THURSDAY 12/20
First Star I See TonightSTARLITE DINE & DANCE CLUB’S 55TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY Music trends come and go, clubs open and close, recording media morph from vinyl to 8-tracks to CDs to iPods, but through it all, the Starlite Dine & Dance Club soldiers on. Head north of the city on Dickerson Road past Old Hickory Boulevard, where downtown’s CCM dye jobs and skinny jeans give way to work boots and cowboy hats, and you’ll come to this unlikely Nashville institution, where 86-year-young Mary “Sis” King has been running the show since 1952—an era when rock ’n’ roll was knee-high to a grasshopper and Rosanne Cash was just a gleam in Johnny’s eye. Starlite is open nightly: Dennis Gulley and the Nightshift Band offer up classic rock, country and Top 40 hits Thursday through Saturday, while DJs and karaoke occupy patrons Sunday through Wednesday. 7 p.m. at Starlite Dine & Dance (3976 Dickerson Pike); band goes on at 9 p.m. —JACK SILVERMAN
One-Man ShowA CHRISTMAS CAROL If there’s an actor in Middle Tennessee who can imaginatively portray the 34 diverse characters contained in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol—and consistently maintain focus for the viewers sitting in front of him—it would probably be Mark Cabus. Busy producing and directing for his newly formed company Naked Stages, Cabus resurrects this Herculean one-man undertaking, last performed in 2002 to serious press acclaim. Besides offering holiday-conscious audiences a rare theatrical treat, this event also serves as a fundraiser for Naked Stages‚ with live music and food also on the bill. Dec. 20-22 in Belmont’s Black Box Theater —MARTIN BRADY
MusicNICK GIACONIA W/MATTIE GROVES, DAVE PERKINS & SPECIAL GUESTS When Nick Giaconia says, “I want to get loud, I want to sweat—trust me I will—and above all, I want to have fun,” he’s not just blowing smoke. He’s making a sacred vow to throw himself into rock ’n’ roll one last time, and—considering how taxing it is for him to sing these days—it’s a safe bet he means it. Two years back, a surgery left Giaconia with scar tissue intermittently paralyzing one of his vocal cords. Since then, trying to sing on any given day has been like shaking a magic 8-ball. Giaconia released a solo set titled Center of the Earth in the mid-’90s and recorded an album as Mattie Groves (named for the murder ballad) in 2000 that featured the energized guitar crunch of “Spaceman” and plenty of solid, spiritually inflected rock. With Dave Perkins—known for his fierce, deeply felt guitar attack and lots more besides—and a cast of other stellar players (Chris Donohue, Pete Wasner and Billy Thomas), Giaconia’s finale will be a truly memorable night. 8 p.m. at 3rd & Lindsley —JEWLY HIGHT
ComedyDOUG BENSON Best known as a talking head on VH1’s Best Week Ever—where he makes America chuckle with his “Pop Culture Bachelor” routine—and as the subtle, actually funny dude on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, Doug Benson is also a world-class pot head. A cast-member in the off-Broadway show The Marijuana-Logues (a take-off of The Vagina Monologues)—“I left a bag of pot in my jacket when I dropped it off at the dry cleaners. It was that Marvin Gay weed: weed that’s so strong that after one hit, you’re like, “What’s going on?”—Benson recently starred in a documentary entitled Super High Me. Set to be released in 2008, this film tell the story of Benson not smoking pot for 30 days, then smoking insane amounts of weed for 30 more. He claims neither segment was all that hard—though he did gain 10 pounds during stage two. Dec. 20-23 at Zanie’s Comedy Club —LEE STABERT
FRIDAY 12/21
MusicMAURA O’CONNELL W/TIM O’BRIEN & DARRELL SCOTT O’Connell’s expansive voice has always gained part of its power from the Irish singer’s generous spirit and big heart, so it’s no surprise she’d participate in an all-star benefit concert for beloved journalist and filmmaker Molly Secours, who’s been battling cancer without medical insurance. Adding luster to the lineup will be acoustic music ace Tim O’Brien and soulful songwriter Darrell Scott. Organizers also say a well-known local performer more accustomed to filling theaters than clubs will be appearing, but a contract over an official local appearance won’t allow the star’s name to be publicized. Suffice it to say that the show will be a Christmas present to fans of acoustic music. 9 p.m. at Station Inn —MICHAEL MCCALL
