Lots of live music to choose from this weekend (and beyond), from classical to punk, Americana and country music. Here’s what I recommend you go out and catch:
A trio of Amarillo’s best bands – all of whom swap members back and forth – will join forces for a 9 p.m. show tonight at Golden Light Cantina, 2906 S.W. Sixth Ave. Maggie Burt and her four-piece band, Eddie & The Eat and Playa Lake each will play a set, then join forces for a set of “bucket-list covers” from the likes of The Allman Brothers Band, Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin and more. They’re calling the show an “Arkansas Family Reunion” – here’s the explanation for that. Cover is $7.
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My enmity for Lubbock isn’t exactly a secret, so when I saw that Lubbock band No Dry County is one of my absolute favorite acts in Texas, don’t take it lightly. The Americana quintet will perform at 10 p.m. today with Amarillo singing superstar Zac Wilkerson at Hoot’s Pub, 2424 Hobbs Road. It’s not just NDC’s killer tracks (check out last year’s release “The Night Before”) that endeared them to me, though: Lead singer Trent Langford saved my life. Twice. A few years ago, we were hanging out at a booth I was working at Homer’s Backyard Ball when Trent spotted a huge dirt devil heading right toward us and threw me to the ground to protect me from getting swept off to Oz. (OK, he actually just tried to hang onto my tent to prevent it flying off; it didn’t work.) Then, when I wrote a tongue-in-cheek column about my undying hatred for Lubbock, Trent defended me on some Texas Tech sports message boards. It didn’t work, and I’m still banned from the city, but at least he tried. (I’m kidding about at least part of that sentence.) You can hear more from the band Sunday on FM 90’s “Tex Tunes,” which airs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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Texas country star Jon Wolfe will return to town for a 9 p.m. show today at Midnight Rodeo, 4400 S. Georgia St. Best known for his hit single “It All Happened in a Honky Tonk,” Wolfe started singing at open-mike nights in Houston in 2004, then found his way to Nashville, where he signed a contract with Midas Records in 2007. As he told the San Antonio Express News, though, the company went bankrupt the next year, and he was at loose ends until he met songwriter Tim Johnson. They wrote “Honky Tonk” and several other songs together, including Wolfe’s latest single, “Singin’ Thing,” before Johnson’s 2013 death from colon cancer. “I never met anybody like him. He was really a unique individual with a grip on lyrics and life that I’ve never seen in anybody,” Wolfe told the Express News. Cover is $12 ages 21 and older and $15 ages 18 to 20.
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Three of Ludwig van Beethoven’s iconic sonatas for piano and violin will be featured in Chamber Music Amarillo’s latest concert, set for 8 p.m. Saturday in the Fibonacci Space, 3306 S.W. Sixth Ave. Artistic director and pianist David Palmer will perform with violinist Rossitza Jekova-Goza, and they’ll reteam in the 2016-17 season to perform the remaining seven sonatas. Tickets are $35 for adults and $10 for students; families can come for free for a short preview concert at 7 p.m. Friday. Call 806-236-3545 or visit www.cmama.org.
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I’ve been hearing good things about Arizona band Spafford, which will hit town for a 9:30 p.m. show today at Leftwood’s, 2511 S.W. Sixth Ave., on its way to Austin for the Euphoria Festival. The band describes itself as an “eclectic blend of driving rock, funk, dance and light,” and listening to some tracks on its Facebook page immediately got me in the groove. And the fact that they list their light guy alongside the four musicians in the band makes me think the show could be something special. Cover is $8.
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Midnight Rodeo’s Amarillo Live series will feature longtime local fixture The Tommy Gallagher Band at 9 p.m. Saturday. Gallagher’s a solid songwriter with great stage presence that’s kept him active on the local scene very nearly as long as I’ve been covering it. Cover is $6.
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Texas country stalwarts Micky & The Motorcars will head back to Amarillo for a 10 p.m. Saturday show at Hoot’s Pub, also featuring Cameron Nelson. The Motorcars features brothers Micky and Cody Braun, who come from a long line of Americana musicians – brothers Cody and Willy founded Texas favorites Reckless Kelly, and father Muzzie Braun is an acclaimed Western swing musician from Idaho. The Motorcars most recent album, “Hearts from Above,” was released in August 2014.
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Renowned British organist Thomas Trotter will help wrap up the 10th anniversary season for Friends of Aeolian Skinner, Opus 1024, with a 7:30 p.m. Sunday concert at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 1601 S. Georgia St. Trotter told me he expects the highlight of the concert to be a performance of Paul Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” that should take full advantage of the organ’s capabilities. Tickets are $30 for adults and $10 for students. Call 806-376-6316, ext. 105, or visit www.fasoamarillo.org.
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The Bastard Sons of David Hasselhoff, an Amarillo punk band that specializes in aggressive takes on popular songs like “Let It Go” or “Shake It Off,” will rock out Leftwood’s in a 9:30 p.m. Saturday show. Cover is $7.
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TheAmarillo Wind Ensemble, a band made up of community volunteers, will give a free concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Amarillo College Concert Hall Theatre on the Washington Street campus. Among the spiritually and patriotically themed works on the program will be “Amazing Grace,” “And the Angels Called” by James Swearingen, “Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral” by Richard Wagner” and “Bullets and Bayonets” by John Phillip Sousa. Donations will be accepted for the Amarillo Police Department Benefit Fund, said director Scott Beckett. For information, email amarillowindensemble@gmail.com.
* Chip Chandler is a digital content producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted atChip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and atwww.facebook.com/chipchandlerwriter on Facebook.
