Hillbilly Olympic Games
Ketner’s Mill in Whitwell, Tenn., will be the host site for the inaugural Hillbilly Olympic Games, scheduled Memorial Day weekend, May 29-31. The event will spotlight such Appalachian art forms as pig calling, yodeling and storytelling, as well as car hood and wheelbarrow racing, bobbing for pig’s feet and toilet-seat horseshoes. Live music will be featured all three days. Tickets go on sale Saturday at www.hillbillyolympicgames.com.
‘Grossology’
Burps and toots and other sounds our bodies make can be fully explored in the next exhibit at Creative Discovery Museum. “Grossology: The (Impolite) Science of the Human Body,” opening May 29, will use sophisticated animatronics and imaginative displays to explain the good, the bad and the downright ugly about all of our mushy, oozy, crusty, scaly and stinky functions. Find out more at www.cdmfun.org.
‘Riverdance’
“Riverdance,” the celebration of Irish music, song and dance, has logged more than 10,000 performances. The final three for Chattanooga audiences will be May 18-20, when the ensemble stops on its Farewell Tour. Tickets are on sale at www.ChattanoogaOnStage.com.
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Gregg Allman, a name synonymous with Southern rock, will perform May 28 in Chattanooga. The show at First Tennessee Pavilion will feature support from Bruce Katz on keyboard, Jerry Jemmott on bass, Steve Potts on drums, Scott Sharrard on guitar, Jay Collins on horns and Floyd Miles on percussion. Tickets are available at the Memorial Auditorium box office, 642-TIXS.
Nightfall
Big Sam’s Funky Nation, past winner of Best Funk Group in New Orleans’ Big Easy Music Awards, will headline the opening night of the Nightfall Summer Concert Series on May 28 at Miller Plaza. The band is led by trombone powerhouse Big Sam Williams, described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “the top man on the slide trombone in the birthplace of jazz.” To energize the audience, Williams uses second-line street dance and call-and-response in his shows.