It's not every day you get to hear an improvisational jug band, we're betting, but this weekend's entertainment lineup includes the opportunity. Here's a look.
* Nightfall scores extra points this week for the ingenuity of the bands' names. Opening act The Other Brothers is a Chattanooga-based improvisational jug band - with magic. Members are Jon Wimpee (guitar/vocals), BJ Hightower (bass/vocals), Joe Rogers-Jones (percussion) and Joe Dill (banjo/vocals). Their performances include bluegrass, country, folk, jazz and hits from the '60s through the '90s.
The headliner, Nashville's Hogslop String Band, is rooted in traditional Southern old-time string band music, with original songwriting pushing the boundaries of what the genre can be. Together since 2009, they've won every major string band competition in the South.
Recorded at the newly renovated Mountain Arts Community Center on Signal Mountain, the show will be streamed from 7 to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7, on the Nightfall Facebook page and on Nightfall Virtual on YouTube.
Staff File Photo / John Rawlston, the longtime stage manager of the Nightfall concert series, will serve as host for this week's virtual installment.John Rawlston, Nightfall's stage manager for more than 30 years, will host. Shows continue every Friday night through August.
* Festival kickoff: The Creative Arts Guild, 520 W. Waugh St. in Dalton, Georgia, will host a volunteer kickoff for its upcoming Festival, an annual celebration of the arts, during its first Friday art reception, set for 5:30-7:30 p.m. Aug. 7. The gallery opening features works by Libby Newell, the Chattanooga Modern Quilt Guild and Sandra Babb. Sign up as a volunteer for Festival, scheduled Sept. 18-20, and you'll receive a commemorative T-shirt.
Admission is free. Light concessions will be served outside the front entrance. Safety measures will be followed, including social distancing and restricted capacity inside the building, temperature checks and masks offered at the door.
For more information, call 706-278-0168 or visit www.creativeartsguild.org.
* Chattanooga Unite: Maria Jordania & No Pressure headline this concert Saturday, Aug. 8, at the Tennessee Riverpark, 4301 Amnicola Highway. These Chattanooga-based musicians will play their eclectic mix at 9 p.m., following opening slots by Cleveland, Tennessee, musician Barry Gilreath at 7 and Nashville rock band Behold the Brave at 8. Learn more at ChattanoogaUnite.com.
* Chattanooga Ballet will hold its annual open house 3-5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9, at it main location, 817 N. Market St. The dance company also has announced a new partnership and satellite location at Silverdale Academy, 7236 Bonny Oaks Drive, and that it will move its Signal Mountain classes to the newly rehabilitated dance studio at Mountain Arts Community Center, 809 Kentucky Ave., when the fall semester begins on Monday, Aug. 17. The open house will have timed entries based on class registration; see the schedule at https://chattballet.org/event/open-house/.
Email Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com.