Also, Stand Up for Access Comedy Show, Max & Iggor Cavalera, Billy Joe Shaver, Daddy Issues, Pat Donohue, Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase, Beer, Brats & Bots, Third Friday Argenta Artwalk, 'Key Connections to Humanity,'
THURSDAY 2/16
MAX & IGGOR CAVALERA
6:30 p.m. Revolution. $25.
Thank the gods for Black Sabbath and Queen, without whom Sepultura might never have been. Although the mind reels at what Iggor Cavalera would have done with the preoccupation he had with samba music as a young man, it was evidently a Queen concert in 1981 that turned him on to rock music. For his brother Max, the turning point was "Black Sabbath Vol. 4," which he heard the same day the boys' father died of a heart attack. They formed Sepultura before either of them turned 15, and after a decade of tours and a move from Sao Paulo to Phoenix, Ariz., Max departed the band under dramatic circumstances in 1996, following the brothers' much-heralded album "Roots." It's either a Korn rip-off or a groundbreaking combination of metal and the music of the indigenous Brazilian Xavante tribe, depending on who you ask. The album pays homage to rainforest activist Chico Mendes and to Lampiao, a Clyde Barrow bandit-leader type whose confrontations with the police made him into a folk hero in the 1930s. "Roots" has aged well, too, so when the two brothers, having reconciled in 2006 to form Cavalera Conspiracy, neared the album's 20th anniversary, they decided to go on tour playing "Roots" in its entirety — all 65 minutes of it. They're joined in that endeavor by Cavalera Conspiracy bandmates Johny Chow and Marc Rizzo, and word has it they sometimes even rock "Canyon Jam," the 13-minute hidden track from the original CD release. SS
THURSDAY 2/16
PAT DONOHUE
7:30 p.m. The Joint Theater and Coffeehouse, North Little Rock. $25.
If you know Pat Donohue, you probably know why he's got time for this gig. Donohue dazzled listeners of public radio's "A Prairie Home Companion" for 20 years with his bluesy fingerpicking style and comedic songwriting, until the show's changing of the guard last fall after Garrison Keillor's retirement. Public radio's loss is Argenta Arts Acoustic Music Series' gain, and this entry in the monthly series at the Joint promises to bring the fun as well as his instrumental prowess. On the radio, Donohue — actually born in PHC's hometown of St. Paul, Minn. — was often called upon to wield his wit with his guitar, a rare combination of talents that goes unappreciated in the world generally, especially it seems in the cold, mathematical realm of fingerpicking. See the face behind the fingers with this welcome performance in this series. SK
THURSDAY 2/16
ARKANSAS TIMES MUSICIANS SHOWCASE
8 p.m. Stickyz Rock 'n' Roll Chicken Shack. $5-$10.
Our Round 4 winner, whoever it might end up being, has some work cut out for them. They'll face off against DeFrance, Dazz & Brie and Rah Howard in the finals March 10 for a chance to secure a spot at Riverfest; a spot at Low Key Arts Valley of the Vapors Music Festival; a spot at Legends of Arkansas; a recording session at Capitol View Studio; and some real live cash money. Up first in the fourth round: November Juliet, one of our wilder submissions, whose repertoire includes a post-apocalyptic reinterpretation of "You Are My Sunshine" and the lyrics "East Block Nation/1985/Like Boris and Natasha in the heat of the night"; CosmOcean, a funk-flavored dance band fronted by espoused classically trained singers and whose lineup includes such highly relatable tunes like "Beer, Bread and Cheese"; The Martyrs, a straight-up rock 'n' roll outfit headed up by Rose City tattoo emperor Scott Diffie; and Brae Leni and the Evergreen Groove Machine (formerly Soulution), a jazz-informed band backing a silky-toned singer who takes some major stylistic cues from D'Angelo and Earth, Wind and Fire. SS
THURSDAY 2/16
DADDY ISSUES, VEGAS VERDES
9 p.m. Maxine's, Hot Springs. Free.
