Short Takes: Music and More Around the Region

MALCOLM HOLCOMBE
There’s a ragged beauty to the music of Malcolm Holcombe.
On his new CD, “For the Missions Baby” and as can be heard on Oct. 2 at Down Home in Johnson City, Tenn. Holcombe is a musician of grand note. Hear such songs as the sprightly “Leonard’s Pigpen,” hear a man who sings with grunts and growls included.
There’s a Howlin’ Wolf quality to Holcombe. Spin “Another One Gone” and hear the years of experience emerge like golden thorns from Holcombe’s grit-and-grits voice. Sit back and admire the raw as raw gets “Bigtime Blues.” Blessedly unpolished and wickedly wild-eyed music made from a masterful singer who doesn’t sing so much as howl. What a scream, the music of Malcolm Holcombe.

IF YOU GO
Who: Malcolm Holcombe
When: Oct. 2, 9 p.m.
Where: Down Home, 300 W. Main St., Johnson City
Admission: $14
Info: (423) 929-9822
Web and audio: http://www.malcolmholcombe.com

LEE BOYS AND BBQ
Blues and barbecue fit like Southern and accent. They just go together.
So, belly up to several hours of each when The Lee Boys electrify The Buspit in Kingsport, Tenn. on Oct. 2. The music follows an all-you-can-eat barbecue and soul food buffet. A portion of the $25 price of admission will benefit Keep Kingsport Beautiful.
Hey, anything for the blues and barbecue. But The Lee Boys are not simply a blues band. They play a style called sacred steel, a genre that features steel guitars amid music that fuses blues with rock and jazz and funk and hip-hop, along with gospel and even country. It’s a riveting style. And much like barbecue and soul food, the Lee Boys offer a bountiful feast.

IF YOU GO
Who and What: The Lee Boys and all-you-can-eat BBQ and soul food buffet
When: Oct. 2, BBQ buffet from 6 p.m.-8 p.m., music at 8:30 p.m.
Where: The Buspit, 240 E. Main St., Kingsport, Tenn.
Admission: $25Info: (423) 578-2336
Web: http://www.leeboys.com
Audio: http://www.leeboys.com/?q=music

TOM SAWYER
Great art never dies. Great paintings, music, literature – time applies its ravages elsewhere.
So it goes with Mark Twain’s “Tom Sawyer.” Set to open Oct. 1 and run through Nov. 21 at Barter Theatre’s Stage II. Twain’s always-relevant novel and memorable characters long ago imprinted indelible marks upon lovers of literature. Adaptations to film and stage are numerous.
And like all literature, even “Tom Sawyer” is open for myriad interpretations. This production, adapted by Mike Ostroski, takes few liberties with the story and such characters as Tom and his laze-about buddy Huckleberry Finn. If you love the novel, then odds are you’ll love the Barter’s adaptation, too.

IF YOU GO
What: “Tom Sawyer”
When: Oct. 1-Nov. 21
Where: Barter Theatre Stage II, 133 W. Main St., Abingdon, Va.
Info: (276) 628-3991
Web: http://www.bartertheatre.com

MUSIC NOTES
—Come March 15 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will swell by five as its annual allotment of new members will be inducted. Nominees include rock-funk’s Red Hot Chili Peppers, glam-metal’s Kiss, rap’s LL Cool J, reggae’s Jimmy Cliff, pop-rock’s Genesis, disco’s Donna Summer as well as ABBA, and early punk pioneers the Stooges.

—Word from pop-punk band Weezer is that million-selling hip-hopper Lil’ Wayne will appear on the song “Can’t Stop Partying” from the band’s forthcoming new album “Raditude,” due on Oct. 27. Weezer’s lead singer Rivers Cuomo told MTV news that, “… (Lil’ Wayne) gave it an edge I was looking for.”

—Lucy Vodden, 46, has died of lupus in London. Lucy who? The Lucy who inspired the Beatles’ song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” that’s who.

—Electrify Christmas now for the rockers on your lists with a phenomenal new box set from AC/DC. Due Nov. 10 exclusively via its Web site http://www.acdcbacktracks.com, a limited edition 3-CD/2-DVD/one-vinyl with coffee table book version of “Backtracks” will include a mountain of rarities. Get this. The set comes housed in a guitar amplifier, a real and working one-watt amplifier. Pre-orders are being taken now for $199. For those who want the music without the steep price, a far cheaper and less endowed version will also be issued.

—Save your bucks and download seven free jazz MP3s for a limited time. Just go to http://www.amazon.com and enter into the site’s search box, Verve Vault Presents: Rhythm, Strings and Cool Breezy Jazz Sampler. Click on the subsequent link, and voila! Seven free songs at your fingertips.
Songs among the seven include “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” from Ella Fitzgerald, “I Wished On the Moon” by Billie Holiday, and “Lullaby of Birdland” from Sarah Vaughan. Download then lean back and enjoy.
Then check back next week for another round of Short Takes and Music Notes. Meanwhile, please do check out some live and local music, and by all means stay tuned.

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at