THURSDAY, 10/4

Animation

BRENT GREEN/SIN ROPAS Animator Brent Green’s stop-motion phantasmagoria may call to mind Tim Burton and the Brothers Quay, without the former’s studio slickness or the latter’s hermetic fussiness. His handmade, herky-jerky films are more like 24 frames of eerie outsider art per second, with a rough-hewn out-of-time quality that seems to predate the invention of cameras. In the stunning “Carlin,” his tribute to an aunt who willed her own death from diabetes, a flimsy skeleton stalks his childhood home while Green sermonizes on the soundtrack with increasing agitation. Life, here, is the precious thing that flickers between frames. It ends in heavenly natural light and the benediction of two intertitles: “There is euphoria all around you...you are swimming in it.” His films have been shown at Sundance, Rotterdam and Columbus, Ohio’s forward-thinking Wexner Center for the Arts, and he’ll be performing “Carlin” live next week at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. His appearance here is a coup. Sin Ropas, featuring former Red Red Meat bassist Tim Hurley and Danni Iosello, do for alt-country and folk what Green does for animation: remake it by hand, rendering it alien, scarcely recognizable and new. They’ll be joined by Lambchop’s Deanna Varagona and perhaps others. 7 p.m. at The Basement —JIM RIDLEY

Music

PAUL THORN There’s one part of Paul Thorn’s bio that will always grab the attention of writers and fans: professional boxer. This singer-songwriter from Tupelo, Miss., is years away from his days taking punches, but his smoky voice and blues- and gospel-flavored songs are part and parcel of the blue-collar world of boxing. But Thorn also has a sharp ear for pop music and, as a result, his tunes end up being more than simple genre exercises. “There’s Something Out There” and “That’s All I Know Right Now” are as good and greasy as swamp rock gets, and with Thorn’s lyrics, they become tales told by somebody who’s seen a few things—like, say, a boxer who had the sense to get out while the getting was good. 8 p.m. at the Belcourt Theatre —WERNER TRIESCHMANN

Group Therapy

BORN AFTER VINYL Today’s unsigned artists face a unique predicament: greater access to the means of producing and distributing music, but an increasingly saturated market that threatens to overshadow even the staunchest self-promotion. Forming collectives among like-minded artists is an obvious remedy—Movement Nashville, anyone?—and the Born After Vinyl series of events takes this grassroots tactic a step further. Named after a digital compilation put out by Rocketown Records, the meetings encourage networking and talking shop about the current state of the industry. And if you’re looking for a little less moral apathy along the way, the gatherings also add social consciousness to the bill—no surprise from a label with a Christian bent. The first event features performances by locals such as Kyle Andrews and David Condos, but also doubles as a benefit for Eric Volz, a former Nashvillian currently imprisoned in Nicaragua. Volz’ mother Maggie Anthony will be on hand to speak, and all proceeds go to her son’s legal defense fund. 7 p.m. at The SYNC @ Nettwerk (1201 Villa Place, Ste. 206) —TRACY MOORE

FRIDAY 10/5

Art

NASHVILLE’S INTERNATIONALS 2007 The richness and diversity of Nashville’s arts community will be on display in this appealing exhibition featuring the work of 16 Nashville artists who are all immigrants. Their works, which range in style from realistic paintings to pure abstraction, often suggest difficult journeys to the United States. Artist James Makuac relates the turmoil of his native Sudan with a painting that shows brightly clad figures huddled under a tent. A pair of menacing helicopters hover above, looking for them. Heide Browne of Germany and Geppe Hernandez of Venezuela fill their canvases with colorful abstractions, while Camille Torchon depicts his island home of Haiti with rich Caribbean blues and greens. Oct. 5-26 at Centennial Art Gallery —JOHN PITCHER

It’s Witchcraft

THE CRUCIBLE David Alford recently stepped away from administrative duties at the Tennessee Repertory Theatre to be the first recipient of the Martha R. Ingram Artist in Residence Fellowship, which affords him an unfettered opportunity to work on his playwriting. But Alford will still be around as an actor and director, and he’ll help kick off the company’s fall season in the leading role of this Arthur Miller classic set during the Salem witch trials. New Rep producing artistic director René Copeland directs the promising cast, which also includes Jenny Littleton, Kahle Reardon, Sam Whited and Eric Pasto-Crosby. Oct. 4-13 at TPAC’s Polk Theater —MARTIN BRADY

