LISA DENTON: OK, Barry, I’m a little disoriented this morning, but it’s not so bad here in the A section. I figured the only way I’d get into a news section was an obituary or crime spree, so this is way more pleasant.
BARRY COURTER: It is a little different, isn’t it? At least we’re paired with entertainment news and not next to a Clay Bennett cartoon. I think we’d be looking up at the business end of somebody’s pet if we were. The digs are different, but the job is the same. We are here to let folks know about the many reasons to get off the couch and do something fun.
This is a pretty good week with Turkuaz at Songbirds on Thursday, and then Alice Cooper is Friday and Ron White is Saturday at Memorial Auditorium. I saw Cooper a couple of years ago, and it is a really fun show with guillotines and giant spiders and all.
Lisa Denton and Barry Courter
LISA: That’s Thursday at my house.
BARRY: I’ve seen White a couple of times as well, and he makes me laugh out loud. Turkuaz is a lot of fun, too, with a big, funky, danceable sound.
LISA: Fun fact: Alice Cooper was a journalism major. There’s a great interview with him in Rolling Stone from August 2017, right after he released the “Paranormal” album. He talks about his own paranormal experience during a songwriting session at a house where “Amityville Horror” was written, the dark humor behind “Genuine American Girl,” a song on the album, and how he chose his stage costumes in the ’60s.
BARRY: He is an avid golfer as well. I half-jokingly asked him in an interview if he’d considered hitting golf balls into the crowd like Rod Stewart, a big soccer fan, does with soccer balls, and he said he didn’t think that was something he would do. He was right, of course.
LISA: And White is just a hoot. He is the official spokesman for Number Juan tequila, which requires that you be Twenty-Juan or older to enter the website. Made me laugh. You know how I love stupid jokes.
BARRY: Nacho best joke; nacho worst joke. Clearly, these Juan-liners are proof that being in the serious news section hasn’t improved our intelligence quotient any.
LISA: I’m OK with that.
BARRY: For folks who like songwriter showcases, Brice Long is performing Tuesday night at Songbirds North. He’s written hit songs for Gary Allan, Jon Pardi and Randy Houser, among others.
LISA: And there’s at least a dozen fall festivals this weekend, including Prater’s Mill Country Fair in Varnell, Georgia, and New Salem Mountain Fair in Rising Fawn, Georgia. They’ll be celebrating apples in Ellijay, Georgia, and pumpkins in Athens, Tennessee. And Chattanooga Market expands to two days, Saturday and Sunday, for Oktoberfest.
It’s a good weekend when you can hear Alice Cooper one day and an oompah band the next.
Get event details every Thursday in ChattanoogaNow or online anytime at www.ChattanoogaNow.com.
Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281. Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.