Friday, 4th
The Wallflowers Jakob Dylan doesn’t have to worry about his band’s records sounding like those of his dad: A post-Nevermind Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is more like it. Nothing wrong with that, mind you, and hardly surprising, what with a buncha Uncle Tom’s guys, and the usual L.A. suspects, appearing on the Wallflowers’ latest album. That said, the record’s not a bad soundtrack to sitting back and watching the river flow, just as the band’s 9:30 p.m. set on the Miller Lite Stage Friday night should be. It’s got to be better than that shameless Coke commercial they’re in.
—B.F.W.
Hayseed Dixie On some level, playing AC/DC songs with banjos, fiddles, and acoustic guitars seems to make sense. Lord knows, around these parts we’ve adopted the Young Brothers as honorary Southern rockers. Part of what’s so interesting about Hayseed Dixie is the fact that, though the concept sounds amusing, the players treat the songs with great reverence. The result is a “tribute” indeed; Hayseed Dixie make the AC/DC songs their own while remaining true to the spirit. And yes, it’s damn amusing.
—T.A.
Five For Fighting Essentially songwriting troubadour John Ondrasik and some hired guns, Five For Fighting work the same mid-tempo rock balladry vein favored by so many young men with guitars these days. The difference is that Ondrasik fleshes out his socially relevant compositions with piano, and he employs tasteful arrangements to frame his pretty, Dave Matthews-y croon. On their own merits—divorced from the dispiriting wave of similar acts glutting the marketplace—Five For Fighting are pretty good. They’ll be appearing 6:45-7:30 p.m. on the BellSouth Stage.
—N.M.
The Benjamins The latest bespectacled rockers to challenge Weezer for their throne, The Benjamins throw themselves into their power-chord pop. Their debut record, The Art of Disappointment, displays smart songwriting skills and hard-to-forget melodies.
—T.A.
Train Their second album, Drops of Jupiter, hasn’t even been released yet, and already this San Francisco modern-rock outfit has a monster hit with the string-soaked title track. That orchestral arrangement—and the shimmering vocals of Patrick Monahan—makes drama out of what is frankly just another VH1-ready mid-tempo ballad. Rarely have so many spent so much energy to generate lethargy. These particular vanguards will be lulling those gathered around the AmSouth Stage from 8:20 to 9:20 p.m.
—N.M.
Crazy Town It’s somewhat telling that this L.A. rap-rock outfit—despite cynically playing the sort of witless, vulgar music that has been so popular for the past few years—couldn’t get extensive radio play until they released a sappy love song, “Butterfly.” So Crazy Town have their toes in two of the worst trends in modern rock—syrupy balladry and pounding cock rock—which both have their roots in emotionally stunted self-absorption. They’ll be glorifying themselves at the expense of the world 7:10-8:10 p.m. on the Miller Lite Stage.
—N.M.
Saturday, 5th
Bob Dylan Whether duck-walking with a shit-eatin’ grin on his face or lighting beacons to Jerry Garcia, Buddy Holly, or Carter Stanley, the Poet Laureate of American pop music seemed to be having the time of his life when he played the Municipal Auditorium a year-and-a-half ago. The show was almost enough to put you in mind of Nashville Skyline, the most country album of the three that Dylan made here back in the ’60s. It might have rocked a lot harder, but his set at the Municipal that night exuded much the same sense of harmony and contentment—and down-home fun—as that record. Here’s hoping for a repeat performance beneath the shadow of the city’s skyline when Dylan plays on the Pontiac Stage at 7:45 p.m.
—B.F.W.
Ron LaSalle LaSalle’s new CD Too Angry to Pray returns to the days when arena rock meant grand gestures, not self-pitying poses. It’s a bracing blast of Southern boogie and Jersey soul invested with personal pain, pride, and passion, and LaSalle’s surprisingly expressive bellow has some of the fervid intensity of classic Van Morrison. He also puts on a tent revival of a live show, which should draw some folks to the Acoustic Stage at 2:30 p.m.
—J.R.
The Black Crowes Still trying—11 years later—to repeat the success of its multi-platinum debut album Shake Your Money Maker, this Southern rock contingent unleashes Lions on the public May 8. The new Don Was-produced project tills the fertile musical soil the Crowes have cultivated from the start—blues, R&B, rock, and gospel—but the final results are surprisingly bland, with only a few memorable riffs and a whole lotta in-one-ear-and-out-the-other melodies. Still, the band’s live show at 9:20 pm on the Miller Lite Stage should be quite entertaining; just remember the sparks that flew the last time they performed under that brewing company’s banner.
