Thursday, Dec. 11 Sweaty Sheep Merry Christmas Gala Headliners Music Hall 1386 Lexington Rd., 584-8088 $12.50; 7:45 p.m. Two years ago, Ryan Althaus and friends organized a Christmas dinner followed by an “eggnog-chug” 5K. They invited area homeless people to the dinner, many of whom decided to run in the 5K, where they “kicked some of our runners’ butts,” Althaus said. “But none of them had shoes.” In response, Althaus planned a shoe drive and organized a running team for homeless individuals — it now has about 50 participants training two days a week. Proceeds from Thursday night’s benefit concert — featuring Street Corner Symphony, Frank Morris and Bernie Lubbers — will fund clothes, shoes and race entries for individuals in the program, which Althaus says, “has no actual staff, just a bunch of volunteers and a lot of individuals recovering from various addictions who all love being part of a team.” —Laura Snyder
Friday, Dec. 12 The Whigs Zanzabar 2100 S. Preston St., 635-9227 zanzabarlouisville.com $12; 8 p.m. The Whigs are talented thin line walkers: there’s just enough pop to make them catchy, there’s just enough fuzz and grit to flirt with the alternative crowd, there’s just enough punk to make them sound rebellious, which, when it’s all said and done, makes them just unique enough to be in a class of their own, all while holding a hand of trendy cards. They mix, match, slice and twist around different styles, song by song, and manage to bend the living shit out of what we think the rules are. Sometimes they sound like a math rock band, sometimes they sound like Pearl Jam, sometimes they sound like 19-year-old surf punks from California, and sometimes they sound like some sort of cool, updated version of The Beatles from Brooklyn. And they can do it all within the confines of there own personalities. It doesn’t make sense and that’s why I like it. —Scott Recker
Friday, Dec. 12 Bianca del Rio Play Louisville 1101 E. Washington St. 882-3615 facebook.com/playdancebarlouisville $10-$15; 12 p.m. Winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 6, Bianca Del Rio brings her sharp tongue and witty banter back to the stage of Play Louisville. If you’re still mourning the loss of Joan Rivers (it’s never too soon) you happen to be in luck. Bianca has recently been dubbed the Joan Rivers of the drag world thanks to her penchant for reading some members of her audience like a book, and people are lining up to hear her read from the Rolodex of Hate (look it up). This Friday Bianca is bringing drag back to its roots of outrageous looks and uncomfortable humor with the cast of the Playmates for the 12 p.m. show, with a special meet and greet directly after. —Josh Johnson
Saturday, Dec. 13 Umpteenth Annual ‘$20 Art Show’ Copper & Kings Distillery 111 E. Washington St., 561-0267 facebook.com/events/1522636184645008 Free; 6-9 p.m. Hosted by The World’s Second Most Awesome Art Market, the “$20 Art Show” is a genuine Louisville holiday tradition. And of course it is a fun way to get your loved ones or yourself some awesome art for only $20 freaking bucks — no more, no less. Thirty artists will be offering their one-of-a-kind pieces at this awesomely low price. If you have art fiends on your Christmas list, you will not want to miss this once-a-year opportunity. The “$20 Art Show” is always a blast and features some of the city’s favorite artists, including AngryBlue, Robbie Davis, Patrick Jilbert, Douglas Miller, Miss Happy Pink, Scott Scarboro, Jeral and Sarah Tidwell, Damon Thompson and many more. The show is only open for three hours so get there early. And, if shopping make you thirsty, Copper & Kings will have brandy samples for purchase. —J. Cobb
Saturday, Dec. 13 Twin Limb Modern Cult Records 2001 Frankfort Ave., 899-2509 moderncultrecords.com $5; 8 p.m. Somehow managing to simultaneously sound ethereal and ominous, Twin Limb — a harmony-heavy indie folk duo — also manages to sound both vintage and modern. Both pleasant contradictions probably have something to do with them using an accordion and sometime minimalistic, almost tribal drumming to achieve dense and dreamy sensibilities. Or maybe it’s vocals — both voices are traditionally strong and fill a lot of space, but they also wrap around and almost seem to challenge one another during harmonies. It’s strange stuff, but not in a hipster doofus sort of way, more like in a avant-garde, lay it all on the line, gusty sort of way. This is a project to keep an eye on. Lexington's Bear Medicine and the cello/guitar duo Teach Me Equals will also perform. —Scott Recker
Saturday, Dec. 13 Craft Beer Release & Ugly Sweater Contest BBC St. Matthews 3929 Shelbyville Rd., 899-7070 Free!; 6 p.m. Show up tacky and you might just win a prize for wearing the ugliest Christmas sweater at BBC St. Matthews this Saturday. To take the edge off all the garish garb, you can treat yourself to an Ebenezer Holiday Ale, the party’s guest of honor to be newly released on site. With an ABV of 6.9, everyone’ll be looking pretty good in no time. BBC’s new ale is “full bodied with a touch of spice: crystalized ginger, orange zest and two types of cinnamon.” Yep, beer is food, and self-deprecating humor will help see you through the holidays!—Laura Snyder