Music

JOSH ROUSE Like a good summer cocktail, Rouse’s music has a quiet sophistication that goes down easy and has a subtle, intoxicating effect. The rare singer-songwriter who puts as much weight on melody and urbane arrangements as he does on lyrics, Rouse elevates understatement in an over-the-top age. Cool and refined, yet slyly observational and wryly witty, Rouse is at his best on his new album, Country Mouse, City House. A longtime Nashville resident now living in Brooklyn, he maintains a strong local following, which is why he’s settling in for a two-night stay. 9 p.m. Friday & Saturday at Exit/In —MICHAEL MCCALL

Music

WRVU BENEFIT FEAT. HANDS OFF CUBA In a city sometimes obsessed with words at the expense of music, Hands Off Cuba’s sonic experiments provide a window into open space. Keyboardist Ryan Norris and drummer Scott Martin make patient, sophisticated art out of simple elements. Influenced by Tortoise, Can, circa-1970 Miles Davis and any number of creepy film scores, these Nashvillians create soundscapes that manage to be simultaneously jumpy, dislocated and passionate. On their new self-titled EP, they maintain one track—“Nately Scures”—for 20 engrossing minutes. Like the best instrumental recordings, it’s both suggestive and specific—seamless late-evening music that never seems forced or precious. Live, they often add Jonathan Marx’s trumpet and sampler and William Tyler’s guitar. This benefit for Vanderbilt’s WRVU also features the Brit Invasion rock of Murfreesboro’s Turncoats, the bent Americana of Megafaun and the whiskey-soaked laments of Bad Friend. $5 minimum donation requested. 9 p.m. at the Basement —EDD HURT

Manufactured Landscapes

DAVID LEFKOWITZ: OBLIVIOUS TO SPACE In his documentary Schindler’s Houses, Heinz Emigholz studies the tidy angles and façades of architect Rudolf Schindler’s houses as they reside within the chaotic, unruly urban development that sprang up around them. Is it even possible to attribute ownership to such works, since they’re transformed by interaction—or unplanned collaboration—with the surrounding public space? Similar issues are explored in the “Land Use Scapes” of former Nashvillian Lefkowitz, now a Minnesota artist and professor at Carlton College. In one painting, a campus imposes a pattern of artificial order on the prairie beneath it, overriding the flatness of the land. In another, the whorls and clover-leaf off-ramps of the interstate system rake brushstrokes across the landscape, creating a miles-wide abstract-expressionist canvas from an aerial view. The tension inherent in man’s attempts to mold and shape his surroundings comes through playfully in his work—an intriguing counterpoint to the photographs of fanciful landscaping going on display simultaneously in Cheekwood’s Museum of Art. A reception for both exhibits runs 6 to 8 p.m. Friday; Lefkowitz will give a gallery talk at 7 p.m. Be sure to ask him about his stint in The Young Nashvillians, one of Nashville’s great ’80s bands. Oct. 6-Dec. 30 at Cheekwood’s Temporary Contemporary gallery —JIM RIDLEY

Witchy Woman

THE WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND Nashville Children’s Theatre opens its new season with a play that could serve as a companion piece to The Crucible, only for younger audiences. The central character, played by Jaclyn Johnson (recently seen in Much Ado About Nothing), is a young lady who endures persecution for witchcraft in a colonial Puritan community. Scot Copeland and Julee Baber co-direct. Patricia Taber designed the period costumes. Oct. 4-27 at Belmont’s Troutt Theater —MARTIN BRADY

