Texas blues rock guitarist and singer Carolyn Wonderland, who also plays mandolin, lap steel, accordion, piano and trumpet (and is also hailed for her whistling), has been called a cross between Janis Joplin on vocals and Stevie Ray Vaughan on guitar.
Wonderland will perform at 8 p.m. today at South on Main. Tickets are $10 or $20.
She got her start in Austin, Texas, before moving to Houston, where she led the Imperial Monkeys, a band that released five albums between 1993 and 1997.
In the early 1990s, she and her band became favorites at the famed Austin blues club, Antone’s, on Guadalupe Street.When the band broke up, she remained in Austin and began a solo career. She released four albums between 2001 and 2011, the most recent of which, Peace Meal, was co-produced by Ray Benson (of Asleep at the Wheel), Larry Campbell (who worked as band leader for Levon Helm’s Midnight Rambles) and former Monkee Michael Nesmith.
(Ironically, Nesmith also officiated at the wedding of former Imperial Monkey Wonderland to writer-comedian A. Whitney Brown in 2011.)
Her songs have been used on the TV shows Homicide on NBC and Time of Your Life on Fox. She has toured with Buddy Guy and Johnny Winter and performed with Los Lobos, Robert Earl Keen and String Cheese Incident.
South on Main, 13th and Main streets, Little Rock, (501) 244-9660, metrotix.com
Epiphany, now Big Piph, the Stanford graduate and Little Rock hip-hop musician, will perform with his band, Maybe Tomorrow, at 9 p.m. Saturday at Stickyz Rock ’n’ Roll Chicken Shack.
Tickets are $10.
Big Piph is promoting an EP, The Calm, which was released Tuesday.
Since bands from all over the country converge on Austin for the South by Southwest event, local bands sometimes choose to leave town. The Lost & Nameless Orchestra from Austin will perform at Stickyz, starting at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets are $5.
Lost & Nameless has an Arkansas connection: fiddler Chris E. Peterson, formerly of the band Wagon and member of a noted family of bluegrass musicians who live in Greenbrier, met guitarist/singer Patrick Conway in St. Louis. They moved to Austin, and added Nathan Quiring on accordion and a 17-year-old fiddle prodigy Kimberly Zielnicki, whom Peterson had taught, starting when she was 9 years old.
Lost & Nameless released Empty Spaces on Tuesday.
Stickyz Rock ’n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 107 River Market Ave., Little Rock, (501) 372-7707 or stickyz.com
Juanita’s will host the return to central Arkansas of Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds, who will perform tonight. Stays in Vegas will open the show at 9 p.m.
Tickets are $12.
Lead singer Sister Sparrow - also known as Arleigh Kincheloe - along with her brother, Jackson Kincheloe, on harmonica, and their cousin, Bram Kincheloe on drums, plus five other funky soul musicians, comprise the band, which is based in Brooklyn, N.Y. In 2012, the group released its second album, Pound of Dirt, and launched a Kickstarter campaign to acquire a new van for touring, raising $21,025,more than the $20,000 goal.
Saturday, the club will feature Medieval Steel, and the 10 p.m. show will open with sets by Enchiridion and Never After.
Tickets are $8.
Memphis-based metal band Medieval Steel released its first recording in 1984, went through lineup changes and broke up, then re-formed to play at a German festival in 2013.
Sunday, the club will feature five hard rock groups: Protest the Hero, Battlecross, Safety First, Intervals and Night Verses. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 the day of the 7 p.m. show.
Juanita’s, 614 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, (501) 372-1228, juanitas.com
The White Water Tavern will start the weekend with a benefit tonight, Pong & Peepshow. The show will benefit Central Arkansas New Agrarian Society, a coalition to strengthen the local food system. The show will feature Diamond Dames, with special guests Idle Eyes Menagerie & Raven Rose, with music provided by That Arkansas Weather.
Admission to the 10 p.m. show is $10.
Patrick Sweany will perform at 10 p.m. Friday night. With a blend of folk, soul, bluegrass and blues, along with some punk and 1950s rock rhythms, Sweany is known for a sound that somehow comes out authentically his own. His latest recording, Close to the Floor, came out in July.
Admission is $7.
Saturday, local legend Kevin Kerby will headline a show with his old friend Brent Best of the Texas band Slobberbone.
R2B2 will open the 9 p.m. show. R2B2 formed in 2005, and the group has released two EPs, two LPs, a live CD and an eight-track tape.
Admission is $7.
White Water Tavern, West Seventh and Thayer streets, Little Rock, (501) 375-8400 or whitewatertavern.com
“Red dirt” favorite The Randy Rogers Band returns to central Arkansas this weekend for a show Saturday night at the Rev Room. Rogers is best known for his country single “Kiss Me in the Dark” and his album, Trouble.
Adam Craig will open the 9 p.m. show.
Tickets are $22 in advance, $25 at the door.
Revolution Room, 300 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, (501) 823-0090, revroom.com
Maxine’s in Hot Springs will host a burlesque show Friday night by Texas troupe La Davina. Also performing will be Minxie Mimeaux, Violet Devine, Eva Strangelove, Marilyn Monrouge, Jolie Goodnight, with DaveWolfe providing music.
Saturday night, the club will present three bands: Ben Franks and the Bible Belt Boys, Natural Outlaws (country and rock sounds from Tennessee) and Engine, a folk-rock group from Louisiana.
Both shows start at 9 p.m. Cover charge each night is $5.
Maxine’s, 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs, (501) 321-0909, maxineslive.com.
Weekend, Pages 36 on 03/20/2014