Thursday, June 14
‘Out of the Book’ event
A big summer book event starts with … a big summer book, right? With lots of pages to flip through in the beach chair, and likely it’s a thriller or maybe glorified chick-lit. Well, not this year! Independent bookstores around the country are conspiring to pump up interest in a rewarding and drum-tight short novel by a wonderful British writer whose work defies categorization (but, a hint: The first film adaptation of his work starred Christopher Walken). Ian McEwan’s new “On Chesil Beach,” about anxious newlyweds at an English resort, has been universally praised, and now Carmichael’s is hosting a multimedia evening to get the buzz growing. They’ll show a short film that visits the novel’s setting and interviews with McEwan. Then local literary scenesters will discuss innovations in connecting writers and readers. —T.E. Lyons
Carmichael’s
2720 Frankfort Ave.
896-6950
Free; 8 p.m.
Thursday, June 14
Idgy Vaughn
This fiery redhead from Austin brings her twisted take on Americana to ADI. Last year, the altweekly Austin Chronicle named her record, Origin Story, numero uno for the annum, ahead of Alejandro Escovedo’s The Boxing Mirror and Charlie Sexton and Shannon McNally’s Southside Sessions. Not too shabs for a girl who grew up in Quincy, Ill., being beaten out in a hometown singing contest by Christian karaoke singers, was thrown out of her high school orchestra and choir, became a single mom at 21 and had to raise her daughter in a housing project. What happened next is cinematic: While working at a truck stop in Texas, she befriended one of her customers who won $1 million in the state’s lottery, then agreed to help fund her record. —Mat Herron
Air Devil’s Inn
2802 Taylorsville Road
454-4443
www.airdevilsinn.com
$TBA; 9 p.m.
Friday, June 15
Rowdy Frynds Tour
Break out the whiskey, the cowboy boots and the air guitar. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hank Williams Jr. (not the best Hank, in our humble opinion, but a Hank nonetheless) and .38 Special bring their soaring and roaring Southern rock aesthetic to Freedom Hall.
The show has topped three hours, with Skynyrd reportedly eviscerating audiences with a 15-minute rendition of “Free Bird” (go ahead and say it out loud, you know you want to). On the downside, we’ve heard Jr. is playing NFL clips in the background during “All My Rowdy Friends …” Guess you can’t have everything. Tickets are limited to 12 per household, and no cameras or recorders are allowed. —Mat Herron
Freedom Hall
937 Phillips Lane
367-5001 or 800-231-8085
$38.50-$61.50; 7 p.m.
June 15-16
Kentuckiana Pride Festival
“Proud to be … me” is the theme of this year’s festivities as Louisville’s queer community is asked to show up and celebrate the person they are. The main event of the first day is the Pride Parade, which will start at the corner of Market and Preston streets at 8 p.m. Later that evening will be a concert by The Blue Umbrellas.
On Saturday, expect tons of live music, including headliner Georgie Porgie, well known for his hip-hop and dance tunes. Performances from local faves such as the Voices of Kentuckiana choir and the thespian Pandora Productions will go on throughout the day.
This fun festival is not exclusive — it is intended for entire community. It could be a growth opportunity for lots of folks. Cheers. —Erin Clephas
The Belvedere
649-4851
www.kentuckianapridefestival.com
$5; noon-midnight
June 15-17
Sam Shepard’s ‘The God of Hell’
Sight & Sound Productions presents Sam Shepard’s “The God of Hell” this weekend. Written just before the 2004 presidential election, Shepard described it as “a takeoff on Republican fascism.” On a Wisconsin dairy farm, the heifer-breeding Frank and Emma live in rustic isolation. But their peace is shattered by a radioactive refugee from a plutonium-producing plant. (Hint: “Plutonium” is derived from Pluto, god of the underworld.) While the refugee hides in the basement, Welch, a supposed salesman of patriotic baubles, knocks on the door in hot pursuit. What follows is a process of intimidation in which Welch not only gets his man but terrorizes the innocent Midwesterners. As Welch tells Emma, “You didn’t think you were going to get a free ride on the back of democracy forever, did you?”