Music

JEWLY HIGHT CD RELEASE SHOW The vinyl cracks and pops of her opening track “Part 1: Man Without a Gun” make it instantly clear that Jewly Hight is drawn to the evocative power of old sounds. Like kindred musical spirits Lucinda Williams and Julie Miller, Hight—a Vanderbilt divinity school student and Scene contributor—marries a Southern literary sensibility with an ambient soundscape as languorous and pregnant with secrets as an August Mississippi night. A prime example is the lover’s plea “White Knuckles,” which suggests what Lucinda might sound like if produced by Daniel Lanois. That’s not to say that Hight is retro-obsessed—some of the album’s highlights explore the contrast between older and newer sounds, such as the title track, which pits a verse that suggests the Scottish Highlands (a melodica creates a bagpipe-y drone) against a hooky, slide-guitar-driven chorus that’s somewhere between Fiona Apple and Alanis Morissette. But throughout, Hight is unmistakably Southern—when she drawls, “He don’t like them junebugs / Metallic purple and green / He don’t like them junebugs / buzzin’ like tiny machines,” there’s no mistaking where her roots are planted. 9 p.m. at The 5 Spot —JACK SILVERMAN

Domestic Drama

THE EFFECT OF GAMMA RAYS ON MAN-IN-THE-MOON MARIGOLDS Paul Zindel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play is a poignant family drama concerning a single mother, her two daughters, and their emotional struggle to understand each other and to arrive at a collective sense of hope. Deanna Glasser directs ACT 1’s season opener, which features Cinda McCain and Ellie Sikes. Alwyn Mothershed and Alex Georgeadis will alternate in the pivotal role of younger daughter Tillie. Oct. 5-13 at Darkhorse Theater —MARTIN BRADY

SATURDAY 10/6

Music

STEVE FORBERT AND THE SOUNDBENDERS On Forbert’s recent album, Strange Names and New Sensations, he encounters reaching 50 with the wide-eyed acceptance once applied to songs about love in his 20s or taking on adult responsibilities in his 30s. His raspy voice, which used to play off his youthful exuberance, now casts him in the role of a wise sage who still finds plenty to enjoy in life and in love. He likes his bands to stay stripped down and straightforward, and while Little Steve Orbit is long gone, the full-grown version remains wiry and spry onstage. 10 p.m. at 3rd & Lindsley —MICHAEL MCCALL

MUSIC

FREE DAY OF MUSIC There is perhaps no better chance to explore the Schermerhorn Symphony Center than during the Free Day of Music. The beautiful building—an updated take on European concert halls—will be filled with brass groups, salsa musicians, choral performers, talented young strings students, woodwind ensembles and, of course, the Nashville Symphony. Music will also be performed in the courtyard. Food and beverages will be available, and young children can learn about (and actually touch) musical instruments at the instrument “petting zoo” while grown-ups purchase discounted concert tickets. And here’s a bonus: shuttles will run from both the Scarritt-Bennett Center and Centennial Park (where the Celebration of Cultures will be taking place). 10 a.m.-10 p.m. at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center —MICHELLE JONES

Side(man) Show

RAY EDENTON One of Nashville’s legendary session musicians, Ray Edenton owns the distinction of being a great rhythm guitarist. Often playing a Gretsch electric designed by Chet Atkins, or a Fender acoustic with four strings tuned up an octave for extra bite, Edenton lent his distinctive sound to recordings such as Roger Miller’s “King of the Road” and The Everly Brothers’ “Bye Bye Love.” He played on vibraphonist Gary Burton’s 1966 Tennessee Firebird, and in 1970 helped create the indelible introduction for Lynn Anderson’s “(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden.” The 80-year-old Virginia native has played on some 15,000 sessions, including a 1964 Nashville date with The Beach Boys. Today’s program, part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Nashville Cats: A Celebration of Music City Session Players series, will feature an interview conducted by the Museum’s stringed instrument curator, Bill Lloyd, along with vintage photos, film clips and recordings. 2 p.m. at Ford Theater, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum —EDD HURT

Moulin Rouge

RED PARTY Who doesn’t look good in red? In preparation for the Nashville AIDS Walk, Play Dance Bar is hosting a “Red Party” benefiting Nashville CARES. The entire cover charge ($8) from everyone wearing the sinful shade will go directly to fund raising—Play, Tribe and Red combined contribute more than $10,000 annually to this local organization. Nothing like monochromaticity to get the fun started! 10 p.m. at Play Dance Bar —LEE STABERT