Self-described Nashville "witch rock" trio Daddy Issues began as a parodic Twitter account headed up by then-Belmont University students Jenna Mitchell and Jenna Moynihan, but when talk turned to recording a song called "Pizza Girl" — also a joke — things got real and they added a non-Jenna, drummer Emily Maxwell. About six months after picking up their instruments, Infinity Cat Recordings posted their song "Ugly When I Cry" on Soundcloud, and the trio was whisked off to perform at South by Southwest. Not to be confused with the Greensboro, N.C., surf pop band of the same name — with whom Nashville's Daddy Issues claims they will one day wage a revolution — the band released "Can We Still Hang" on Infinity Cat last June. It's full of grungy guitars and "Rebel Girl"-style odes to self-assured peers like "Veronica," Winona Ryder's character in the 1988 film "Heathers": "I've heard stories about Veronica/Took her shirt off in the pool/She's got bigger plans than all of us/She's gonna steal the crown and rule." If Hollywood's Powers That Be ever decide to go ahead and make that fake movie trailer for "Daria: High School Reunion" a reality, "Can We Still Hang" might soundtrack Aubrey Plaza pretty well. Just sayin.' They're joined by Vegas Verdes for this free show. SS
FRIDAY 2/17
'BORDER CANTOS' LECTURE
7 p.m., Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
As the way the United States treats immigrants dominates the American conversation, Crystal Bridges opens an exhibition of art and sound to document issues surrounding the U.S./Mexico border. Photographer Richard Misrach and composer Guillermo Galindo collaborated on the exhibition, which opens Friday, Feb. 18. The evening before, Misrach will talk about his and Galindo's artistic process, tell stories he collected from people at the border and discuss the role of art in politics. Misrach has been photographing the area since 2004, collecting objects left behind by migrating people; Galindo has created sound-generating sculpture from those objects — such as water bottles, shotgun shells, ladders and parts of the border wall. The show runs through April 24, will be presented in both English and Spanish. LNP
FRIDAY 2/17
THIRD FRIDAY ARGENTA ARTWALK
5-8 p.m., downtown North Little Rock galleries.
Argenta newcomer StudioMain, formerly on Main Street in South Little Rock, is hosting a "Welcome to My Neighborhood" exhibition at its new home at 413 Main St. (Argenta Gallery) as part of the art district's monthly ArtWalk. The architectural collaborative's designs from the past four years will be shown as a "catalyst for discussion about the role of the built environment, where design, art, culture and community intersect," StudioMain announced. Also open after hours for ArtWalk: Mugs Cafe, which continues its show "Nature, Inside and Out," printmaking by Daniella Napolitano and Carmen Alexandria. Napolitano was chosen to illustrate Karen Russell's novel "Swamplandia"; Alexandria is a Little Rock artist whose work has been exhibited at Drawl Gallery. The Thea Foundation continues Michael Shaeffer's show "The Thrill of It All," portraits of local drag artists, the subject of a recent feature in the Arkansas Times. At the Argenta branch of the Laman Public Library, see "Images in Pastel," works from the Arkansas Pastel Society. Greg Thompson Fine Art opens its "22nd Anniversary Exhibition," works by top artists from Arkansas and the South; champagne will be served. LNP
FRIDAY 2/17
'KEY CONNECTIONS TO HUMANITY'
5-8 p.m., Matt McLeod Fine Art Gallery.
Several of Arkansas's top African-American artists and a photographer who documents living conditions of African children are contributing work to a show that downtown gallery owner Matt McLeod hopes will "open a door" to a much needed discussion of race in America, in both "painful and joyous" terms. Erstwhile Arkansan Angela Davis Johnson, who now lives in Atlanta, focuses on missing and exploited women in her paintings. John David Pittman's photographs focus on children in Kenya; part of the proceeds from the sale of his work will be contributed to Blue Door Sponsorship, which provides those children with food, education and medical care. There will also be objects by University of Arkansas at Little Rock applied art professor David Clemons and University of Central Arkansas sculpture professor Bryan Massey in the show, which runs through March 23. LNP
SATURDAY 2/18
BEER, BRATS & BOTS
10 a.m. Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub. $10.
