Drawing of Beth Ditto by drummer Hannah Blilie.

The Searcy-born Gossip guitarist, whose real name is Nathan Howdeshell, has a pretty rad tumblr page going. Especially, if you're into oddball art and fashion, post-punk, '80s ephemera and photos of cows in Arkansas.

There's plenty to make you jealous, too

And some funny stuff.

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XIU XIU
9 p.m., Sticky Fingerz. $10.

While they're a three-piece from San Jose, there's no use in pretending that the critically-fawned over Xiu Xiu is anything other than the brainchild of Jamie Stewart, the brilliant avant-pop experimentalist who orchestrates the band's challenging sound: confrontational and oft-disturbing but inexplicably revisitable. And they're prolific, to boot. In eight years, they've released nine albums of David Lynchian arrangements draped upon intense, jostling and auteurian vocals. Ever confrontational, their album titles include “Knife Play,” “Fag Patrol” (Stewart is a bit of a gay icon) and their newest, “Dear God, I Hate Myself.” It's been a while since Little Rock has seen an outfit this severe and uncommercial playing outside of house shows, so if you're not attending as a fan, attend for the spectacle. Girl in a Coma and Noveller provide support.

—John Tarpley

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As we (and every other site that lives on the internet) blogged last Friday, this weekend was awards weekend.

To recap:

--Pretty much everything expected to win won, making for an excruciatingly dull Oscar night.
--Ryan Bingham, pictured above, won the second Oscar for "Crazy Heart," taking home the Best Original Song award for "The Weary Kind." He's familiar to Arkansans, having played Fayetteville and Fort Smith numerous times. He returns to George's Majestic Lounge on May 4.
--Ray Mckinnon won't compliment his Academy Award with a Spirit Award after Woody Harrelson nabbed it for his role in "The Messenger" (as reviewed by the Times' David Koon here).
--and reader Paul Jarnagin handily won the Rock Candy Oscar Pool, correctly guessing 18 of 24 awards and scoring 50 out of a possible 64 points and taking home eight free movie passes from Rave Theater on Colonel Glenn.

(speaking of blog contests, if anyone can make a caption for the picture above that makes me laugh harder than that picture does to begin with, I'll give you the burned copy of T-Bone's "The True False Identity" that's been floating around in my car for years.)

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Charles B. Pierce, the Arkansas-raised independent filmmaker famous for 1971's "The Legend of Boggy Creek," died over the weekend in Tennessee. The filmmaker, who grew up in Hampton, is the namesake of the Little Rock Film Festival's Best Arkansas film award. Pierce was 71.

Derek Jenkins wrote about Pierce in the Times before a retrospective program at the LRFF in 2008.

Back in the day, regional filmmakers were a scrappier bunch than the current crop of nominally independent filmmakers. They pulled  together shoestring budgets from a variety of interests, often used locals for talent and wheeled and dealed their way into drive-in theaters all over the South. Their outputs often raked in voluminous dividends, though only relative to their modest budgets.

Charles B. Pierce, Arkansas's own maverick regionalist, qualifies as a state treasure not because his films are especially great, but because his spirit of determination separates real independence from the stale marketing category we call the independents. His films may have been made with the largest possible profit margin in mind, but there are endlessly easier ways to make a fast buck. Filmmaking in the '70s was a much more harrowing task than today's technology allows. His work had to have as its root a genuine love for moving pictures.

And more here, too.

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Continue reading "Ark. Times Musicians Showcase 2010 Finals: Video recap" »

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Photo by Brian Chilson.

“Amarillo By Morning,” “Ocean Front Property,” “The Chair,” “Check Yes or No,” “Run,” “I Can Still Make Cheyenne” – the list goes on and on.

George Strait has sung us a lot of great country songs over the years, and an amazing 57 of them have hit No. 1. He couldn’t pack them all into his concert Saturday night at Verizon Arena, but in a 30-song set that ran past 11:30, he gave it his best shot.

The crowd of 15,597 embraced them all, but if his fans love his new songs, they downright adore the old ones. He delivered a terrific mix of both, from his opener, “Twang,” to his trademark finale, “The Cowboy Rides Away.”
Strait – with boots, black hat, starched shirt and jeans all in place – just sings.

There’s not a lot of talk and no dazzling special effects. But his smooth voice and traditional sound, backed by his Ace in the Hole Band, don’t need anything else.

Continue reading "Last Night: George Strait / Reba McEntire" »

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For the first time?

YES.

One hundred times more awesome than a Luke-less 2 Live Crew in Eureka: Slick Rick is headed to Revolution on Friday, April 9. With Doug E. Fresh. Which means that we're guaranteed to get a live version of the greatest rap A-Side, B-Side single ever.

Plus this and this and this and this and this.

Can't wait. No old school rapper remains as compulsively listenable.

More info on price and openers when I've got it.

UPDATE: Vivica Fox is hosting the event.

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Photo by Brian Chilson.