Atmospheric Theater

DEFYING GRAVITY In its relatively brief existence, Tennessee Women’s Theatre Project has lived up to its name, presenting plays and programs inspired by creative women. Playwright Jane Anderson’s loose examination of doomed Challenger astronaut and schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe is no exception. Often not strictly literal or chronological, the play uses an unusual narrative device: painter Claude Monet provides philosophical reflection on human exploration. Maryanna Clarke directs some strong players, including Sara Sharpe, Alan Lee, Jim Wright and Pat Reilly. Oct. 5-21 at the Looby Theatre —MARTIN BRADY

Storytime

NASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS CENTER FEAT. STORYCORPS The new Special Collections Center at the downtown library will house the library’s oral history collections, as well as audio and photographic materials relating to the history of Nashville. The Center will also house Nashville’s recordings for StoryCorps, which arrives here this fall for a one-year stay. StoryCorps is familiar to listeners of National Public Radio, which broadcasts a selection of the personal reminiscences recorded by visitors to its traveling StoryBooths. Participation in StoryCorps is open to anyone, and all the recordings from around the country are preserved in the Library of Congress. Grand opening events will include an 11 a.m. panel discussion featuring John Egerton of the Southern Foodways Alliance, focused on Nashville’s food heritage and the importance of sharing stories and memories. A barbecue lunch catered by Jim ’N Nick’s will follow at noon. StoryCorps founder Dave Isay will give a presentation at 1 p.m., followed by a tour of the new facilities. All events are free, but lunch reservations are required. For information, call 862-5782. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Main Library —MARIA BROWNING

Country Comfort

A GENIUS FOR PLACE: AMERICAN LANDSCAPES OF THE COUNTRY PLACE ERA You might want to grab your smoking jacket, slippers and pipe for this exhibit. Photographer Carol Betsch and historian and author Robin Karson have collaborated on a photography show featuring images from country estates and landscapes. And appropriately enough, they’re showing their work at Nashville’s best-known country estate, Cheekwood. The images are not necessarily what you might expect. Betsch’s “Lions on Seawall,” for instance, features a pair of lion statues resting near a roiling sea. There are no manicured lawns or hoity-toity mansions to be seen anywhere in this photo, since the focus is entirely on the breathtaking ocean view. The exhibit will feature 70 black-and-white photos and seven color prints. There will also be guided tours of Cheekwood’s Bryant Fleming gardens at 1:30 p.m. Saturdays for the duration of the exhibit. Oct. 6-Dec. 30 at Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art —JOHN PITCHER

Ham It Up

SPRING HILL COUNTRY HAM FESTIVAL If you’re looking for a support group of like-minded carnivores who believe that Babe and Charlotte’s Web were unforgivably sappy disruptions of the natural, salt-cured order of the world, then hoof it to Spring Hill for a day of ham-handed entertainment celebrating Country Ham Day in Tennessee. Now in its fourth year, the family-friendly festival of ham competitions and curing demonstrations, hog-calling contests, kids’ activities, fireworks and live music promises to be some terrific, radiant, humble event. Carol Fay, the Biscuit Lady from Loveless Cafe, will be on hand for a biscuit-eating contest. The day-long celebration ends with fireworks after dusk. The event is free with $5 parking. You’ll say, “Wee, wee, wee” all the way home. For more information, visit countryhamfest.com. 10 a.m.-dusk at Tennessee Children’s Home (5331 Main St., Spring Hill) —CARRINGTON FOX

Once Upon a Time

INTO THE WOODS Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Tony Award-winning musical extrapolates The Brothers Grimm’s fairy tales. They weave in characters from stories such as “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Rapunzel” and “Cinderella,” and then reimagine darker consequences for the narratives. Since first produced on Broadway in 1987, Into the Woods has received its fair share of regional and community theater mountings. This will be Boiler Room Theatre’s first crack at the piece. BRT artistic director and resident musical director Jamey Green makes a rare stage appearance, linking the tales together as the baker. Corrie Miller plays the baker’s wife. Others in the cast include Neely O’Brien, Sara Schoch, Lane Wright, Nancy Whitehead and Laura Marsh. Corbin Green directs; Mark Beall is musical director. Oct. 5-Nov. 3 at The Factory at Franklin —MARTIN BRADY