Merry Christmas, Bedford Falls! Yippie-Ki-Yay, Motherfucker!IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE/DIE HARD Those six words are existence in a nutshell, dontcha think? And in some ways, they’re kinda the same movie: lone do-gooder hits a rough patch with his family right at the height of Christmastime, faces a crisis prompted by a greedy jackal, and proceeds to show everyone how one man can affect countless lives—Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey by lending a helping hand to every citizen in cozy Bedford Falls, Bruce Willis’ John McClane by hanging, shooting and blowing up a posse of terrorists in a skyscraper one floor at a time. They’re both Christmas offerings this weekend at the Belcourt, where yearly showings of Frank Capra’s tough-love Yuletide favorite have become a family tradition (and where something a bit weirder was needed for the midnight crowd). Just ask yourself which better suits your mood this holiday season—an angel getting its wings every time a bell rings, or the body of a bad Santa turning up with a note attached that says, “Ho ho ho.” It’s a Wonderful Life shows through Dec. 27; Die Hard screens midnight only, Dec. 21-22 at the Belcourt —JIM RIDLEY
Christmas ConcertTANYA TUCKER FAMILY CONCERT When a holiday concert is billed as a family Christmas show, complete with children joining a parent onstage, you expect an intimate, friendly, relaxed show where the chestnuts are roasted on a low flame. But Tanya Tucker’s family is not like most others. Expect the proceedings to be high-intensity and to feature plenty of dramatic crescendos. Having relocated to Malibu, Calif., earlier this year, Tucker returns to her longtime home with an orchestra, famed gospel vocal quartet The Imperials, and renowned string arranger and conductor Joe Guercio. As fans of Elvis Presley know, The Imperials and Guercio were associated with Elvis during his Vegas years. So expect plenty of flash as Tucker brings, in the words of The King, a “blue, blue, blue Christmas.” 7 p.m. at Wildhorse Saloon —MICHAEL MCCALL
MusicRISSI PALMER Palmer’s self-titled debut on indie label 1720 has to be one of the better under-the-radar country releases of the year. As a Nashville singer-songwriter, Palmer has already had some success writing for others. This album falls on the pop side of the country-pop equation. The breezy, banjo-happy “Country Girl,” already a minor hit, and the moody and mysterious “I’m Not of This World” are standout tracks on a record that gets stronger with every play. The fact that Palmer, a striking young woman, happens to be black is only a minor part of the story that will hopefully conclude with her making herself known in Nashville circles and beyond. 8 p.m. at the Opry —WERNER TRIESCHMANN
MusicJEFFREY STEELE is going to need an addition on his house for all his awards—good thing the prodigious songwriter/producer has penned enough No. 1’s the last decade to afford it. Steele grew up in Burbank, Calif., and started Boy Howdy in 1990, scoring hits with “They Don’t Make ’Em Like That Anymore,” and the title track from 1994’s She’d Give Anything. The band broke up a couple years later, but Steele’s gilded touch was just getting started. Since then, he’s piled up accolades, including a pair of BMI Songwriter of the Year awards and a rare CMA Triple Play for a trio of No. 1’s this calendar year (“My Wish,” “Brand New Girlfriend” and “What Hurts the Most”). When not spinning gold, he’s producing (Montgomery Gentry, Keith Anderson), appearing on the GAC series Hit Men of Music Row, running his publishing company and working on a solo album of rollicking country-rawk blending Bakersfield strut and rock swagger. 9 p.m. at the Bluebird Café —CHRIS PARKER
