SONGWRITERS PERFORM:
Tonight at Manhattan’s, Knoxville will be introduced to the music of
David Childers and Irwin Bostonian. Hailing from Mount Holly, North
Carolina, the duo are the remnants of a band called the Mount Holly
Hellcats.
The Hellcats put out a CD called Godzilla, He Done Broke Out,
material from which Childers and Bostonian still perform in their acoustic
incarnation. The CD is country-blues with great attention to songwriting,
so it’s easy to see the transformation to an acoustic setting working quite
well.
“The Hellcats were a fine band,” says Childers, “but I like the material
better in its present format.”
Their songs are breezy tales of iconic characters going through motions of
alienation and self-discovery. In “Johnny Got A Mohawk,” a young boy’s
rebellious haircut destroys his family, driving his father to drink and his
mother to tears. It seems melodramatic, but I guess that’s the point.
They perform tonight at 10 p.m.
ALTERNATIVE POP SENSATIONS:
Popular alternative rock group Polvo and special guest
Butterglory will perform Thursday, March 16, at the Mercury
Theatre. Polvo is said to layer multi-cultural multi-melodies on top
of each other and “stab them with forks monogrammed with the word
‘rock.'”
“It’s just a question of rhymes,” bandleader Ash Bowie told Magnet
magazine recently, “of enough words that rhyme and having fun.” In any
case, the kids love it.
The show starts at 10 p.m. and admission price is $5.
HOT COUNTRY HITMAKER:
Honky tonk king and award-winning country artist Joe Diffie
performs at Cotton Eyed Joe Thursday, March 16, at 8 p.m. His latest
album Third Rock From the Sun is chalking up the #1 single on
the country charts, having produced both the title track and “Pickup Man.”
Called a “modern-day George Jones” by some critics, it makes sense that
Diffie would follow last month’s Jones concert at the popular West
Knoxville night spot. The songs he selects to perform have a similar
attitude to Jones’ clever word plays. He sings of down-to-Earth values on
tunes like the #1 “Pickup Man.” Likewise, he parodies the “problems” of the
wealthy in songs like “I’d Like to Have a Problem Like That.”
Cotton Eyed Joe is doing a great service to Knox area country music fans by
bringing acts such as Diffie into its more intimate club setting. The club
is located at 11220 Outlet Drive, just off the Lovell Road exit on I-40
West.
Admission is $17.
JAZZ AT THE BIJOU:
The Joe Lovano Group performs Thursday, March 16, at the
Bijou Theatre, as part of this year’s Jazz at the Bijou series. The
saxophonist is hailed by critics and won top tenor in Jazz Times
magazine’s Reader’s Poll. He is said to “perpetuate the tradition precisely
as he expands it.”
His group includes Tim Hagins on trumpet, Anthony Cox on bass and Carmen
Castaldi on drums. The show begins at 8 p.m.
