FRIDAY 5/13
The Weekend Theater continues its run of Shirley Lauro’s “A Piece of My Heart,” a series of vignettes about six unsung women serving as nurses or entertainers during the Vietnam War, 7:30 p.m., $12-$16. Up-and-coming jazz pianist and pipe organist Alex Gilson plays the 13th concert in an annual series celebrating the life of longtime Henderson State University professor of Organ, Robert Young Ellis, 8 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, free. On the heels of Opera Ithaca’s debut of her opera “Billy Blythe” (and some time in the studio creating a new album with her “peace-lovin’ outlaw” trio, Wildflowers Revue), Bonnie Montgomery takes the small-but-mighty stage at the White Water Tavern. 9:30 p.m., $7. Lively soul singer Bijoux, who’s nearly as much fun to watch on stage as she is to hear, performs at South on Main, 10 p.m., $15. An experimental duo lauded as “Fort Worth’s own horror soundtrack,” Pinkish Black, comes to Vino’s with Color Design, Seahag, and Hexxus, 8:30 p.m., $8.
SATURDAY 5/14
Fans of sonic landscapes best enjoyed with cannabis, take note: Houston psych-rockers Jody Seabody and the Whirls come to Maxine’s in Hot Springs with Little Rock’s The Rios, whose sleepy, trippy melodies recall the deliciously wavy sounds of early Ween. The Izm opens, 9 p.m., $5. South Main’s Vintage Market pops up at Bernice Garden monthly during the summer, where all treasures must be either upcycled or over 20 years old, and “unique, esoteric, wacky, fun, high-quality and clean,” 9 a.m., free. The Arkansas Association of Black Professionals hosts The Black Food Festival, spotlighting local African-American-owned businesses around the state, 11 a.m., Philander Smith College, free. The ALS in Wonderland Foundation throws a fashion-oriented soiree every year to foster awareness of the disease (sometimes called Lou Gehrig’s), and proceeds go to help ALS patients acquire and maintain much-needed medical equipment, like wheelchairs and wheelchair ramps, van shuttle services and communication devices. This year’s throwdown features jazz combo TP and The Feel, 7 p.m., Albert Pike Masonic Center, $75-$150.
SUNDAY 5/15
The Carroll and Madison County Library Foundation presents the 11th Annual Books in Bloom Literary Festival on the lawn of the 1886 Crescent Hotel and Spa in Eureka Springs, noon, free. A polished collective of musicians, including Charlie Askew, Genine Perez, Gary Esco and Lucious Spiller, reprises last year’s tribute to Prince in “Purple Rain: Revisited,” 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m., Rev Room, $5-$20.