Lisa Denton and Barry CourterBARRY COURTER: Lisa, I hope you are up for some music this week because the calendar is eat up with it, as they say. And, as we see more and more, it’s all over the place as far as styles.
It starts tonight with Lucero and Ryan Bingham at Track 29. Bingham is an Americana singer who, at 33, has already won an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a Grammy, all for “The Weary Kind,” the song he wrote for the soundtrack of “Crazy Heart,” the 2009 film that won Jeff Bridges a Best Actor Oscar.
Lucero, meanwhile, sounds like the name of a heavy-metal band, but they’re a country-punk rock outfit from Memphis. How you distinguish between country-punk and Americana is unclear, but I think it has to do with tattoos and whether the blue jeans have tears in them or not.
LISA DENTON: I’d say you’re on to something there. Twin Forks will open the show — and, no, that’s not a description of my two-handed approach to mealtime. It’s an Americana band out of Florida.
Modest Mouse will be at T29 on Tuesday, but if you don’t have a ticket yet, you’re out of luck. The show’s sold out, which seems to be happening a lot around town lately.
BARRY: I think Modest Mouse sold out in 30 minutes.
LISA: Then Saturday, the Great Southern Old Time Fiddlers Convention is at Lindsay Street Hall. And Sunday is Winter Jam at McKenzie Arena.
BARRY: The Christian-oriented Winter Jam always draws a big crowd, and this year the acts are Skillet, Jeremy Camp, NewSong and Building 429, who have all been here before, and a few acts I’m unfamiliar with like Blanca and Veridia.
The Chattanooga Symphony & Opera returns with Tchaikovsky’s 6th on Thursday, and this is the first weekend of the Road to Nightfall competition. More nights, more bands and more money to be won by the local acts competing for the chance headline one of the series’ weekends.
LISA: I’m also excited about the Tri-State Home Show this weekend. My home is in a perpetual state of fixer-upper, which I could probably accomplish if it weren’t in a perpetual state of cleaner-upper first. The home show is a good place to get ideas.
Also, the Festival of New Plays starts Friday at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre. This year’s winner, “Dorothy Parker Would Not Approve,” is by first-time playwright Stacy Chapman.
BARRY: The title alone deserves a prize, so hopefully the play is up to the billing.
And to complete the week of music, the CSO and Artisti Affamati will present “Opera Faves and Raves,” at the Volkswagen Conference Center on Sunday. Artisti Affamati is a group of opera buffs who have presented several fully staged operas and special events.
Get event details 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.