Staffpicks
Thursday, March 1
Neva Geoffrey
This Lexington singer’s forthcoming Alias Records release, The Days are Rolling (due out in April), is drawing comparisons with Cat Power and Dusty Springfield and Elliott Smith.
Flaunting a breezy, carefree delivery, Geoffrey, who hails from the musical hotbed of Austin, Texas, now calls the Bluegrass home, and we are lucky to have her. Thursday’s show is Phoenix Hill’s audition night, where a healthy turnout determines future bookings at the venue.
Don’t take our gushing words for it — listen to a couple songs off Days at myspace.com/nevageoffrey, and settle in for a lush journey into the heart and mind of this descriptive, eloquent siren. —Mat Herron
Phoenix Hill Tavern
644 Baxter Ave.
589-4957
$1; 8 p.m.
21+
Friday, March 2
Irish prisoners of war
We tend to commemorate St. Patrick’s Day by chugging down green beer and pinning on shamrocks, but we sometimes fail to honor Ireland’s rich history. This includes a long and rather bloody legacy of civil unrest. To help tell this story, Flanagan’s Ale House invites two Irish P.O.W.s, Terry Kirby and Bobby Lavery, to discuss their experiences during the hunger strikes in Belfast’s Long Kesh prison (also known as “The Maze”), the Good Friday Agreement (of April 1,1998) and their perspective on contemporary peace processions.
In the 1970s, Kirby participated in the hunger strikes during his internment (imprisonment with no trial) and was involved in the largest prison break to date in British history. Lavery was also interned during that time period, but has managed to transition to politics by becoming the first Sinn Fein (political party devoted to Irish Republicanism that means “we ourselves”) member elected to a legislative body. He has lost close family members to paramilitary (civilian organized) factions. The event is sponsored by the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish-Catholic fraternal organization in town devoted to promoting Irish culture and heritage. —Claudia Olea
Flanagan’s Ale House
934 Baxter Ave.
585-3700
Free (donations welcome); 7 p.m.
Friday, March 2
Kentucky Homefront concert
When Mickey Clark warns me about a show, I tend to pay attention. Mickey used to play guitar with Townes Van Zandt, so his credentials are beyond reproach. This week’s Homefront show will feature Robin and Linda Williams along with Caryl Weiss, all songwriters with sterling pedigrees. While the Homefront organizers put together their move to a new permanent facility, the building on Mary Street offers up this night of acoustic virtuosity that traces its lineage back to the New Christy Minstrels, The Weavers, The Kingston Trio, The Mamas and the Papas, The Seekers, The Byrds and all the other standard bearers of the early- to mid-1960s folk boom. Robin and Linda are prominent members of the performance troupe that populates “A Prairie Home Companion” (both the radio show and the recent Altman film), and, as an additional bonus, Mr. Clark will also perform. —Paul Kopasz
930 Building
930 Mary St.
$15; 8 p.m.
March 2-4
Still-life paintings by Barbara D. Coles
Barbara Coles is a painter with an art historian’s sensibility (which makes sense — she has a B.F.A. in painting with a minor in art history from U of L). “It is my fascination with finding and handling old objects that inspire me to paint still-life,” she explains in her press release. “The challenge for me comes in the arrangement of these objects so they tell stories about a time, place or event in someone’s life. My still-life paintings have similar ideals to that of 17th century Dutch Vanitas paintings, where one could see these old objects as more than merely decorative, one could see them as an object of devotional which carry a deeper meaning, or one of affirmation of what is humbling in our everyday environment.”
Her solo show at the Wayside Expressions Gallery will have its opening reception during the March 2 First Friday Hop. —Jo Anne Triplett
Wayside Expressions Gallery
800 E. Market St.
584-3711
Free; 5-9 p.m. (Fri.), 12-4 p.m. (Sat.), 1-4 p.m. (Sun.)
Saturday, March 3
Tribute to Nate Robinson
Nate Robinson was a much-loved soundman whose life came to a tragic and abrupt end when he was killed last year in a car crash at age 24. Friends and family are encouraged to attend this show to pay tribute to Nate. Bands Philpot, The Trust and Catch Kennedy are on board. A donation of $5 is suggested and appreciated. —Mat Herron
Skybar at Saint’s
131 Breckenridge Lane
896-6711
$5; 10 p.m.