—D.R.B.
William Howse & Jack Pearson As frontman of The Nationals, one of Middle Tennessee’s longest-lived blues outfits, William Howse wears a belt of harmonicas strapped across his chest like a bandolero, and only a fool would challenge him to draw. His longtime collaborator Jack Pearson is a guitar hero whose renown went from local to national when the Allman Brothers tapped him to tour, and he’s performed with everyone from Delbert McClinton to Tracy Nelson. The two play songs from their acoustic-blues duet CD 5 p.m. on the Acoustic Stage.
—J.R.
Femi Kuti Kuti is the son of the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the man who invented the polyrhythmic synthesis of funk, rock, jazz, and Nigerian highlife known as Afrobeat. The grooves that the younger Kuti and his band, the Positive Force, lay down aren’t as relentless as his dad’s, and Femi’s sax blowing definitely owes more to the sweet soul music of Stax and Motown than Fela’s Yoruban appropriation of the JBs, but they can move the crowd just the same. And politically, he’s a chip off the old block, a revolutionary who knows that justice begins at home. Kuti and Positive Force play at the Miller Lite Stage at 2:50 p.m.
—B.F.W.
Sunday, 6th
John Prine Forget all that “new Dylan” jazz; if anything, the reinvigorated, mordantly funny Dylan of late reminds us of no one as much as Prine, whose live shows have been a blessing and a delight now for more than three decades. And after a brush with cancer near his vocal cords a few years back, Prine’s voice deepened and took on a raspy new resonance, giving too-old-for-this-world songs like “Angel From Montgomery” and “Hello in There” added poignance. Most wondrous of all, time and devoted fans haven’t softened his corrosive wit—he’s still the only guy within spitting distance of Music Row who’d rhyme “a month of Sundays” with “sniffin’ my undies.” Don’t miss him 6:15 p.m. on the AmSouth Stage.
—J.R.
Cheap Trick They’re old enough to be grandfathers, but somehow these sons of Illinois have kept it together in a fashion that has to leave the Stones scratching their balding noggins. Sure, you could hold them responsible for almost every bad power-ballad hair group of the last 20 years, but that wouldn’t be giving them credit for “Surrender,” “Dream Police,” and “Southern Girls.” And with all respects to Weezer, no one since has so brilliantly synthesized their head-on collision of stadium-level rock and snide humor. In my mind, this opportunity to catch them live—5:15 pm on the Pontiac Stage—is worth wading through the whole weekend.
—W.T.
Lucinda Williams Still basking in the glow of the critical and commercial success of Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, and with a new album due in a few weeks, Williams seems to be sitting on top of the world right now. Essence, her forthcoming release, is another stunner, albeit a more subdued and serpentine one; it’s an almost ambient record that channels the spirits of Dusty Springfield (à la Dusty in Memphis) and Nick Drake. And it also finds Williams getting right with God, or at least on the road to find out. She plays the AmSouth Stage at 3:40 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
—B.F.W.
The Cult The neo-hippie Britpop band that transformed themselves into purveyors of monster-riff anthems appears 6:45-8 p.m. on the Miller Lite Stage, in support of their first studio album in seven years. That new record—Beyond Good and Evil, due in May—rocks hard, but mostly lacks the unshakable melodies that drove The Cult’s “metal shaman” act in the late ’80s. Still, there’s plenty of juice in that back catalog, and Ian Astbury and company are sure to trot out their classics—“She Sells Sanctuary,” “Fire Woman,” and the exultant “Love Removal Machine”—at some point in their hour-plus set.
—N.M.
Thursday, 3rd
Paul Brady Irish singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Brady has trad cred to burn, having been a founding member of Planxty, the virtuosic outfit that played as big a role in the ’70s Irish music revival as anyone. Later, Brady made a series of brilliant, rock-leaning singer-songwriter albums, one of which, Hard Station, has just been reissued (along with Spirits Colliding) by Nashville’s Compass Records. Brady also has a mess of ace songwriting credits to his name, including cuts by Bonnie Raitt (the title track to Luck of the Draw), Maura O’Connell, Santana, and country-pop star Bryan White. Brady’s rare Bluebird Cafe show promises to be a can’t-miss evening for fans of any of the above.
—B.F.W.