DEC. 13 - FEB. 28 ‘A Pause in the Pasture’ Gallery at the Brown 335 W. Broadway, 583-1234 brownhotel.com Every now and then I remember we are a city defined by horses. Places have signatures and a big ol’ horserace is one of ours. As a result, we have an abundance of equine art shown throughout the year, not just at Derby. “A Pause in the Pasture” features paintings by Helen Merrick, Jack Cochran and Kevin Oechsli. Merrick is a watercolorist who prefers to paint in a plein air (outdoor) setting. Cochran uses his oil paintings and other media as a form of communication after becoming deaf (he’s the first deaf person to get a studio art degree from UK). Oechsli is a self-taught artist who works in acrylics. The opening reception is Saturday, Dec. 13 from 6-8 p.m.—Jo Anne Triplett
Sunday, Dec. 14 ‘A Cold 40’ Seidenfaden’s 1134 E. Breckinridge St. facebook.com/events/293261884214118 Free; 4-10 p.m. The third installment of the “A Cold 40” art show hits Seidenfaden’s just in time for you to finish up your holiday shopping. This intimate art show is the perfect place to find that eccentric gift for the art lover on your shopping list. Enjoy your favorite libation to get you in the holiday spirit while browsing the fabulous art selections. Fifteen talented local artists will have an outstanding array of art available for $40 or less. Artists include Ade/Anderson Photograpy, Angryblue, Bernhardt Geyer, Wendy Gilbert, Melody Hankla, Lyndi Lou, Mike Oerther, Ryan Rumsey, S8N, Jeremy Slavin, Mia Snell, Sarah Tidwell, Bucky Vandenburg and yours truly! This is a 21+ event. —J. Cobb
EVERY MONDAY Vinyl Night Haymarket Whiskey Bar 331 E. Market St., 442-0523 haymarketwhiskeybar.com Free; 8 p.m. Sharing music, drinking whiskey, eating pizza — I’m not sure I can think of a better way to shake those Monday blues. Haymarket Whiskey Bar’s Vinyl Night, which takes place every Monday, intelligently combines these things, allowing patrons to bring a record and sign up to play one side of said record. I guess our algorithmic overlords over at Spotify, Pandora and Beats are decent enough rulers, but it’s much better to share music the old-fashioned way — you know, with human interaction and stuff. There’s nothing quite like discovering new music, especially with other people. —Scott Recker
Dec. 14 & 21 StageOne’s ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ Kentucky Center, Bomhard Theater 501 W. Main St., 562-0100 stageone.org $19.75; 2 p.m. & 5 p.m. “Shazaaammmm!” as delivered by Gladys Herdman is one of the funniest lines in any play (or book) I’ve ever read. No one thought Gladys, with her potty mouth and dirty sneakers, could be an angel, but, as we all know, she owned that role, and it ended up being the best Christmas pageant ever. This year, StageOne’s 20th anniversary production of this classic features three sets of siblings, all cast in opposing roles. With one sibling as a Herdman and the other sibling as a shocked, indignant peer, there’s sure to be some great onstage banter. —Laura Snyder
THROUGH DEC. 27 ‘Esthesia’ PYRO Gallery 909 E. Market St., 587-0106 pyrogallery.com Merriam-Webster dictionary defines esthesia as “the capacity for sensation or feeling, sensitivity.” Carrie Burr, Paula Keppie and Wendi Smith titled their exhibition “Esthesia” to explain their art ”perceive[s] afresh the world around us.” Burr’s photographs of installations composed of found objects address sustainability. “It’s a lot about perception of control, how we think we know what is really going on when it is impossible to ever know,” she says. Keppie creates with twigs, pods and bark, referring to her work “as an ongoing conversation with the natural world, its patterns and textures.” The spirituality of nature interests Smith. “The goal is to experience the subject of animals, birds and insects in a new way as part of the sacred,” she explains.—Jo Anne Triplett
THROUGH DECEMBER ‘The Untold Tale of Bob Lockhart: A Retrospective’ McGrath Gallery, Cressman Center and PUBLIC Artist and educator Bob Lockhart currently has a three-part exhibition titled “The Untold Tale of Bob Lockhart: A Retrospective.” The shows collectively cover Lockhart’s five decades in art. As the founder of Bellarmine University’s art program, “Bobzilla! The Legacy of Bob Lockhart” showcases works by former students (through Dec. 13 at McGrath Gallery, bellarmine.edu). Co-curator Peter Morrin describes “The Sardonic Eye: Bob Lockhart in Context” (through Dec. 21 at the Cressman Center, louisville.edu/art) as an exhibition of Lockhart’s “sarcastic, cynical, somewhat acid” work. “All of Lockhart” (through Dec. 31 at PUBLIC, louisvillevisualart.org) is featuring an overview of his art.—Jo Anne Triplett
