Athens Music Scene (4-21-11)

I hope you have a boat tethered to a second-story window or the roof! If it keeps raining like it has been, these April Showers best be bringing the Mayflower, because not too many flowers can bloom under water. Be careful. Carry heavy things when crossing moving water. Trust me.

These showers are cleansing in their way. I haven't been out naked in them or anything (I live in town these days and public nudity is not encouraged) but dogs need to be walked, no matter what they may think, and sometimes relaxing into wet is a good thing; easier than showering in any event.

It is a season of rebirth. A time for new beginnings. This Sunday is Easter, and many people the world over will celebrate the miracle of Jesus rising from the grave. The death/rebirth cycle has been a common theme throughout many religious traditions over the years. Our own displaced Athenian god, Dionysus, ranks among those who have died and come back.

I'm not interested in any kind of religious debate, certainly. What I find fascinating is that this continuing theme appears wherever humans congregate. There is something deep at work here in the murky and mysterious depths of the human soul. My guess is that you would find this tradition proliferating more among those humans who dealt with long winters.

After the long, dreary days of winter, the first blush of sunshine gave me hope and put a spring in my step that I didn't realize had been missing. I had been depressed and enduring, but being a being that is accustomed to enduring, I hadn't really taken stock of how disconsolate I had become. All it took was one warm, sunny day to crack my shell and allow the embryonic stem of my soul to unfurl.

I hope that something similar is occurring with you all, and if I might be so bold as to recommend live music as a "sunshine stimulator simulator"; well, consider it recommended. In fact allow me to elucidate a few possibilities for you as we take a tour through the Athens Music Scene.

The Union

Tonight the Union offers a night of experimental film and music (in association with the Athens International Film & Video Fest) titled "Sex, Drugs, Superviolence" featuring music from Blithe Field along with a great selection of short films.

Friday night, the excellent First Street Heat will headline a night of funk rap and rock at the Union. The Heat has a host of horns and delves deeply into a wide array of styles replete with three vocalists and two MCs. It looks complicated but it sounds great. Royales: Next Generation. Funk U and Mind Fish will open the evening.

Saturday night beginning at 8 you can catch, in some particular order, Street Sharks, Cop Hugger, Forget It!, Triceratops, Horseburner, Drug Money and Locusta.

Finally a reason to go out on a Sunday night! The world-traveling super-fantastic heavy-metal mavens Skeletonwitch return to the Union to headline a great night of masterly metal featuring Empirian, Watch Them Rot and Goodbye Goats. Happy Easter indeed. He is Risen!

Wheels on Fire will be making a special downstairs appearance at the Union next Wednesday. This will be their last Athens show before they set out on a tour to rock the Midwest. Tyler Jon Tyler comes down from Chicago and features members of Daily Void and the Ponys as well as the young guitar-slinger/songwriter Rebecca Flores. They make great garage-pop and have recently had their music featured on Showtime's "Shameless." B-Side will open the night.

Smiling Skull Saloon

The Skull hosts Corbin Marsh's Birthday Bash on Friday night. Friends and incestuous bands will gather together to celebrate this precipitous day through music and, no doubt, copious amounts of beer. Music will be supplied by the Corbin Marsh Band, the Porters, the Imparsonators and Rodney & the Regulators (featuring our good buddy Tebbs). Happy Birthday Corbin!

Donkey Coffee

Kelsey Skaggs & David Story blend their beautiful voices together to create a pleasant and striking acoustic duo, and they will duo-so on Friday night at the Donkey. Rachel Figley brings her considerable piano skills to bear upon her opening set.

In the mood for some off-the-cuff jazz and free funk? Well look no further than the Donkey on Saturday night when Splank! returns with friends Us, Today.

Casa Cantina

There is a free Hip-Hop Show at the Casa Cantina tonight. Regional heavy hitters will appear, including Illogic, Ill Poetic, L.E. for the Uncool, J. Rawls and Dysfunktional Family.

Elemental Groove Theory gets things into a jamtastatic whirl Friday night at the Cantina along with Columbus pop-reggae groove superstars, the Andy Shaw Band.

A benefit for the March of Dimes is on tap at the Casa on Saturday night in the form of a Bob Dylan Tribute with the music lovingly performed by Duke Jr. & the Smokey Boots, Hex Net, Liz Pahl & the Pahlbearers, Fayble Family, Colleen Carow and Steve Phalen.

Jackie O's

Joey Hebdo continues his month-long Thursday residency at Jackie O's tonight with twists, turns and melody. Long-time collaborators (and twistos) the Paranormals will swing both on their own and with Joey. This will be in the Brewery.

A UNICEF benefit is set at the Public House tonight with the band Mind Fish creating a sonic display of unity for charity.

600 lbs. of Sin makes their Athens' debut at Jackie O's Public House on Friday night. This West Virginia-based crew is fronted by the great singing of Sierra Ferrell and backed by a who's who of Charleston's best. It is fitting that they should play with Jess & Kyle of Duke Jr. & the Smokey Boots. Good stuff.

The Sufferin' Moses Blues Band brings it to Jackie O's Public House Saturday night with a band full of horns, jamming originals. John Wetzel is a frequent guest on harp with these guys. Atom Lax is a mesmerizing guitar player whose skills will totally captivate you. Beautiful stuff. Monster in the Basement is the new band featuring Mister Got Heat frontman Jon Slater.

The Brewery will hold Athens International Film & Video Fest events on Friday and Saturday.

Stuart's Opera House

In league with the film festival, Stuart's Opera House is presenting the films "The Electricity Fairy" and "Blaze Foley: Duct Tape Messiah" tonight, with the first film beginning at 7. The Blaze Foley film is a documentary about the legendary and belated Texas singer-songwriter aka "doomed poet whose lift was a country song."

Rhapsody

Steve Zarate will make your pre-Easter dinner all the more delightful with his fingerpicked acoustic music on Saturday evening from 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Memorial Auditorium

Ohio University Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band present "Ecstatic Waters" next Tuesday at Memorial Auditorium, 7:30 p.m. I must say, Andrew Traschel and Richard Suk (among others, no doubt) do an excellent job of providing these young and talented musicians with demanding and innovative music that will challenge them and keep audiences interested. They are out to prove that concert bands are not a thing of the past, but a vital musical force of today. The featured piece, "Ecstatic Waters," blends electronica with the classic wind ensemble in a way that is striking. This show is free, so stop out and listen.

That's all for this weekend that I'm aware of. Feel free to email me with ideas and information for this column. I'll see you at the gigs! Bugout!