If every science fiction movie set in the future is to be believed, robots are going to be a significant part of human life to come, and it's probably best just to make nice with them. For this workshop-turned-robot-wrestling match, teams of three to five are tasked with the creation of a robot, and given materials necessary to do so. At around noon, there's a break in the action for some beer and brats — open to any ticketholders, even those not competing — and at 1 p.m., the androids battle it out in a showdown. SS
SATURDAY 2/18
BILLY JOE SHAVER
9 p.m. White Water Tavern. $25.
Is there anyone left who cares at all about music who hasn't heard Billy Joe Shaver's epic tales of hard-won glory, profound loss and redemption? How as a young comer, he challenged Ol' Waylon to either listen to his songs or face an ass-whoopin'? How Waylon's subsequent album filled with Shaver songs turned outlaw country into a thing? (Let history show that Waylon Jennings is a music lover, not a music fighter.) How even Shaver's song titles — "Ain't No God in Mexico," "Old Five and Dimers Like Me," "You Asked Me To," "Georgia On a Fast Train," "Live Forever," "I'm Just An Old Chunk of Coal" — sound like sermons from the one cowboy church preacher you might actually like to listen to? Similarly, it would be nearly insulting to offer more than a cursory rundown of Little Rock's venerable White Water Tavern, one of the few venues still operating in the state with a Shakespearian backstory of fire, lust and violence that meets and exceeds that of Shaver. Furthermore, after, lo, this many BJS shows at the WWT, the reflected limelight of venue and performer are now shared to the point that everybody knows this drill — so mentioning you better get tickets now if you'd like to go is perhaps the most superfluous thing to say at all. The Salty Dogs open the show. SK
MONDAY 2/20
CHARLIE WILSON
7 p.m. Verizon Arena. $60-$98.
Charlie, Ronnie and Robert Wilson's work as Leon Russell's backing band may not have earned them the chart success they'd find later, but it proved their mettle early on, giving Russell's piano prowess the churchified funk it came to be known for. As talented backing bands are wont to do, the brothers moved upstage as The Gap Band, donning sparkly cowboy suits and even sparklier guitars for "You Dropped a Bomb on Me," "Burn Rubber on Me" and that timeless ode to the thing that got us all here in the first place, "Humpin'." They kept going for over 40 years, retiring in 2010, but evidently Charlie had some more falsettoing left to do. He's hit the road with Fantasia and Johnny Gill in support of his new album, "In It to Win It." "Stopping for me is not an option," Wilson told the Washington Post last week. "While people was looking at me funny and trying to figure me out, I was working hard in the basement. And when I came out the basement, I was ready to go." In the last few years, he's been honored with an NAACP Image Award and, in 2013, a Lifetime Achievement Award from BET — which he accepted with an award night performance featuring Justin Timberlake and Pharrell Williams that earned the channel its highest ratings in years. And although having all those accolades on the books is undoubtedly nice, there's a less official gemstone on Wilson's resume: Snoop Dogg refers to him as "Uncle Charlie." SS
TUESDAY 2/21-WEDNESDAY 2/22
'AN ARTIST'S SENSE OF PURPOSE: ART, ACTIVISM AND COMMUNITY IN CONWAY'
Various times. University of Central Arkansas and Hendrix College. Free.
