Lisa Denton and Barry Courter
BARRY COURTER: Lisa, we've both read about five bazillion band biographies over the years, but I have to confess to seeing one this week that took me by surprise. The bio for Gangstagrass, the band that headlines Riverfront Nights on Saturday, actually has the words bluegrass, hip-hop and Elmore Leonard.
It seems the folks at the FX network heard the band's experimental music on the internet and asked Rench, the group's founder, to create the theme song for a then-new show called "Justified," which is based on some of Leonard's books. The books and the show are great, and the show and its Gangstagrass theme song, "Long Hard Times To Come," became hits with fans.
LISA DENTON: Bluegrass, hip-hop and Elmore Leonard? This is like playing that game "One of These Things Is Not Like the Others," except this qualifies as "All of These Things Are Not Like the Others."
Besides Gangstagrass's music, "Justified" also had Timothy Olyphant to recommend it, so I was in.
BARRY: Absolutely, and the dialogue alone should have won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor. But I digress. Gangstagrass is very different, but it all works perfectly well together, and this will be a fun show.
It's another really strong week for music in general. Revelry Room has a bunch of shows, including a Pink Floyd Revue on Friday. Literally upstairs from that at Songbirds the same night will be Suzy Bogguss. Just down the street, The Greyhounds will be headlining Nightfall.
LISA: The cool news about Bogguss is that she'll be singing songs from her 2014 album, "Lucky," which is entirely songs written (or co-written) by Merle Haggard. I'd have a hard time not joining in on some of those, like "The Bottle Let Me Down." I can really bear down on that one.
And don't forget we're coming up on Tennessee's Tax Free Weekend, starting Friday. But since power tools are not exempt, you're probably not interested.
BARRY: I bet wine and beer are also not exempt. I feel left out.
One of the cooler Chattanooga Market events takes place on Sunday. The FiveStar Food Fight pits five local chefs in a competition featuring produce from the market. It's fun to see what these very creative chefs come up with.
LISA: Last year's champ was Patrick Halloran of Hummingbird Pastaria on Signal Mountain, and he'll be back to defend his title.
My vote for most intriguing food news of the week, though, goes to Sue's Tech Kitchen, which has been designed by a NASA scientist and is launching Friday in the Tomorrow Building. The idea was dreamed up by best-selling author Randi Zuckerberg (formerly of Facebook and sister of Mark) while she was dining in a restaurant with her two boys. In a news release, she recalls, "I thought 'how cool would it be if a drone could deliver our food? Or if we could code with candy?'"
You know, like people do.
I get the coolness factor of this high-tech startup, which lets you 3-D print your dessert and compose music with your food, but I would probably like it more if the drone could just drop dinner in my lap at home.
Anyway, it'll be there for a week before starting on a national tour.
BARRY: Delivery to the front door is pretty great. Delivery to my desk, or the couch amazing. I could become 100 percent sedentary.
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.