Congratulations/The Last Soul Company Congratulations’ music could land them in the vacuous company of jam bands. But while their able musicianship undergirds their extended improvisations, the group offers more than the Ramen noodle (i.e. no substance) jams of Widespread Panic and other similar acts. There is a perceptible intuitive instrumental dialogue between Congratulations’ members that more closely resembles The Minutemen, precisely because they do rock. The Last Soul Company play blues-rock injected with a healthy dose of noisy guitar. The pair take the stage at Springwater.
—C.D.
Clay Greenberg Fans of Robert Earl Keen and Rodney Crowell should check out Greenberg, a Texas-born, Oklahoma-raised singer-songwriter who made Nashville his home in the mid-’90s. His recent CD Tumbleweed occasionally lapses into the featureless proficiency that marks a lot of front-porch Americana. But Greenberg sounds right at home in the relaxed Southern-rock groove of “Tumbleweed Blues,” the acoustic lilt of “Leavin’,” and the uncharacteristically harsh “My Oklahoma.” And support from folks like Guy Clark, Jo-El Sonnier, and Verlon Thompson and Suzi Ragsdale doesn’t exactly hurt. For a taste of Greenberg’s music, see him perform at Borders Books & Music Cafe in Brentwood.
—J.R.
Redline These local alt-Christan rockers have a pleasant, polished modern-rock sound, heavy on early ’90s grunge dynamics—all the more unfortunate then that they share a name with a godawful San Francisco goth-metal band. One of the acts has to give in eventually.... Let’s grant the use of the name to whichever group shows up to play at The End.
—N.M.
Wang Chung Frank and Earl, where ya been? Messrs. Wang and Chung return to 12th & Porter for a show that’s sure to be entertaining.
—T.A.
Adrienne Young’s Sapphire Knights Liters of Pop vocalist Adrienne Young fronts a jazz side project with Jim Hoke, Charlie Chadwick, Justin Thompson, and Rick Lonow. They’ll set up every Thursday night this month for Cafe 123’s late-night jazz series.
Thursday, 3rd-Saturday, 5th
August Christopher This hard-working local combo alternates conventional groove-based tunes with what they call “freestyle rock”—a genre of their own invention which consists of improvised lyrics set to impromptu jams. The “freestyle” gimmick is essentially August Christopher’s attempt to recreate the spontaneity and creativity of rehearsal in a concert setting, and though the results are usually mixed, at least the band realizes the risks of the experiment and has a sense of humor about it. Give them credit for trying something different, and check them out Thursday at Hard Rock Cafe or Friday and Saturday at Graham Central Station.
—N.M.
Friday, 4th
Dashboard Confessional Boca Raton, Fla., may be a senior’s paradise, but there’s a thriving whippersnapper community there as well, as evidenced by this acoustic side project for emo-core stalwart Chris Carraba, whose youthful vigor, directly confrontational lyrics, and tricky melodies mark him as somewhat more intriguing than the average mid-tempo balladeer. He’ll be working some things out at Indienet Record Shop.
—N.M.
The Features It’s hard to understand why a band as good as The Features would only have a scant CDEP and a recently released 10-inch vinyl record to their credit when they’re obviously one of the best pop bands in the area. Especially given the fact that they’ve had “label backing” for around five years, and they have widespread college radio support. So enjoy their performance at The Boro until they make good on their years-old promise for a full-length release.
—C.D.
Friday, 4th-Saturday, 5th
Gaither Homecoming Musical Spectacular Spectacular indeed, this gala boasts some of the greatest names in the history of Southern gospel: Gaither, Goodman, and Speer. But the real draw—besides Vestal Goodman, who’s still in fabulous voice—is Jake Hess of the legendary Statesman quartet. One of Elvis’ earliest idols, Hess had as much influence on the King’s mature vocal style, particularly his ballad phrasing and whisper-to-a-scream vocal dynamics, as anyone. Ever. The Gaither extravaganza takes place at the Gaylord Entertainment Center on both Friday and Saturday nights.
—B.F.W.
Arturo Sandoval Political refugee, protégé of Dizzy Gillespie, and world-revered trumpeter, Arturo Sandoval is one of the great living legends of jazz, whose story was compelling enough to serve as the subject of an HBO biopic, For Love or Country. Fluent in both the fields of bebop and classical, this spectacular performer is truly a testament to endurance. This unique opportunity to see Sandoval performing with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra at Jackson Hall shouldn’t be missed, and promises to be a compelling night of music.
—W.T.
