dance floor. 9 p.m. at The 5 Spot —MATT SULLIVAN

WEDNESDAY 8/29

Music

THE BLACK CROWES Woe to anyone attempting to keep track of The Black Crowes’ membership over the last couple of years—drummer Steve Gorman was out, then back in; guitarist Marc Ford, who had been out, was in, then out again. Most recently, keyboardist Adam MacDougall has replaced Rob Clores (who in turn replaced Ed Harsch), while guitarist Paul Stacey has taken Ford’s place. With all due respect to those very fine musicians, it doesn’t really matter—lead singer Chris Robinson and his guitarist brother Rich, who have guided the group for more than two decades now (off and on), have always ensured that the greasy-fingered rock ’n’ roll spirit of the Crowes remains intact no matter who’s onstage with them. Or in the studio: the group just finished recording their first new album since 2001, set for release next spring. 7:30 p.m. at Ryman Auditorium —CHRIS NEAL

Music

TEAM GINA If it’s not very often that you hear the terms “lesbian” and “hip-hop” in the same sentence, don’t blame Team Gina. The synchronized-dancing, matching-outfit-wearing, rhyme-busting Seattle duo are not shy about their identity politics—even if their rapping style is more geek than gangsta. Like two precocious girls at a slumber party making impromptu mixes on a boom box, Gina Bling and Gina Genius mix liberal ideals with pop culture in a stream of consciousness that’s smart, self-aware and, most importantly, fun. “A Tribe Called Rocco,” from their debut EP Gina Gina Revolution, takes a jazzy bass sample, rolls languidly in roughly the same pentameter as A Tribe Called Quest’s “Buggin’ Out”—the ladies aren’t shy about copping to their influences, either—and manages to drop references to both Foucault and Jem and the Holograms in the same verse. Elsewhere, they advocate for migrant workers’ rights over a slithering crunk beat, sing the praises of butch women and generally raise a particularly campy kind of hell. 8 p.m. at The Café at OutLoud! —STEVE HARUCH

Film

SHAKESPEARE WAS A BIG GEORGE JONES FAN: COWBOY JACK CLEMENT’S HOME MOVIES Raconteur, ballroom dancer, horror-movie producer, ukelele manufacturer and satellite-radio DJ—and oh yeah, the producer/engineer who helped break Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison at Sun Records—Cowboy Jack Clement is the one degree of separation between U2 and Charley Pride. He’s also a world-class cutup, and this irreverent doc by the filmmaking team of Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville (Hank Williams: Honky-Tonk Blues) honors his spirit of mischief—mostly by plunging into copious home-movie footage capturing the giants of 20th century music at their loopiest and least guarded. This is your only chance to see Johnny Cash testing the air with a pig snout, or Bono doing an extended Brando imitation. The doc airs 9 p.m. Sept. 5 on NPT-Channel 8, but the station hosts a sneak preview with Clement and Gordon on hand for a post-film Q&A—and it’s free. Just RSVP to rsvp@wnpt.net with “cowboy” in the subject line and the number of folks in your party. It might be worth double-checking before you show up: apparently several people had problems getting into NPT’s Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story. 5:45 p.m. at the Belcourt —JIM RIDLEY