Staffpicks

FRIDAY, JAN. 9 Civil Twilight Headliners 1386 Lexington Rd., 584-8088 headlinerslouisville.com $12; 8:30 p.m. Mixing an ambient, dreamy indie rock soundscape with the inclinations of pop and an Arcade Fire-like feel for making sparkling, futuristic rhythms that can be both dark and danceable, South Africa’s Civil Twilight dabble with a lot of genres, but allow themselves to attach to none of them. They seem comfortable with splicing together intricate, atmospheric layers, but they are capable of striking minimalism, as well. An emotional roller coaster of a band, they hold this abundance of sadness, but often conceal it behind shinny guitar lines or achieving driving bass and drum lines borrowed from hip-hop or some sort of psychedelic melody. —Scott Recker

SATURDAY, JAN. 10 The New Old Cavalry Zanzabar 2100 S. Preston St., 635-9227 zanzabarlouisville.com $8; 9 p.m. Able to shred their bluegrass instruments like rock legends or pull back, slow things down and show off their songwriting skills, The New Old Cavalry has the sort of versatility it takes to stand out in a saturated market. Although they fall into the contemporary crowd that favors tradition above all, they have the blistering lead work and solid structuring to back it up, building a unique sound on those throwback chops. They hit the best of both worlds in terms of being sharp and challenging as well as a hell of a lot of fun, making you want to stand up and move, but sometimes their playing will stop you in your tracks. —Scott Recker

Saturday, Jan. 10 6th Annual Jam for a Cure Headliners 1386 Lexington Rd., 584-8088 headlinerslouisville.com $10; 7 p.m. Greg Foresman and Aaron Montgomery started Jam for a Cure because they wanted to give back to the community. Foresman said they partnered with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society because both his mother and Aaron suffer from the disease. Foresman, the Montgomery Family and V-Groove are at it again this Saturday, hoping to rock it out with good music and more donations to add to the $100,000 they’ve raised over the past five years. Stacy Funk, National MS Society chapter president says, “We are so grateful to the Montgomery family for hosting this event to benefit the Chapter. Having hometown boy Greg Foresman play to further our mission is a real thrill!” —Laura Snyder

Jan. 13-17 ‘The Tens’ Actors Theatre 316 W. Main St., 584-1205 actorstheatre.org Free; 7:30 p.m. We all know that Actors Theatre premieres new plays each spring at The Humana Festival of New American Plays. Next Tuesday, Actors’ Apprentice/Intern Company will also introduce new voices on their stage with the world premiere of eight ten-minute plays selected from the National Ten-Minute Play Contest. “The Tens” will feature “6,600 Volts” by Robyn Carroll, “The Anthropology Section” by Patricia Cotter, “Not Another 9/11 Play” by Sonny Das, “The Markers” by Martyna Majok, “Cabin Fever” by Brendan Pelsue, “The Q & A” by John Rooney, “The Blissful Orphans” by Kyle John Schmidt and “So Unnatural a Level” by Gary Winter. The performance is free but tickets should be reserved in advance by calling the number above. —Laura Snyder

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 14 Matthew Ryan Clifton Center 2117 Payne St., 896-8480 cliftoncenter.org Free; 7:30 p.m. Steady and prolific — averaging about an album a year since 2000 — Matthew Ryan’s scrappy output fits right in with his grizzled voice and straight-forward musicianship. Poetic, yet direct, his style falls somewhere in-between blue collar Americana and indie folk, smartly walking the line that makes him appealing to both sides. Armed with a whisper that holds the sort of sadness and power that calls to mind Ryan Adams, Matthew Ryan has a subtle, careful style that somehow still holds an effortless sharpness, producing a melancholy, but compelling twist. A part of WFPK’s Winter Wednesday series, the excellent and accomplished local folk staple Joan Shelley opens. —Scott Recker

THROUGH JAN. 25 ‘Looming Local: Contemporary Kentucky Tapestry’ Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft 715 W. Main St., 589-0102 kmacmuseum.org Kentuckians get the chance to shine in this small exhibition, the companion show to “The New Art of the Loom: Contemporary International Tapestry” (see the review in this issue). Works by Dobree Adams, Philis Alvic, Tori Kleinert and Arturo Alonzo Sandoval illustrate that we are also on the forefront of contemporary textiles. While I am familiar with most of the artists in the show, Alvic from Lexington was new to me (she’s in her 70s so I don’t know how I missed her). I won’t make that mistake again. Her “Portal” series takes textile art to another level, becoming 3D wall sculpture, alluding to windows and doors, transition and change. KMAC associate curator Joey Yates calls them “fabric assemblages.” —Jo Anne Triplett

THROUGH FEB. 2 ‘The Music of the Pigments’ by Shannon K. Lockhart Wayside Expressions Gallery Wayside Christian Mission, Hotel Louisville 120 W. Broadway, 836-7661 Pigments make the color in art; they do not make music. But human rights activist Shannon Lockhart thinks they do and it would be unseemly to argue. After all, she’s new to art, using it to tell her horrific story about being on a hit list while in Guatemala helping refugees. “In October 2013, four years after we left Guatemala,” she explains, “my art began to flow out spontaneously and it represents my commitment to honoring our historic memory … My drawings have come out of the promise that I made to the survivors of the internal armed conflicts in El Salvador and Guatemala to tell their stories.” The next artist reception is on Sunday, Jan. 18 from 2-4 p.m. Go hear her art. —Jo Anne Triplett

THROUGH FEB. 15 ‘Double Vision’ PYRO Gallery 909 E. Market St., 587-0106 pyrogallery.com While both are art, visual art and poetry obviously use different senses. PYRO Gallery decided to combine the two in an exhibition featuring works by 16 of their members paired with 16 local poets. The result is “Double Vision.” One of the artists in the show is Wendi Smith who worked with poet Makalani Bandele. “The differences between us could not be more distinct,” she says. “He is a young African American man; I am an old white woman. He is an ordained Baptist minister; I am an agnostic. His work reflects his cultural heritage; mine reflects many cultures not my own. He is urban; I am rural. But during the first meeting, our mutual interests emerged … “ The reception is Friday, Jan. 9 from 6-9 p.m. Additional events are on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. through the run of the show. —Jo Anne Triplett