Saturday, 5th
The Michael Brecker Quartet Saxophonist Michael Brecker’s highlights and achievements have filled the pages of numerous jazz guides and encyclopedias. Brecker won early acclaim for his spiraling solos in the pioneering fusion band Dreams. He and his trumpeter brother Randy co-led the spirited Brecker Brothers ensemble in the mid-’70s, then came his stints with Horace Silver, Gil Evans, Frank Zappa, and Steps Ahead. Add session work with everyone from Aretha Franklin to Parliament/Funkadelic, plus his tremendous albums as a leader over the last two decades, and there’s no doubt Brecker’s a major force on the jazz circuit. He’s the prime headliner for the daylong Main Street Jazzfest 2001 in Murfreesboro, which also features a host of area performers.
—R.W.
Summer Sensations Local promoter the Electric Lounge returns with another promising bill of forward-thinking electronic and rap music. Featured act is New York’s Ming and FS, a pair of DJs who’ve dubbed their combination of hip-hop, drum ’n’ bass, and funky soul beats “junkyard.” They’ll be joined by DJ Soul Slinger and DJ/MC TC Izlam, who’ll work their own hybrid of hip-hop and dance music, and several local/regional acts: Kid Clover with Mat Bush; BenBen; and Funkblasta. For more information, e-mail electriclounge32@aol.com.
WMTS BBQ MTSU’s cool college station WMTS-88.3 FM hosts a fundraising barbecue at The Boro in Murfreesboro, with a lineup of ’Boro bands that includes The Free Lunch Brigade, Purkinje, Rickets Madcore, Mass Transit, Common Ground, Dougie D & the Believers, and Element 8. The show starts at 4 p.m.
Sunday, May 6th
Mr. Natural’s B-Day Party Springwater hosts a birthday party for Mr. Natural, onetime Blazen y Sharp collaborator, instrument builder, proprietor of the Genderless Kibbutz record label, and the man responsible for bringing important and unique (albeit obscure) artists of international repute like Amy Denio and Francisco Lopez to town. Scheduled to perform are local electronica group Logikal; a freeish saxophone unit featuring members of the Transcendental Crayon Ensemble; an all-star jam; and a performance by the birthday boy himself. Show time is 9:30 p.m.
—C.D.
Monday, 7th
Mike iLL iLL brings anti-folk to Nashville when he performs as part of the 12@12th writer’s show at 12th & Porter. The author of Anti-Folk Road Manual, he has made quite an impression on previous swings through the South; one of his favorite stops was the old Hopson Plantation near Clarksdale, Miss.—a land wherefrom the ghosts of bluesmen rise to whomp you upside the head if you try to fake things.
Tarbox Ramblers This quartet of Boston-based roots revivalists approach such folk music standards as “Honey in the Rock” and “St. James Infirmary” with a loose-limbed, shambling style that emphasizes the humble, recreational origins of Americana. Whether their roughness is a by-product of trying to capture a certain energy or merely a deliberately sloppy (and thereby insulting) attempt at “authenticity” is a question best answered by the band’s live performance at The Sutler.
—N.M.
Tuesday, 8th
Larry Garner Garner keeps coming close to making a career breakout, but thus far he has had to settle for simply being a wonderful live blues performer and singer. Still, don’t let his lack of name recognition deter you from catching his show at Bourbon Street Blues & Boogie Bar.
—R.W.
Anny Celsi & the Nashville Black Dress Band Celsi (pronounced “Chelsea”), who played in the late-’80s L.A. pop band The Tearjerkers and her rootsier follow-up project Annyland, performs wry, torchy tunes from her upcoming Marvin Etzioni-produced solo EP at this week’s edition of Kim’s Tuesday Night Music Club at The Sutler. Celsi also performs Monday night at 12th & Porter’s 12@12th event.
Dana Cooper Trio Acclaimed Nashville singer-songwriter Cooper sings tunes from his new Red Letter Day CD at the Bluebird.
Wednesday, 9th
Shemekia Copeland Only three years ago, many wondered if vocalist Copeland was more hype than skill. The daughter of the great Texas shuffle star Johnny Copeland, Shemekia earned her the kind of universal exposure and publicity normally reserved only for blues types with one foot squarely in the rock camp with her album Turn the Heat Up. Thankfully, some of the promotion has been tuned down for the follow-up, and Copeland is being offered an opportunity to mature out of the glare of PR exaggeration. See for yourself how much her approach and style have evolved Tuesday night at Bourbon Street.
—R.W.