MusicJASON ESKRIDGE & DARNELL LEVINE CHRISTMAS SHOW It’s not hard to guess why Jason Eskridge’s solo album has been so long in the making. His warm, supple tenor has been in high demand, first with gospel-pop diva Nicole C. Mullen, then on a variety of gospel, country and hip-hop projects, and most recently in the studio and on the road with Lyle Lovett and Jonny Lang. So Eskridge has been forced to be patient with his own work. “I feel like the stuff we put together is timeless,” he says, “that’s why I have peace in the album not being finished yet.” He did manage to crank out a holiday EP last year titled A Rustic Soul Christmas. (“Rustic soul” is his way of saying “organic and clutter-free.”) The familiar words of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” fade into the background as Eskridge improvises, floating and caressing his notes and never over-singing. This is a rare chance to hear Eskridge do his own thing in town, and his second annual Christmas show with pleasingly mellow keyboard soul artist Darnell Levine. 6:30 p.m. at Douglas Corner Café —JEWLY HIGHT
Idol WorshipPARIS BENNETT Though Paris Bennett still couldn’t get into Play (she’s only 19), the American Idol cast-off will be bringing her sassy R&B-inflected pop to the Church Street venue. Another one in the Idol tradition of little girls with big voices, Bennett was an instant favorite with fans and judges on the show’s fifth season. She’s the second Idol alum this year to grace the Play stage—Frenchie Davis was the first—and rolls into town a day after castmate Chris Daughtry plays to a sold-out crowd at the Ryman. It’s a perfect case study in the fickleness of the Idol fates—though with genuine talent and charisma like Bennett’s, who knows what’s to come for the young lady. 9 p.m. at Play Dance Bar —LEE STABERT
Holiday MusicTHE BASEMENT’S SECOND ANNUAL CHRISTMAS SOIREE This favored Nashville music club is known for its loose, music-centric parties, and this holiday bash expands upon this reputation by featuring the return of local melodic rockers Joe, Marc’s Brother, as well as showcasing special lineups led by hometown pop-rockers Katie Cook (with her father, famed songwriter Roger Cook), Warren Pash and Daniel Tashian, among others. Joe, Marc’s Brother last released an album in 1999, and concert performances in recent years have been rare, with leader Joe Pisapia having joined Guster and the rhythm section of Marc Pisapia and Hags Haggerty touring with Josh Rouse. As Christmas sing-alongs go, this one will set the bar for sweet harmonies and general melodic excellence. 9 p.m. at the Basement —MICHAEL MCCALL
SATURDAY 12/22
Out of PlaceDAVID LEFKOWITZ The latest installment in Cheekwood’s Temporary Contemporary series, David Lefkowitz’s Oblivious to Place serves as a response to Genius for Place: American Landscapes of the Country Place Era, also showing at the museum. Where Genius celebrates the birth of American landscape architecture and the romantic view of nature that it promulgated, Lefkowitz’s paintings explore the more uneasy dialogue that can take place when the wild world meets man-made progress. To his credit, the artist never succumbs to simplistic, dualistic platitudes. Instead, his work asserts that all human activity—no matter how aberrant—ultimately falls under the same umbrella as every other natural expression of every other living thing on our small planet. How’s that for an inconvenient truth? Through Dec. 30 at Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art —JOE NOLAN
Dance Dance RevolutionCLUB SPORTAG’S HOLY NIGHT Typically, conversation between artists, entertainers and other creative folks during a drunken night on the town almost always involve a slew of fanciful schemes, colorful promises and half-cocked ideas that are, more often than not, forgotten by sunrise. Determined to break the cycle of B.S., the electronically inclined braniacs behind Jensen Sportag claim to have made good on all their inebriated rambling with their new dance party, Club Sportag. Their inaugural shebang at Mercy Lounge—an after-party for the Animal Collective show at Cannery—was a deluge of booming dance beats, rapid-fire visuals and convulsion-inducing light displays. Now, three months in the making, their follow up is a sacrilicious holiday rave that promises to surpass their previous effort. Holy Night will feature performances by Jensen Sportag, Justin Kase and Oliver Dodd, with additional support from the Club Sportag DJs and artwork from the Nashville Craft Apocalypse. 9 p.m. at Mercy Lounge —SETH GRAVES