21+
March 3-4
Kentucky Crafted: The Market
It’s time to attend the No. 1 arts fair and festival in the United States, so deemed by the readers of AmericanStyle Magazine. Kentucky Crafted: The Market has always been popular during its 25-year history, especially since the Southeast Tourism Society considers it one of the nation’s top 20 events, but this is the first time a publication has placed in the top spot.
The Fairgrounds will be packed with 300 exhibitions of contemporary crafts, folk art and visual art. This is one-stop shopping, with the chance to meet artists, sample food and listen to the traditional music performed on the Kentucky Cultural Stage. There will also be a retrospective exhibition in celebration of the Market’s 25th anniversary. FYI: In case you are ever in Japan, the Takashimaya department store carries ”Kentucky Crafted” items. —Jo Anne Triplett
Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center
South Wing B
(888) 592-7238
www.kycraft.ky.gov
$8 (children 15 and under free); 9 a.m.-6 p.m. (Sat.), 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (Sun.)
Sunday, March 4
Voces Novae sings Harry Pickens
Known for its vocal versatility, Voces Novae, the local choral ensemble whose name means “new voices” in Latin, takes on the music of jazz artist Harry Pickens in this weekend’s performance. Pickens, a Louisvillian, has studied with Bobby McFerrin and played with Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Griffin, Slide Hampton, Freddie Hubbard, Milt Jackson and James Moody, among others. He also has played at Highland Presbyterian Church, where Voces Novae artistic director Frank A. Heller III is the congregation’s music director.
That relationship led to the current project, for which Pickens made his first foray into creating original choral music, three of which will require the chorus to improvise. This is new territory for the ensemble, asserts Yvonne Wenger, Voces Novae board president. “We are having to let go of our inhibitions and our strict choral training,” she says. The program’s 11 pieces will include 10 by Pickens, some set to the poetry of Wendell Berry, e.e. cummings and Rumi, and others with the Harry Pickens Trio accompanying. —Elizabeth Kramer
Church of the Ascension
4600 Lynnbrook Drive
523-6430
www.voces-novae.org
$8-$16 ($5-$12 adv.); 3 p.m.
March 4, 8
U of L Symphony Orchestra
The University of Louisville Symphony Orchestra and Wind Symphony present concerts of contemporary works by winners of the university’s Grawemeyer Awards in Music in two locations next week — at Comstock Hall on March 4, then in New York City’s Carnegie Hall on March 8. The Carnegie concert is a landmark first for the school.
The new music on the orchestra’s program also makes the event an important note for New York. The program, conducted by Kimcherie Lloyd and Frederick Speck, includes a work by popular composer Joan Tower, the 1990 Grawemeyer winner, as well as winning works by Witold Lutoslawski, John Corigliano, Krzysztof Penderecki, Karel Husa and Toru Takemitsu. Concertgoers should be aware that the music is modern and sometimes challenging. (While many of the pieces can be captivating, others — well, take our advice: When Corigliano is being performed, you could probably find some other useful things to do.) —Bill Doolittle
U of L’s Comstock Hall
582-6907
louisville.edu/music
$10; 7:30 p.m. (March 4)
*
Carnegie Hall, New York City
www.carnegiehall.org
$20-$75; 8 p.m. (March 8)
March 4-5
‘Fate — A Trilogy’
In yet another benefit for everyone’s favorite performance space, The Rudyard Kipling, Latent Muse Productions presents “Fate — A Trilogy,” three thought-provoking one-act plays: “Schrodinger’s Cat and Other Chaos Theories: Solitaire” by Louisville playwright John Campbell Finnegan; “Iphigenia in Orem” by Neil Labute; and “The Siren Song of Stephen Jay Gould” by Benjamin Bettenbender.
This production will be Chad Sheffield’s last for Latent Muse. Sheffield, the group’s artistic director and producer, is moving to San Francisco.
Project Improv will also perform, and Dante will play acoustic guitar. —Sherry Deatrick
Rudyard Kipling
422 W. Oak St.
380-5516
Donations accepted; 7:30 p.m. (and 4 p.m. Sun.)