Big crowd, big fun last night. Congrats to Brother Andy & His Big Damn Mouth.

More later.

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Great art opening in a little bit at ACAC. It's a retrospective of Kat Wilson's excellent Habitat series, a collection of portraits of all sorts of Arkansans with the stuff of their lives arranged in the foreground.

 I was lucky enough to have one taken of me and two roommates five or six years ago. I remember we were very intent on having 40s bottles prominently displayed. Ah, youth.

The show's from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday. It'll be on display through March 28.

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Okay, let's make this short and sweet.

The Oscars are on Sunday, but if you're reading this blog, you're the type that already know that. Duh.

And what's an Oscar night without taking a stab at predicting the winners and, usually, betting petty to grandiose amounts of money throughout the night with friends while getting progressively drunker because the Oscars haven't been worth a hooey since the mid '70s?

Nothing, that's what.

So Rock Candy's doing our own version of just that. Whoever correctly predicts the most winners gets eight free movie passes, courtesy of our friends at Rave on Colonel Glenn. Eight. That's a lot of movies, y'all.

Ballots/tips/instructions after the jump.

Continue reading "82nd Academy Awards: the Open Line" »

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Tonight, local actor Ray McKinnon is up for a Best Supporting Actor award for his turn as the shady Lonzo Choat (anagram: Hot Zoo Clan) in "That Evening Sun" at the yearly Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica.

If your cable box is on baller status, you can check it out tonight at 10 p.m. CST on IFC.

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TRAINWRECK
8:30 p.m., The Village. $10 adv., $12 d.o.s.

Named after a particular strain of pot that “makes your face feel like it got in a wreck with a train” (stoners, please write a letter to the editor explaining how this is desirable), Trainwreck postures itself as the Ennio Morricone of CB radio movies. One part Steel Panther, one part C.W. McCall, the band is most recognizable as the side project of Tenacious D's Kyle Gass. You probably have the gist by now, so I'll use up the rest of this space to print the band members' names: Klip Calhoun, Daryl Lee Donald, John Bartholomew Shredman, Boy Johnny and Dallas St. Bernard. If that passed your giggle test, we suggest you check it out.

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We started with somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 local acts, pared those down to 16 semi-finalists and now, after five weeks of competition, here we are. The final showdown. Friday, at Revolution, five acts, none of which sound anything alike, square off to join the likes of 607 and Velvet Kente as a winner of the Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase.

But before I preview the finalists, a quick word about last week's wildcard round, which had enough talent to stand in for a final round. Flash LaRue claimed the win despite a wave of equipment problems, but everyone showed out. Amazingly, of the four acts, only Bonnie Montgomery has recorded material and hers is several years old and essentially out of print. Get to the studio, people. Montgomery, especially, seems to have the tools — the voice, the songs, the charisma — to be the next must-see local act, something like Chris Denny when he first hopped onto the scene. Stella Fancy's already enjoyed some of that sort of buzz. Hopefully, it'll only expand; their bossa nova-flecked lounge rock is endlessly infectious. And like I said last week, if you care even the least about throwback metal and hard rock, go see Iron Tongue. It's heavy. More on Flash LaRue below.

Unlike weeks past, we shift nights, start times and venues for the finals. So clear your calendar: Friday at 8 p.m. we're at Revolution. It's open to those 18 and older and there's no smoking.

Below is a quick recap of the acts with a case for each to win the Showcase:

Continue reading "Ark. Times Musicians Showcase: Finals Preview" »

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Big Smith.

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MIX MASTER MIKE
8:30 p.m., The Village. $20 adv., $25 door.

As much as Rick Rubin (or maybe even MCA, Ad Rock, or Mike D individually), Mix Master Mike is the man responsible for a bulk of the defining aesthetics of the Beastie Boys. As their resident DJ since “Hello Nasty” in 1998, he's effectively acted as the Billy Preston to their Beatles. More broadly, he's the Jimi Hendrix of turntablism. A godfather of the “turntable as instrument” movement, not only is he the inventor of a handful of scratches that are now commonplace, he's still, at 40 years old, not only a man to be respected, but a force to be reckoned with. Of the times I've seen the Beasties, the MCs wowed, but M.M. Mike straight up put people in awe. If he can set Madison Square Garden alight on a regular basis, imagine what he's going to do to the old Cinema 150.

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GEORGE MCCONNELL
9 p.m., Sticky Fingerz. $7.

Before serving time as lead guitarist of Beanland, Kudzu Kings and jam band grand poobahs, Widespread Panic, Mississippi musician George McConnell underwent an intensive, complete immersion course in the ways of the world starting as a 10-year-old, working on the back of a Falstaff truck whose route pinballed back and forth from juke joints to pool halls across the Mississippi Delta. Now, McConnell is delving into the world of solo performance and bringing his brand of airy blues-folk to Sticky's for an evening of bouncy noodling that'll surely be greeted with much spinning and wobbling of shoulders. Fayetteville's Charliehorse opens.