During World War II, the United States government was so afraid of an uprising from immigrants, refugees and citizens with a shared Japanese ancestry that it ordered around 120,000 of them to be sent from the West Coast to relocation camps in places like Jerome and Rohwer in the Arkansas Delta, with the professed goal of "protection against espionage and against sabotage to national-defense material, national-defense premises and national-defense utilities." That part of Arkansas history was preserved, in part, by Hendrix faculty members Floy Hansen, Paul Faris and Louis and Elsie Freund, who documented life at Arkansas camps and staged an exhibition of artwork by Jerome internee Henry Sugimoto. Meanwhile, UCA graduate Mabel Rose Jamison was teaching "Caucasian Art" in the Rohwer camp, and saved her students' artwork for later display at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., at Little Rock's Butler Center and at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. In light of those ties, and in solemn commemoration of the 75 years that have elapsed since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the executive order clearing the way for Japanese internment, the two schools are holding a series of events to "pause to remember the people who suffered imprisonment, without any charges, without lawyers and without trials, and whose only "crime" was they looked like the enemy," the event's webpage says. "We also remember those who took a stand against racial injustice, despite the risk of being socially ostracized, to aid Japanese Americans amidst a climate of fear and discrimination." Selections from the Gould-Vogel collection of Japanese-American Internment art and artifacts, on loan from the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, will be displayed in the Fireplace Room in UCA's McCastlain Hall Feb. 20-24, and Drury University professor Nancy Chaikarishi's sculpture "Life Interrupted: 10 Internment Camps" will be on display at Hendrix College's Mills Library Feb. 21-27. On Wednesday, Feb. 22, Aya Murata, Hendrix College's Japan Outreach Initiative coordinator, will conduct a commemorative ceremony in the school's Mills Library at 4:30 p.m. That will be followed by "WWII Internment and Conway: Lessons for Today," a forum featuring Rohwer survivor Richard Yada, Hendrix President Dr. William Tsutsui and UA Little Rock professor Dr. Edma Delgado Solorzano at 4:45 p.m. in the Mills Center, Room A. At 7:30 p.m., Vivienne Schiffer's film "Relocation, Arkansas: Aftermath of Incarceration" will be screened at Hendrix's Worsham Performance Hall South, followed by a Q&A with Yada. An awful lot of inhumane treatment has been carried out in the name of "national security," and it behooves us to revisit the ways in which xenophobic hysteria has affected policy in our country's past, particularly now, when simply replacing the word "Japanese" with "Hispanic" or "Muslim" or "Syrian" makes the whole ordeal seem frighteningly contemporary. SS
TUESDAY 2/21
ARKANSAS TIMES PRESENTS: 'THE THING'
7 p.m. Riverdale 10 Cinema. $8.50.
Boasting what may be one of the most terrifying taglines in cinematic history — "Man is the warmest place to hide" — John Carpenter's "The Thing" came out the same day as "Blade Runner," two movies that apparently needed to age a while before they were appreciated. Worse, both preceded the release of "E.T." by two weeks, a death knoll for a suspense film that opts for despair and paranoia in a moment that craved hope and violins. "I'd made a really grueling, dark film and I just don't think audiences in 1982 wanted to see that," Carpenter told audiences at the movie's screening at Capetown Film Festival in 2013. "They wanted to see 'E.T.' and 'The Thing' was the opposite." Originally adapted from "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell, the film was expertly scored by renowned Italian composer Ennio Morricone ("The Good, The Bad and the Ugly," "Once Upon a Time in the West"), the man largely responsible for the sound we associate with spaghetti Westerns. Scream Factory released a collector's edition of "The Thing" on Blu-ray last October, but it's worth a repeat on the big screen. Catch our presentation of the film Tuesday, and keep an eye out on Soundcloud for an accompanying podcast from Film Quotes Film, our curatorial partner in the Arkansas Times Film Series. SS
WEDNESDAY 2/22
STAND UP FOR ACCESS COMEDY SHOW
8 p.m. The Lobby Bar. $10 ($5 for students).
With abortion rights under attack, the nonprofit Arkansas Access Abortion Support Network is raising funds to help patients who need help covering the cost of their procedures and associated expenses, such as travel, lodging and childcare. Though new state laws that have made it harder for low-income women to obtain abortions are no joke, those who support women's reproductive rights could use a laugh. So the AASN is bringing comedian Katrina Coleman, founder of the Memphis Comedy Festival, to this fundraiser for the organization. Michael Brown of the Brain Trust comedy show on YouTube hosts, and the show will also feature Little Rock comedians Kayla Esmond and Josh Ogle. Tickets are available at eventbrite.com. LNP