CONNOR CHRISTIAN & SOUTHERN GOTHIC
This band's just-released 90 Proof Lullabies, a reviewer said, "is one of those albums that you hear playing at a party that makes you immediately begin to plan how to steal said CD from the host." While we here at Connect Savannah try to discourage such behavior every chance we get, there's no denying that Christian and company are one fire-breathing roots-rock outfit. Buy the CD, though, or download it somewhere.
Here's the deal: There are bits of The Band, Steve Earle, Ryan Adams, Uncle Tupelo, Counting Crows and Little Feat in the musical veins of this tough-sounding singer/songwriter from Atlanta, and his yowling vocals sometimes bring the Elton John of Tumbleweed Connection to mind (you'll recall that was the early album on which Elton pretended to be American).
Some might quibble that Christian's songs can sound a tad derivative around the edges, but considering his A-list influences, is that such a bad thing? With violin, keyboard, bass, drums and ringing guitars, Southern Gothic is a solid - and solidly American - rock ‘n' roll band. Listen & learn: www.connorchristian.com. At 10 p.m. June 18, Live Wire Music Hall, 307 W. River St. $7.
CORY BRANAN
A singer/songwriter with a rabid fan base, from Memphis (his adoptive hometown) to all points south, Branan has been compared with Heartbreaker-era Ryan Adams for his ability to juxtapose tender/sweet ballads with hard-hearted rockers and full-blast celebrations of decadent, booze-swilling joy. His hero, however, is John Prine, one of the first acoustic balladeers to take smart-ass humor into literate and melodic territory. Also playing: Joey Cape (from the punk band Lagwagon) and Jon Snodgrass (from the alt-country Drag the River). Listen & Learn: www.myspace.com/corybranan. At 9 p.m. Monday, June 22 at the Jinx, 127 W. Congress St. $7.
ECLIPSE
GET THE LED OUT
Although you wouldn't know it from listening to Classic Rock radio, both Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin are gone, baby, gone. Never fear, Anglophiles, because legendary British rock bands never really die - their memorable stage acts like on in perpetuity through the magic of the tribute band! This week, the Live Wire (in Savannah) and the Shoreline Ballroom (Hilton Head) bring in Nashville's Eclipse and Philadelphia's Get the Led Out, respectively. Indeed, these are American bands "presenting" the best of Floyd and Zeppelin, both musically and visually, for your nostalgic pleasure. Listen & Learn: www.eclipsetribute.com, www.gtlorocks.com. Eclipse - A Tribute to Pink Floyd, June 19 at Live Wire Music Hall, 307 W. River St. $8 advance, $10 at the door. Get the Led Out ("The American Led Zeppelin"), At 8 p.m. June 21, Shoreline Ballroom, 40 Folly Field Road. $15 advance, $20 day of show.
BELLY DANCE NIGHT
It is time for Tantra Lounge's monthly excursion into the mystic and mysterious realm of the belly dance. Accompanied by hypnotic music blending the sinewy, sensual sounds of the Middle East with dark, undulating electronica, two of our fair city's most accomplished belly dance troupes - Cairo on the Coast and Mei-Attah Raqs - will entertain and entice and, uh, be all exotic. With colorful costumes of stunning beauty and detail, many of them created by the women themselves, it cultural, it's cool and it's maybe just a little bit kitschy ... but hey, there are worse ways to spend a Saturday night. Lots of ‘em. At 11 p.m. Saturday, June 20 at Tantra Lounge, 6 E. Broughton St.