MusicLEON RUSSELL began playing Tulsa, Okla., clubs in the mid-’50s at age 14. By the time he’d graduated high school, his band was supporting Jerry Lee Lewis. Russell moved to L.A. and became a member of Phil Spector’s elite ’60s session team the Wrecking Crew, arranging and playing piano on classics like Ike & Tina Turner’s “River Deep—Mountain High,” and Gary Lewis and the Playboys’ “This Diamond Ring.” In the ’70s, he did sessions with Dylan, the Stones, Clapton and B.B. King, wrote the Carpenters’ hit “Superstar” and launched a successful solo career, highlighted by the iconic ’72 triple-LP Leon Live. Though he’s been largely ignored commercially, Russell has stayed busy over the last 25 years, releasing at least 16 albums featuring his rousing blend of swamp, swing, bluegrass, country-gospel and blues rock. In August he released the terrific Angel in Disguise, which he calls his best in a quarter-century, no idle boast. 7 p.m. at Gibson Showcase —CHRIS PARKER
MusicRALPH STANLEY W/RAUL MALO & LEE ROY PARNELL Austin’s Lee Roy Parnell generally glazes his traditional honky-tonk with a Texas blues bite courtesy of his keen slide guitar skills. After success in the ’90s with a more polished sound, last year’s Back to the Well digs in its soulful, bluesy heels with a simmering late-night vibe. Miami native Raul Malo first made his mark in the ’90s leading country-rockers The Mavericks. His fourth solo album, After Hours, takes classic country standards and gives them a swinging sound, abetted by his silvery, velveteen vocals. Ralph Stanley’s high lonesome voice wavers with ache, conveying desperation, hope and weary resilience in its tremor. The legendary 80-year-old performer’s clawhammer picking is as iconic as his vocal style—and he used both to great effect as he traced bluegrass back to its roots on last year’s wonderful A Distant Land to Roam: Songs of the Carter Family. 6:30 p.m. & 9 p.m. at Ryman Auditorium —CHRIS PARKER
SUNDAY 12/23
MusicNITE NITE This Nite Nite Before Christmas Black on Black party isn’t just an exercise in funereal fashion—although indulging your tenebrous tendencies will knock $2 off the cover—it’s also a celebration of local gloom-pop purveyors Nite Nite’s near one-year anniversary. Original members Davis Collandrea and Sarah Levine have been finessing their sound since 2002, but didn’t debut it until January. Over the course of 2007, Nite Nite may have lost a drummer and a bassist, but musically their brooding icy pop has stretched its legs. You can hear it on their new five-song self-titled EP (available at this show)—Collandrea’s melancholy croon is clear as a bell and playfully yelpy, occasionally recalling a moodier Harriet Wheeler, and they’ve channeled their jangly post-punk influences into a batch of atmospheric, loungy beats and wintry keyboard plinks. With Plex Plex. 8:30 p.m. at Mercy Lounge —TRACY MOORE
Christmas Around the WorldSEASON OF CELEBATION The mind-numbing ubiquity of Christmas decorations, Christmas music and earnest Christmas well-wishers is reaching its saturation point this weekend, so go ahead and embrace it. No, not with a reindeer sweater, or a gallon of eggnog, but with a stroll around Cheekwood’s Season of Celebration: Christmas Around the World exhibit. There will be exquisite decorations, live music and the chance to design one-of-a-kind bags and tags for all your gifts (presented by Frist Learning Center, 10 a.m.-noon). No time to make it to Cheekwood during the holiday season? Mark your calendars: the museum will be offering $1 admission for the entire month of January. Through Dec. 30 at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens & Museum of Art —LEE STABERT
MONDAY 12/24
Art in TransitART AT THE AIRPORT You rush to the airport on your way to Grandmother’s house, only to find the security line stretches to Donelson—and the TSAs have all gone on smoke break. Don’t despair, take a few minutes to look around at the art in the ticket lobby. On one end is Edie Maney’s abstract triptych “When the Wind Stopped.” The panels feature a perfectly balanced range of tonality, with scratching and surface effects that recall some unearthed, esoteric text. Even better is Kim Beck’s “The Consolidated City-County of Sprawl,” composed from vinyl cutouts of billboards, highway signs, street lights and trees that look like silhouette figures from a field guide. Beck stacks and overlays these shapes, creating a spindly form that crawls up the tall lobby wall. It mimics abstract sculpture—or even the Tower of Babel—and remains true to the confusing, jumbled character of the native landscape from which she extracted the forms. Or maybe it foreshadows your airplane stacked in a holding pattern over O’Hare. Through March 2 in Nashville International Airport’s ticket lobby —DAVID MADDOX