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A damn fine town.

After the closing of Opal Fly's Feel Good Lounge, the Fayetteville Flyer reports that a new club is soon to open. A jazz club, The Nines will feature live music in a "1940s style atmosphere."

U of A radio station KXUA and Fayetteville art collective Art Amiss co-curated a compilation of Arkansas punk music from 1980-today called, simply, "Arkansas Punk."  It features everyone from late 70s/early 80s local legends The Malls to current day Fayetteville math spazzes Perpetual Werewolf. Download it here.

Judah Friedlander, comedian and writer for TGS with Tracy Jordan cast member of 30 Rock takes a break from making sun tea updating his awesome Twitter to visit U of A on April 6.

Also, Smoke and Barrel was kindly enough to host a three night stand of Little Rock music last week called "They Came From Little Rock!" with Chris Denny, Jonathan Wilkins & the Reparations, Life Size Pizza, Brother Andy, Frown Pow'r (full disclosure: I'm 1/5 of this band) and The See. Everyone here had a blast and really appreciated everyone's hospitality. Also, we loved showing Fayetteville how to drink.

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\m/
(those are metal fingers, btw)

For a couple of minutes this afternoon, Rock Candy's Facebook page was sitting pretty at 666 Facebook friends. Not only did it seem blogworthy, it seemed like the perfect time to announce that local sludge-metallurgists Rwake will be on the cover of next week's Arkansas Times.

Hail Satan.

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White Water, ready for her closeup. (Picture by John Earney, click for full size)

And Hankwatch 2010 keeps rolling. Sunday night saw dear old Thayer St. illuminated with massive lights and White Water Tavern with a new look.


(Update: WWT co-owner and upper-case Dude among Dudes, Matt White, donates a few great pictures of the set after the jump and gives us a few specifics in the comments.)

Continue reading "Hankwatch 2010: WWT shines" »

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Extract the pee and dirt from that mud and you've got a solid Hurricane.

Memphis in May, err, the Beale Street Music Festival (but who ever calls it that) has posted the official (and hilariously misspelled) lineup and, like with every year, it's pretty hit or miss. But the hits hit hard. Especially on Saturday with Yo Gotti, Flaming Lips, and Hall and Oates (!!!) all sharing Tom Lee Park.

Full schedule after the jump.

Continue reading "Memphis in May lineup announced" »

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In progress.

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The Memorial Day fest's shaping up.

CCR opens for Gary Allan on Friday at the Clinton Center.

And the Crowes and Blake Shelton play opposite each other on Saturday on the Clinton and Ampitheater stages, respectively.

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CADILLAC SKY
9 p.m., Juanita's. $10 adv., $12 d.o.s.

Sensitive woolyboogers, this group. Cadillac Sky is all beards, Rascal Flatts harmonies and bluegrass soundscapes, with a healthy dollop of mom-approved ganache. With its third album, the new “Letters in the Deep” (produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach), the band's elbowing for space in an already crowded room that's hogged up by the massively gifted Nickel Creek. Like its competition, Cadillac Sky enjoys taking a stab or two at covering other bands. Take their cover of Death Cab For Cutie's “I Will Follow You Into the Dark.” If Gibbard and Co.'s original wasn't treacly enough for you, Cadillac Sky made sure to slap an extra layer of jaw-jutting, brow-folding earnestness on top. Now, this isn't to say they're without serious chops. It's just that they bring serious seriousness, too.

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VETIVER
9 p.m., Juanita's. $2.

What did Little Rock do to deserve such luck? The snow has melted, 60-degree temperatures are right around the corner, and we get to greet the springtime with a seasonal double header in Dawes and Vetiver. Fresh off its European tour supporting its fourth album, “Tight Knit,” Vetiver established itself years ago as the purveyor of 21st century folksiness with one foot in George Harrison's countryside and the other in Vashti Bunyan's shag carpeting. The band counts Bunyan, Joanna Newsom and Devendra Banhart as collaborators and especially vocal fans. You can't argue with that kind of pedigree. Know what else you can't argue with? The cover. Yeah. It's really two dollars. Go.

—John Tarpley

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DAWES
8:30 p.m., Sticky Fingerz, $10.

Recently I've noticed that Dawes elicits a contagious evangelism in a huge number of people with a certain, similarly sunny disposition. I'll admit that when the Dawes buzz reared its head, I dismissed it, ended up straggling behind the bandwagon and, honestly, was the worse for it. But enough of my devotional: Dawes are legit. They specialize in dreamy, country-dusted California pop that hangs somewhere between America, Dr. Dog and the late, great Beachwood Sparks. These guys are writing some of the most melodious songs around today. It's new-folk, it's dad rock, it's dreamy and if you're not careful, it's liable to send you dashing to your car for an impromptu road trip to whatever coast you're the farthest from. Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons open along with Jason Boesel.

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