SUNDAY 10/7

Let It Bleed

DEADSTRING BROTHERS Thank Detroit’s Deadstring Brothers for taking the pressure off the Rolling Stones—their new Silver Mountain satisfies that 35-year hunger for another helping of Exile on Main St. Stones, Inc. are now “FREE!” to do whatever credit-card commercial anthems they want, whereas the Deadstring Brothers are still in the business of bashing roadhouses to rubble. With backup singer Masha Marjieh assuming more of a leading role, ably playing Merrie Clayton to frontman/songwriter Kurt Maschke’s Mick, the exhilarating Silver Mountain rallies the group to epic blue-skies-over-dirt-roads rockers and elegiac ballads—a crossroads where The Band meets the Allman Brothers, and nobody cares about heading home as long as Patrick Kenneally’s rollicking boogie piano feels its way toward dawn. Why would a group from the cradle of garage (now featuring no less than three Brits) lean so strongly toward Southern rock? Maybe it’s for that wonderful sprawling big-band groove, larger than any one player or the sum of its parts, and for the soul hardwired into its assembly. Here’s hoping harmonica great and Willie Nelson sideman Mickey Raphael shows up for his two guest spots on the record—and be sure to stay for hometown hero Will Hoge. 8 p.m. at 3rd & Lindsley —JIM RIDLEY

Music

TODAY IS THE DAY Before signing to metal juggernaut Relapse Records, Nashville’s Today Is the Day unleashed a thunderous assault on the ’90s metal underground, then took off for New England. The brainchild of guitarist/vocalist Steve Austin, the band’s flurry of output showcases a revolving cast of musicians—two former members later went on to form half of Mastodon. Where Mastodon’s hooky prog-metal landed them invites to MTV’s VMA’s, Today Is The Day remain firmly planted in the extreme, noisy fringe of metal. Now back in Nashville, the band recently released Axis of Eden, their first studio album in three years, via Austin’s own Supernova Records. Eden, featuring former Hate Eternal/Nile basher Derek Roddy on drums, marks a violent and grinding return to form after the sprawling, arty output preceding it. Once again, Austin’s lurching riffs are central to the assault, while the layers of chilling, otherworldly screams beg for ears to traumatize. 8 p.m. at Exit/In —MATT SULLIVAN

Diversity Day

CELEBRATION OF CULTURES If you think “multicultural” in Nashville means Southern Baptist and Church of Christ, think again. This weekend’s Celebration of Cultures highlights the increasing diversity of our local population, and features an impressive array of live music, dance and storytelling from a wide range of cultures: Native American, Thai, Laotian, Indian, Persian, Israeli, Filipino, Kurdistani, Brazilian and a whole bunch more. The Centennial Art Center will also be showing Nashville Internationals, an exhibit featuring works by 15 artists, all from different countries. Mini villages offer the opportunity to explore the customs and traditions of nations such as Burundi, Bolivia, Laos and El Salvador. And even if you have the intellectual curiosity of a clam (or a U.S. president), where else can you get Greek, Mexican, Ethiopian, Italian, Cajun, Thai and Columbian food all in one place? I’ll meet you in the haggis line—after all, you gotta have heart. For a schedule, visit celebrationofcultures.org. 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday at Centennial Park —JACK SILVERMAN

Dinner Theater, No Bull

THE GOOD LIFE Tim Kasher’s cinematic ambitions play out in his music—each of his albums, whether for The Good Life or his other band, Cursive, is driven by a central conceit. His divorce and post-breakup hell became grist for Cursive’s harrowing Domestica and TGL’s Black Out, while TGL’s 2004 Album of the Year traced a relationship’s course over a seasonal-themed 12 songs. He continues to alternate releases between the two, following-up Cursive’s terrific multi-perspective take on religion, Happy Hollow, with Help Wanted Nights, a soundtrack to Kasher’s unproduced screenplay about a waylaid motorist’s voyeuristic encounters with a bar’s patrons over the course of a week. Kasher has toyed with TGL’s sound over the years, and this time works a sparer acoustic-driven palette, shorn of the keyboards featured on some earlier releases. Fine boy/girl indie-pop duo Georgie James open. 8 p.m. at Exit/In —CHRIS PARKER