If you’re a fan of Joe Orton, David Mamet, Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett (and I certainly am!) and hate fascism (and I certainly do!), do not miss this performance. —Sherry Deatrick
Kentucky Center’s MeX Theater
584-7777
www.kentuckycenter.org
$18; times vary
Saturday, June 16
Car show for Hospice
Dig out that jar of car wax in the garage and get busy making your four- (or two-) wheeled pride and joy look all pretty. The Falls City Corvette Club plays host to its sixth annual Joe Creason Park Open Car Show, and it is for a good cause. The $15 registration fee not only makes those who entered a car eligible for a grand prize drawing of $500, but it also will help benefit Hospice and Palliative Care of Louisville, Southern Indiana and Central Kentucky. All types of cars, trucks and motorcycles (and their owners) are invited to attend, and every registrant might win a door prize. Additional charitable funds will be raised via silent auction and raffle, and the first 100 participants receive goodie bags and dash plaques. If you find that motors are not the only things rumbling, food and beverages will be available. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and is open until noon; prizes will be awarded at 4 p.m. —Mary Q. Burton
Joe Creason Park
1297 Trevilian Way
664-5862
$15; 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Saturday, June 16
Prop Auction
What’s up with all these prop auctions lately? Their trash is our treasure! Head for Indiana’s lush knobs this weekend for Floyd Central High School Theater Department’s yard sale and auction. You’ll find costumes, props, set pieces, theater books, memorabilia and antique and unique furniture pieces. Looking for an 1800s ship wheel? How about “Beauty and the Beast”’s glowing enchanted mirror?
Floyd Central theater director Chris Bundy says, “It will be like an early Christmas for lovers of all things theater. We know the public will have a great time at the event. We will be offering items great for Halloween, Christmas, party decorations and just about everything in between. It’s not to be missed.”
It’s certainly never too early to plan for Halloween! And while you’re in Hoosierland, why not treat yourself to dinner at Huber’s (or drinks at the Huber Winery) to celebrate your loot? —Sherry Deatrick
Floyd Central High School
6575 Old Vincennes Road
Floyds Knobs, Ind.
812-923-8811, ext. 3032
Free; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (auction: 6:30 p.m.)
Through June 23
Wendi Smith and Robert Mitchell
The two exhibitions at the Zephyr Gallery are widely different, yet both are meant to make you ask, like any good 2-year-old, “Why?” The idea of mandalas has slowly seeped into our Western consciousness. We hear about the sand paintings of the American Indians or the Tibetan monks and wonder how and why they are created.
They also fascinate artist Wendi Smith, who was inspired enough to combine paint, beads and fabric to form her own collaged mandalas. Smith reveals in her artist statement that, if you pay attention, the round mandala shape is everywhere. “The mandala is a concentric, repeating design, which occurs as a symbol or a ritual object in almost every culture,” she says. “In the realm of the sacred, in rite and prayer, it makes perfect symmetrical sense to speak to the universe in its own language.”
Her co-exhibitor, photographer Robert Mitchell, is on the quest to question authority. His series of now-iconic historic figures have been altered just enough so that the viewer will have a few questions as well. The most potent image is of revolutionary Che Guevara, whose nose is obscured by a small, inverted red Christ hanging from his beret. — CONTACT _Con-419CB26F17 c s l Jo Anne Triplett
Zephyr Gallery
610 E. Market St.
585-5646
www.zephyrgallery.org
Through July 28
‘Women in Glass’
Whoever said heat was gender-specific? It takes a special person, male or female, to be willing to work with the extreme temperature needed to mold glass. I’m all for working with cold glass, but then you have to watch out for the sharp edges.
More women are getting into creating art from glass, especially glass blowing, and this exhibition was organized with national and local artists to highlight this achievement. The national artists are Stephanie Trenchard from Sturgeon Bay, Wis.; Laurel Hagner of Salem, Ore.; Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen of Stanford, Wash.; Meredith Masser from Atlanta; and Ona Magaro from Columbus, Mont. Tiffany Ackerman, Lauren Arnold, Devyn Baron, Jeanne Joseph, Casey McMains, Amy Pender, Naomi Stuecker and Flame Run co-owner Susie Slabaugh White are the local glass artists.
“Flame Run wants to celebrate the growing number of women who are exploring the art of contemporary glass,” Slabaugh White says in a press release. “I love to see the sensitivities to emotion and passion in so many women’s glass art.” So, really, if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the hotshop. — CONTACT _Con-419CB26F17 c s l Jo Anne Triplett
Flame Run Hotshop and Gallery
828 E. Market St.
584-5353
www.flamerun.com