Film
George Washington By turns elegiac and hopeful, funny and poetic, David Gordon Green’s beautiful first feature concerns a racially mixed group of kids growing up in the railroad yards and slagheaps of an unnamed Southern town. A 12-year-old named George Washington (Donald Holden) combats tragedy by covering his soft skull with a football helmet and evolving into a kind of superhero. The movie opens Friday at the Belcourt; to help the movie reach as wide an audience as possible, the theater is charging only $3 admission for the 3 p.m. matinee Saturday. See the story on p. 41.
—J.R.
Titus Julie Taymor, the innovative theater director who staged The Lion King on Broadway, made her feature debut with this hair-raising version of Shakespeare’s reviled Titus Andronicus—here reimagined as a nightmarish, visually resplendent bloodbath with a flood of horrific imagery. The movie, which stars Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, and Alan Cumming, was barely released in 1999, but it became an immediate cult sensation when released on video; the Belcourt gives you a chance to see it on the big screen Sunday through Wednesday.
—J.R.
Amores Perros One of the year’s arthouse sensations, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s audacious three-part thriller opens with a bloody car wreck in contemporary Mexico City and moves back and forth in time to show how the principals arrived on the scene—and how their fates are affected by a black dog. The movie opens Friday at Green Hills; if (simulated) violence against animals in movies makes you queasy, stay home. See the review on p. 41.
—J.R.
Hit and Runway A would-be action screenwriter (Michael Parducci) cons a neurotic gay playwright (Peter Jacobsen) into helping him write an action movie, on the condition he can get the playwright a date with a handsome waiter (Dawson’s Creek’s Kerr Smith) in his brother’s restaurant. Christopher Livingston directed and co-wrote this indie comedy, which opens Friday at Green Hills.
—J.R.
The Mummy Returns Ten years after the events of The Mummy, Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) again seeks eternal life—only this time he’ll face deadly opposition from another otherworldly foe, the Scorpion King (played by former Nashvillian The Rock). Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz return for Stephen Sommers’ CGI-saturated sequel, which opens Friday at area theaters.
—J.R.
DVD
Paul Verhoeven Three of genius dirty-old-man director Paul Verhoeven’s Dutch films are finally getting DVD releases (with uncensored, subtitled, anamorphic widescreen transfers; audio commentaries by Verhoeven; and trailers for each). The 1973 Oscar-nominated doomed romance Turkish Delight, 1977’s World War II epic Soldier of Orange, and 1984’s journey into bisexuality and Catholicism entitled The Fourth Man all exhibit his trademarks of extreme violence and sex, yet are marked by an intense emotional immediacy that is not as prevalent in his more deconstructive American films. Experience any or all of them and be floored.
—J.S.
The Emperor’s New Groove: The Ultimate Edition Disney’s overbearing attempt at a zany, vintage Warner Bros.-style animated comedy may have been more shrill than funny, but a wonderful voice performance by Patrick Warburton and some whiz-bang set-pieces mean that the film will endure longer than some of Disney’s more “important” animated features. The 2-DVD edition of the film is impressively comprehensive, featuring the same sort of fascinating behind-the-scenes info on the animation development process that also marked such stellar disc sets as The Fantasia Anthology and The Ultimate Toy Box.
—N.M.
Superman The 1978 big-screen saga of the man of steel finally debuts on DVD, with a pristine new print transfer and a remastered soundtrack. Also included are a commentary by director Richard Donner, a trio of making-of featurettes, a couple of deleted scenes, the original screen tests for Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder, and an optional alternate score for eight scenes. The film itself remains a charming treasure (if a little too far afield from the comic-book mythos), and the DVD looks to be an essential, especially for the family library.
—N.M.
Theater
ART The Tennessee Repertory Theatre closes out its 2000-2001 season with Yasmina Reza’s comedy, which raises some interesting questions about friendship, art, and the uneasy status of both. This play won the Tony Award and the Drama Critics Circle Award in 1998, after already having garnered England’s prestigious Olivier Award in 1996. David Grapes and Todd Olson take to the boards this time around, along with Robert Bartley. Brant L. Pope does the staging. The play previews on May 9, then opens May 10 for a three-week run at TPAC’s Polk Theater.
—M.B.
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF Stage, film, and television veteran Theodore Bikel is Tevye in this revival of the classic musical that won many hearts and awards when it first debuted on Broadway in 1965. The story of the humble Russian milkman who strives to maintain family tradition in the face of a changing world has universal appeal, and, while told with wit and humor, still manages to make powerful statements about prejudice and other societal ills. The very famous Jerry Bock-Sheldon Harnick score includes such well-known tunes as “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” and “Sunrise, Sunset.” The production, under the direction of Sammy Dallas Bayes, runs May 8-13 in TPAC’s Andrew Jackson Hall.
