MUSIC SCENE

Keen wit from Texas, Houndmouth at Rev Room

Robert Earl Keen
Robert Earl Keen

Texas troubadour Robert Earl Keen is returning to the Rev Room for a show at 8:30 p.m. today, with Andrea Davidson opening the show.

Keen, a proud Texas Aggie known for his, well, keen wit and story songs, such as his Christmas song, “Merry Christmas From the Family,” released his latest and 11th studio album, Ready for Confetti, in August 2011. He also has released six live albums, the latest of which, Marfa After Dark, came out in 2008 as only a download.

Tickets are $30.

On Friday night, the club will present a pair of intriguing, up-and-coming acts, Houndmouth, plus opening act Willie Watson, formerly a member of Old Crow Medicine Show.

Houndmouth, a band from Louisville, Ky., headlined at Stickyz in March, and spent the rest of 2013 opening shows for Alabama Shakes and playing at prestigious venues like Bonnaroo and the Newport (R.I.) Folk Festival. The group has also opened shows for Drive-By Truckers, Lucero, Lumineers and Grace Potter.

Rough Trade Records released From the Hills Below the City, the debut Houndmouth album, in June and the album won praise for its tales of riverboats, trains, casino escapades and down-on their-luck drug runners.

Watson spent more than a decade as a singer/guitarist in Old Crow Medicine Show before departing in the fall of 2011 to pursue a solo career. His debut solo album, Keep It Clean, is set for release this spring. He recently was part of the musical lineup on the Showtime TV concert film Another Day/Another Time: Celebrating the Music of Inside Llewyn Davis.

The show will start at 8 p.m., and tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the door.

Revolution Room, 300 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock,(501) 823-0090, revroom.com

Juanita’s has another triple-threat weekend of shows, starting tonight with a hard rock triple-bill: headliner Soul Embraced, plus opening acts The Order of Elijah and All Is at An End.

Soul Embraced is a Christian death metal band from Little Rock, formed in 1997 by former Living Sacrifice member Rocky Gray, who also spent four years as the drummer for Evanescence (who recorded a Soul Embracedsong, “My Tourniquet”).

Tickets are $9 for today’s 9 p.m. show.

Saturday, the club will welcome the return of Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, along with opening act Rodge & The Dirt Road Republic.

Peyton’s band, ironically, is not big. It consists of him on vocals and guitar, his wife, “Washboard” Breezy Peyton and drummer Ben “Bird Dog,” Bussell.

Peyton, a native of southern Indiana, now based in the Nashville, Tenn., area, has released Between the Ditches, his fifth album, which debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes Blues chart in August 2012.

Opening act Rodge & the Dirt Road Republic is led by Rodge Arnold, a Helena native who formerly worked at KFFA-AM, 1360 radio in Helena with “Sunshine” Sonny Payne. Other band members are Justin McGoldrick on lead guitar, Jimmy Young on bass and Preston Tackett on drums. Young also plays bass for Bonnie Montgomery and McGoldrick is a member of the P-47s.

Admission is $10 for the 10 p.m. show.

Sunday, the club will present Alex Brown Church, of Sea Wolf fame, plus opening acts Cliff Hutchison and Nick Flora.

Church will perform acoustic versions of his West Coast-based band’s material. Sea Wolf released its first recording, Get to the River Before It Runs Too Low, in 2007. Its most recent recording, Old World Romance, came out in 2012.

Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door for the 7:30 p.m. show.

Juanita’s, 614 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, (501) 372-1228, juanitas.com

John Paul Keith & the 145s, a band with a devoted central Arkansas following, return to the White Water Tavern at 9:30 p.m. Friday, promoting a new album, Memphis Circa 3 AM.

Keith’s producer was Roland Janes, a legendary Sun Records-era producer and engineer who was born in Clay County. Janes, 80, died in October after he and Keith completed work on Keith’s latest album, which Keith proudly notes was done without any input from computers.

Admission is $7.

White Water Tavern, West Seventh and Thayer streets, Little Rock, (501) 375-8400 or whitewatertavern.com

Maxine’s in Hot Springs will host a CD release show Friday night by Johnny Beauford of Bravo, Max! (a Dallas band).

Beauford is releasing a new album, A Pig Eating Past Love, while juggling time with his rock group, Bravo, Max! as well as another band, The Jack Kerowax, an Americana outfit.

Admission is $7 for the 9 p.m. show, which will also feature three opening acts: Adam Faucett and the Tall Grass, Alex Culbreth and Matthew Ritchie. Culbreth is from Virginia and Faucett and Ritchie are Arkansans.

Maxine’s, 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs, (501) 321-0909, maxineslive.com.

Weekend, Pages 34 on 02/20/2014

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