Nashville songwriter Rod Picott and Texas fiddler Amanda Shire play GoodFolk

[Highlights]

Sew Your Heart With Wires

When a duo comes up with an album title like “Sew Your Heart With Wires,” it sends promise. When you find out the fiddler played with the Texas Playboys when she was only 16, the promise of something interesting becomes stronger.  When the duo describes their music as “Dark southern acoustic songs carved from birch limbs, soaked in turpentine and covered in snow,” you know that they are not only musicians, but poets.

The duo, respected Nashville songwriter Rod Picott and Texas fiddler Amanda Shires, will play GoodFolk Saturday night for what promises to be a fine show.

Picott, who co-wrote the Americana hit “Broke Down” with Slaid Cleaves, has released five albums, including the 2002 “Straydogs” which featured Alison Krauss. 

Shires, who is now 25, played with The Texas Playboys when she was only 16 and went on to be one of the founding members of the Lubbock, Texas, Thrift Store Cowboys, whose albums reached top 10 status on many CMJ charts. As an in-demand side player, she has worked with Billy Joe Shaver, Gary P. Nunn and The Rowen Brothers among others.

Picott and Shires met at the Folk Alliance Conference three years ago and since then they have toured the U.S. and Europe. Last year they began co-writing and recording their debut album, the recently released “Sew Your Heart With Wires.” 

GoodFolk is in a Victorian house at 229 N. Block Ave. near the Fayetteville Square. The show is at 8 p.m. and tickets are $10. Upcoming shows at GoodFolk for this month are: Hot Club of Cowtown, Marley’s Ghost and The Refugees.  Call 521-1812 for reservations.

Books, Bikes and Kites

Three things are happening this week that should be at the top or your to-do list: a bicycle event, kite flying and the chance to see some very unusual books.

Now that Fayetteville has a bike trail that will almost get you from downtown to the mall, you might want to grease up your wheels and make whatever other repairs necessary to get you moving. What? Do it yourself? Indeed. From 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday there will be a bicycle maintenance workshop at Bike City, 546 W. Center St. right on the Frisco bike trail. For a $2 donation, you can learn the basics and for a small additional fee you can get individual instruction. Following the workshop, there will be an urban group ride. Find out more by going the the Bicycle Coalition of the Ozarks website www.bconwa.com. Oh, and there will also be some live music while you work on your ride.

Ever wondered what an artist book is? It will be easy to find out if you take advantage of some shows and a talk happening this week. Artist books use the book format as the original artwork. Instead of using the book as a container of images, the book itself is the art. 

These clever creations are on display at the Four Square Art Gallery in downtown until Mar. 14 and at the University of Arkansas Fine Arts Center and UA’s Mullins library until Mar. 25. 

On Tuesday, Bill and Vicky Stewart of Vamp and Tramp Booksellers of Birmingham, Ala. will present a program on artists’ books from 9:30 to noon in room 114 of the UA Fine Arts Center and repeat it from 1:30 to 4 p.m. 

It’s time to fly. If you’re looking for something to do with the kids this weekend, head to the unspoiled little town of Cane Hill for the Cane Hill Kite Festival. The fun starts and noon and ends when the last kite comes down. It’s free to watch and if you want to fly, you can score a kite for $1, $2, or $3. The high-flying fun will be at the Springfield Ranch in downtown Cane Hill. Snacks will be on sale for hungry fliers. Call 824-8109 for info.

Nightflying Bash

There are lots of good music shows happening this week, but the biggest one may be the Nightflying Anniversary Bash Wednesday night at George’s. Ten bands will get together for a spring fling and other local players will be sitting in. Scheduled to play are: A Good Fight, Earl & Them, R.J. Mischo, Gary Hutchison and John Magness, The Crumbs, Kory Montgomery Band, LaFuso, Apartment Five, Eoff Brothers, Tiffany Christopher Band and Oreo Blue with Brian Crowne. Partiers are encouraged to wear their wildest Spring costume. Doors at 7 p.m. with a $10 cover.