—M.B.
Art
Tennessee State Museum Before the advent of photography in 1839, about the only way to record a likeness of a person was with canvas and a paintbrush. Not surprisingly, portraiture was the most widely practiced genre of art in America from Colonial times to the 1830s, and everyone who was anyone had their portrait done. Many of those paintings are now in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, whose touring show stops at the state museum May 4-July 1. Famous folks whose images are captured on canvas by the likes of Gilbert Stuart, Edgar Degas, and Andy Warhol range from Davy Crockett and Ben Franklin, to Carl Sandburg and Michael Jackson. For some real insight into portrait painting and American history, join Carolyn Carr and Ellen Miles of the Smithsonian for a walking tour and discussion of the show at 2 p.m. May 5.
—A.W.
Bennett Galleries/Finer Things/Fugitive Art Center A trio of interesting art openings this weekend demonstrates the variety of art—and art venues—to be found around town. For a more traditional approach, start with the Bennett Gallery in Green Hills, a well-heeled space featuring attractive abstract works by Holland Berkley and textured paintings by Alicia Quaini, 6-9 p.m. May 4. Then on May 5, head over to Finer Things on Nolensville Road across from the fairgrounds for the opening of a show of contemporary paintings by Michael Brangoccio, Marla Faith, and Michael Streets, 6-8 p.m. Afterwards, shoot over to the funky Fugitive Art Center near Greer Stadium for a cutting-edge art installation by Shaun Slifer and the opening reception 7-9 p.m. May 5 (see below).
—A.W.
Fugitive Art Center “Change of Pace (growth),” a two-part installation from up-and-coming local artist Shaun Slifer, opens May 5 and remains on display until June 9. Slifer has an understanding of the hypnotic and destructive nature of suburban sprawl. But he’s never obvious or condescending, and it shows in all of his pieces, which transmute the abstract and emotionally intangible into the physical. Equal parts shaman and architect, Slifer is one of Nashville’s most passionate, innovative, and unsung artists, and this show promises to be like nothing you’ve seen in a while. For more information, visit www.fugitiveart.com.
—J.S.
Events
Richland-West End Home & Garden Tour Americans have grown accustomed to ordering just about everything from a catalogue—or a Web site. But they still can’t do what the Rogers family of Nashville did back in 1911: order an entire home from the Sears Roebuck company and have it delivered right to the building site. That structure, a custom Sears design featuring a dining room with a 20-foot ceiling topped by a stained glass skylight, two bathrooms, and a tower room with windows on three sides, sits at 3512 Central Ave. and is open to the public for the first time as part of this year’s Richland-West End Home and Garden Tour. The price tag? A whopping (for the time) $16,000. The current owners have been busy for the past 16 years undoing the damage done to the Craftsman/Prairie-style structure over the years.
—A.W.
30th Annual Tennessee Crafts Fair This annual outdoor craft fair is a sure sign that spring’s on the run with summer on its heels. Some 170 artisans from all over the state will be in residence on the lawn in front of the Parthenon, selling everything from pottery and hand-blown glass to art jewelry and clothing. Besides being a browser’s paradise, the fair is also a one-stop shop for Mother’s Day, graduation, or wedding gifts. There are also craft demonstrations, kids’ activities, music, and food to enjoy. The fair takes place May 4-6.
—A.W.
Museums & Sites
Opryland Hotel America’s eternal fascination with a tragedy at sea almost 90 years ago continues with “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit,” yet another display of objects recovered from the wreck site over two miles beneath the icy surface of the North Atlantic. This version promises to include several artifacts that have never been displayed before and also features a multimedia presentation that tells the tale of the luxury liner’s construction and fatal maiden voyage in 1912. Among the objects on view are a 3-ton chunk of the Titanic’s hull that was recovered in the summer of 1998, a cherub from the ship’s grand staircase, silver, china, gold coins, jewelry, and personal letters. The show opens May 3 and continues through August.
—A.W.
Picks written by Todd Anderson, Diann Blakely, Martin Brady, Doug R. Brumley, Chris Davis, Bill Friskics-Warren, Noel Murray, Jim Ridley, Jason Shawhan, William Tyler, Angela Wibking, and Ron Wynn.
