BARRY COURTER: Lisa, this looks like a good week for live music, and I can't help but notice that some of the bigger events carry an earthly theme. Work with me here. We've got the obvious one with Earth, Wind & Fire. The "elements" will converge on Memorial Auditorium on Wednesday.
Then we travel to the Mississippi Delta the next night at Revelry Room for Son Volt. I spoke to lead singer/songwriter Jay Farrar last week, and the band's latest album is definitely inspired by the region. That same night, we can travel down a dirt and gravel road, figuratively speaking, with country great Gene Watson at the Colonnade in Ringgold, Ga.
Lisa Denton and Barry Courter
LISA DENTON: I see where you're going with this, but all this talk about the elements makes me want to be outside. The first day of spring is a week from today - hooray!
There are a lot of gardening classes this time of year. Just this weekend, you can find classes on container gardening, drop-in pots, the joys of gardening, tree planting, pollinators and native plants at nurseries and other places around town.
Really, there are just a lot of ways to be outdoors in general. Tennessee state parks are offering various versions of spring hikes Saturday. The one at Booker T. Washington will double as a scavenger hunt. At Harrison Bay, they're going out early to watch the sun rise.
BARRY: Do you think the first day of spring on the calendar might actually be the first day of summer on the thermometer? I feel like we blew by winter into spring about a month ago. I saw a couple of Eastern bluebirds with sunglasses and pool floats in our birdbath the other day.
LISA: They might've put some knickers on this past weekend, but I understand the impatience in wanting warm temperatures to get here and stay here.
BARRY: If you are looking for something to do indoors, head over to Granfalloon for the second weekend of the Road to Nightfall competition. Six bands are slated for Thursday and Friday nights beginning at 8, and five will perform on Saturday. Those three winners will join the two from last weekend for a final round on March 25 at Miller Plaza. The overall winner gets to headline a Nightfall Concert Series show this summer.
LISA: One of those past Road to Nightfall winners, Nick Lutsko, will be the grand marshal of the St. Chatty's Day Parade at noon Saturday. The route goes from Fourth and Cherry streets across the Market Street Bridge and onto Frazier Avenue. Then there'll be a Party on the Parkway at Patten Parkway.
BARRY: This isn't Lutsko's first parade. After winning RTN, he wanted to pay homage to the previous year's winners, Strung Like a Horse, who had a parade after their Nightfall show in 2012. He added puppets to his march down Market Street.
LISA: The St. Chatty's Parade gets bigger every year. I did a quick internet search to find our leprechaun names. I'm Sprinkles McMuffin, and you're Stumpy O'Rainbow.
Don't blame me, Stumpy. I'm just telling you what the chart says.
Get event information every Thursday in ChattanoogaNow or online anytime at www.ChattanoogaNow.com.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354. Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281.