TUESDAY 12/25
Season’s EatingsTWELVE TASTES OF CHRISTMAS It may be Christmas Day, but there will be (dining) room at the inn when Prime 108 chefs Theresa Everette and Tom Cook serve up a sumptuous holiday feast. The elegant restaurant in the lavishly renovated Union Station Hotel will host three seatings, with a prix-fixe menu of sweet potato-leek soup, cranberry ambrosia salad and choice of beef Wellington, goose, leg of lamb or coq au vin, with family-style sides and desserts, including eggnog crème brûlée with gingersnaps, and chocolate-mocha truffle torte with warm ganache and caramel. $45 adults; $20 children. Seatings are at noon, 3 and 6 p.m. at Prime 108 in Union Station Hotel. —CARRINGTON FOX
WEDNESDAY 12/26
FilmA MAN VANISHES: A TRIBUTE TO SHOHEI IMAMURA Five years ago, touring film retrospectives this momentous would have blown off Nashville: I had friends who traveled to New York and Chicago to see similar packages devoted to Japanese directors Yasujiro Ozu and Mikio Naruse because they knew there was no way in hell the series would ever show anywhere in town. But with this six-film salute to the late Shohei Imamura, the Belcourt joins a select group of venues across the country—including the Smithsonian and the Harvard Film Archives. Too bad talking about Imamura’s bawdy, shocking, defiantly demimonde films in such culture-capital fashion would probably only piss off their maker, an unapologetic former black-marketeer who served as assistant to Ozu on his great Tokyo Story but personally found his work fussy, tight-assed and oblivious to the underbelly of life. The chronological series starts with the film that put Imamura on the map internationally, 1961’s Pigs and Battleships, a rowdy satire of post-war scuffling, and ends with his 1989 Hiroshima drama Black Rain. In between are a black comedy about blue movies (1966’s The Pornographers), an unsentimental look at a prostitute’s cockroach-like tenacity (1963’s The Insect Woman), an epic account of the corrupting of an island civilization (1968’s The Profound Desire of the Gods) and maybe the coldest true-crime serial-killer thriller ever filmed (1979’s Vengeance Is Mine). Show up opening night and get a free copy of the series’ commemorative booklet, featuring essays by Martin Scorsese, Rob Nelson and Dennis Lim. For more information on the series, see next week’s Scene. Dec. 26-Jan. 3 at the Belcourt —JIM RIDLEY
String Band StompersTHE TENNESSEE MAFIA JUG BAND Any mafia featuring a banjo, a musical scrub board and a guy rhythmically blowing air into an empty brown jug is an underground organization worth getting behind. Hiding out in the hollers of Goodlettsville—dressed in plaid shirts and denim overalls—these old-time music masters mix vaudeville humor and traditional string music to raise a mighty entertaining ruckus. Drawing on the repertoire of Uncle Dave Macon and the Memphis Sheiks, and raising the smiling ghost of Bashful Brother Oswald, this knee-slapping syndicate features banjoist Leroy Troy, bassist Dave Ferguson, fiddler Dan Kelly, guitarist Mike Armistead and foot-stomping jug master Lester Armistead. Anyone who’s caught their occasional shows at the Grand Ole Opry or opening for Marty Stuart knows that these top-notch musicians resurrect this timeless music with gleeful abandon and well-studied expertise. 9 p.m. at Station Inn —MICHAEL MCCALL
Civil War HistoryFORT NEGLEY VISITORS CENTER Last weekend, the Fort Negley Visitors Center finally opened to the public. This hilltop center features touch-screen displays, war photos and tons of information on the famous Battle of Nashville. A $1 million, taxpayer-funded project, the center completes the wholesale rehabilitation of For Negley, which was closed to the public for almost 60 years before reopening in 2004. The days after Christmas—turkey hangover wearing off, hands burning from too many hours of continuous Wii-ing—offer the perfect opportunity to think about how Americans in more troubled times spent their holidays. There was no Super Mario Galaxy in the trenches. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat. —LEE STABERT