Music

KOFFIN KATS Informed by the Misfits, Damned and Cramps, Detroit trio Koffin Kats must mainline rocket fuel to percolate their turbocharged psychobilly. On last year’s Straying From the Pack, guitarist Tommy Koffin unleashes shredding leads ranging from Thunders-style throwdowns (“Splatterhouse”) to high-wire thrash (“For Hire”). Vic Victor holds down both bass and vocal duties, his arch delivery recalling Glenn Danzig, and appropriate to the horror movie atmosphere that predominates. Straying, their third release, marks a vast improvement over 2005’s Inhumane. While the style’s old enough to sprout gray hairs, the Kats kick it into overdrive with finesse—you won’t even notice all the insects splattered on your forehead. 9 p.m. at The Muse —CHRIS PARKER

WEDNESDAY 10/10

Music

STEPHEN MARLEY The Marley brothers have never shied away from their father’s name, sound or socially conscious bent. For this, they’ve earned chart success and enough Grammys to fill up the family credenza. Stephen Marley has been the creative force behind most of the family’s recent triumphs, producing albums for his siblings, including recent hits by Damien Marley. Of the Marley scion, Stephen most resembles his father in presence and vocals—his rough voice even cracks on the same notes. However, his songs reflect the modernity of rap music. Where Pops might have turned out a tender love song such as “Hey Baby” with nothing but a lilting acoustic guitar, Stephen brings the boom-bap of the TR-808 and a guest shot by Mos Def. For fans who still have Legend in heavy rotation, Stephen obliges—his live show features covers of his father’s hits. 8 p.m. at Exit/In —MARK MAYS

Classic Coke

COKE SAMS TRIBUTE A veteran Music Row exec once lamented the post-Urban Cowboy purging of the “crazies,” people like the late Roger Miller and Glenn Sutton who made early-’70s Nashville a creative bohemia. But at least Coke Sams is still here, ignoring all those eviction notices. He arrived here as a student in the 1960s and stuck around to get one of the first gigs at the fledgling Nashville Network, shooting a pilot with Dan Butler’s Gonzo Theater. Since then, he helped put Nashville filmmaking on the industry’s radar with the Ernest movies, attacked all that is holy (and boring) with his 1999 Existo (which now looks presciently pre-apocalyptic) and produced Steve Taylor’s The Second Coming, the first local feature since the Ernest films to get major-studio distribution. That makes him a natural choice for FilmNashville’s “Nashy” award, given to those who advance the cause of local filmmaking. Presenters include Taylor, his Ernest collaborators John “Buster” Cherry and cinematographer Armanda Costanza (both previous Nashy recipients) and his longtime production partner Clarke Gallivan. “I told them I would accept this only if I could make a mockery of it,” Sams deadpans, “with my usual reckless disregard for decorum.” Hey, that’s why we’re going. 8 p.m. at the Belcourt Theatre —JIM RIDLEY

Film Folk

BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE SYMPOSIUM With six wins and 11 more nominations to its credit, HBO’s film version of the Dee Brown book cleaned up at the recent Emmys. Three of those nominated—director Yves Simoneau, screenwriter Daniel Giat and composer George S. Clinton—will discuss their collaboration at MTSU’s Keathley University Center Theater and later at the Country Music Hall of Fame. It should be a sweet homecoming for MTSU grad Clinton, a Chattanooga native who’s one of Hollywood’s go-to guys for comedy scores (including the Austin Powers and Santa Clause franchises). Beverly Keel, director of MTSU’s Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies, will moderate the panel, which is free and open to the public. 11:30 a.m. at KUC Theater, Murfreesboro and 5:30 p.m. at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum —JIM RIDLEY