Highlights April 10-17
JUNKIE XL
JUNKIE XL will arrive in Fayetteville on Saturday for a show at The Gypsy before heading to gigs in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Seattle, before his appearance the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif.
Fans of electronic dance music, no doubt, will be lining up outside the Dickson Street club to hear the guy who’s running like a jack rabbit from continent to continent to keep fans satisfied.
The remix master released his fifth album “Booming Back At You” last month on the Artwerk Music label. Artwerk will release a second single from “Booming Back At You,” — “Cities In Dust,” a high-voltage Siouxsie and the Banshees cover. The song follows the international club smash “More” with vocals by Lauren Rockit, which “Playboy” magazine included in their “Hot Tunes” list in February.
JUNKIE XL has also released two EP’s for Beatport, “Beating Back At You Vol 1 and Vol 2.” Each of the EPs features a new track exclusive to Beatport and a cut from “Booming Back At You.”
The more progressive “Beating Back At You Vol 1” features the new song “Roux” and a dub remix of “Not Enough” featuring Willoughby and Nicole Morier of Electrocute from the album, while “Vol 2” is more techno.
Get there early.
Celebrating 40 Years
The University of Arkansas masters program in creative writing and translation is ranked among the best in the nation. This year, the program is celebrating its 40th anniversary and has asked distinguished alumni to return to the campus to present readings. The program was founded by William Harrison and the late James Whitehead, with Miller Williams instrumental in its growth.
Books by Harrison, Whitehead and Williams will be on sale at a reading and celebration at 7 p.m. today in Giffels auditorium in Old Main. Available will be two new, posthumous works by Whitehead, “The Panther,” a collection of unpublished poems and an excerpt from the unpublished novel “Coldstream.”
Among the returning alumni are Leon Stokesbury and Susan Perabo. Stokesbury’s first book, “Often in Different Landscapes,” was a co-winner of the first Associated Writing Programs Poetry Competition in 1975. His collection Autumn Rhythm: New and Selected Poems won The Poets’ Prize as the best book of poems published by an American for that year. Perabo’s collection of stories, “Who I Was Supposed to Be” published in 1999 by Simon & Schuster was named a “Book of the Year” by the Los Angeles Times, The Miami Herald and The St. Louis Post Dispatch.
Coming our way
What is it about this time of year that makes everyone who’s doing a show here start out by saying “sorry I’m late contacting you, but…”? Maybe it all that blooming stuff outside. However, there are a couple of notable acts headed to town this week in addition to the JUNKIE XL show at The Gypsy. Here’s what’s cookin.’
The underground house concert series at The New Deli, 503 W. Prospect in Fayetteville, will host Twin Tigers at 10 p.m. Saturday. The band’s live shows are packed with hook-filled songs, heavy beats, distorted guitar riffs and catchy vocals. The Georgia based four-piece formed during the fall of 2007. They have recorded one EP, “Curious Faces/Violet Future,” which the Athens, Ga. free weekly, Flagpole called “a lush 20-minute medley of ethereal, brooding and biting melodies.” Twin Tigers will be sharing the stage with The Badenders.
Wednesday night emerging singer-songwriter Martin Sexton will hit George’s. We should put a capital “S” in singer, when we talk about Sexton. The Boston based musician delivers in a straightforward talking style ala Bob Dylan, but with a clear golden voice. Think Nick Lowe, Ray Charles, Bill Withers. Yes, we’re serious, the guy’s got range. Sexton is a true independent, turning away a record dealt to opt for the DIY route, yet selling out venues like San Francisco’s Fillmore.
On the same bill is another outstanding talent, the multi-instrumentalist (trombone, guitar and keyboard) and singer-songwriter George Stanford. Stanford will release his debut album of classic pop rock, “Big Drop,” in June on the Mercury Records label.
This will be a terrific double bill.
Next Thursday night—April 17— Jeff and Vida will be returning to GoodFolk. The bluegrass, rockabilly, country duo has just earned a write up in the New York Times, which called their music “….songs you long to hear late at night on the interstate, in pool halls and smoky whiskey bars.” Their ballads sound like they could have been written 50 years ago, while their raucous barnstorming numbers will keep your feet tapping. For tickets call 521-1812.
NAMA Hall of Famers announced
NAMA XIII will see two bands and one solo musician inducted into the NAMA Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame awards are given to musicians who have won three previous awards. The NAMA XIII inductees are: singer-songwriter Effron White; blues band Ocie Fisher and the Hipp Doggs (Richard Alexander, Bill Dollar, David Ervin, Ocie Fisher, Coy Hurd, Jay McDonald and William Symes); and jam band Flipoff Pirates (Ben Ellis, Jeff Kearney, Barry Moore, Matt Smith and Jake Weeden).
NAMA XIII will be April 24 at the Dickson Theater. Doors open to the public at 8 p.m. Performing at the awards ceremony will be Benjamin Del Shreve, Luminfire, Luda, Memphis Pencils, Pope County Bootleggers and One Oz Jig. Tickets are $10 at the door. For information call 601-4549.
