Connect Recommends

"A Very Drrty Christmas"

Here’s one that’s not for everyone, but should make some Savannah nightlife fans very thrilled, indeed.

The folks over at upstart graphic design company New Design Front™ are celebrating the launch of The Jinx’s new website with a high-profile dance party featuring that club’s resident DJ The Captain, as well as a few special guest DJ’s direct from New York City’s Über-trendy electroclash scene.

Cat Hartwell is best known as a key member of the underground retro-rap sensation Fannypack, a group that’s hard at work riding the wave of international novelty success. That’s based almost entirely on their fabulous, stick-in-your-head club anthem “Cameltoe,” a 2 Live Crew-styled ode to a most unfortunate fashion faux pas of the fairer sex. It’s well on its way to becoming the Skinemax version of “The Macarena.”

Joining her will be Debbie D of the racy dance duo Avenue D. This NYC-by-way-of-Miami act merges the minimalist dance grooves of Peaches with brash, uncensored lyrics that are posited as postmodern feminist rallying cries, but could easily be mistaken for shallow Liz Phair knockoffs hopped up to 78 rpm.

Regardless, they’re turning heads wherever they go with their skanky chic look and they’re unabashed exhibitionism.

The show is being billed as offering “Booty Blast Anthems, Electro Sex Jams, Future Funk, Krunk Bangers, and Holiday Cheer.” Feliz Navidad! Sat., The Jinx.

The Songwriters’ Circle with Angie Aparo, Billy Blair & Martin Lesch

Back when celebrated singer/songwriter Angie Aparo (who’s released a few cathartic and well-received solo albums of insistent modern folk-rock, but is perhaps best known for penning Faith Hill’s Grammy-winning mega-hit “Cry”) was just starting out, he spent loads of time living – and gigging – on Hilton Head.

Though he know lives outside Athens, Georgia and tours nationwide, he’s still fondly remembered on the island as something of a hometown boy – and so, from time to time, he drops by for a cozy and casual acoustic show for his diehard early fans. Lately, these semi-annual late-night gigs have been expanded to include contributions from the guitarist’s regular keyboard player Martin Lesch.

Originally from New York’s upper West side, Lesch has called Hilton Head home for five years. His original piano compositions incorporate a little bit of everything from ragtime to hip-hop, and have been called confessional portraits of hard-luck cases and societal outcasts.

Blair has played various industry showcases and folk festivals in Tennessee and the Carolinas. He has released a handful of indie CDs in the past 7 years.

The vibe at these Songwriters’ Circles is very akin to a private show, and advance tickets for this hotly anticipated event are going fast. If you’d like to grab one, call the venue at (843) 842-8620. Sun., 11 pm, The Jazz Corner (The Village at Wexford, Hilton Head).

Malcom Holcombe

I’ll get the important part of this piece out of the way right quick.

The brief set this North Carolina guitarist played at one of Savannah’s First Friday for Folk concerts a few months back was one of the finest performances by an acoustic singer/songwriter I’ve ever had the privilege to catch in person.

Nearing 50, this humble and shy artist is what Steve Earle might call a hardcore troubadour. He’s existed on the fringes of the roots-rock and folk scenes for decades, and while he hasn’t earned the fame, fortune or name recognition a man of his talents so richly deserves, he has won praise from people in the know.

Earle and the sublime Lucinda Williams sung his praises for so long it finally resulted in the long-overdue release of his first major album A Hundred Lies (which had lingered in record company vaults for years thanks to tin-eared music biz execs). That CD won him a 4-star review from Rolling Stone’s David Fricke – and trust me, it wasn’t bought and paid for.

Holcombe once told me that his career has come in fits and spurts because – in his words – “Sometimes I show up for work and sometimes I don’t.” These days, with a new album in the works helmed by Twangtrust producer Ray Kennedy, he’s showin’ up for work.

If you want to catch a glimpse of a supremely talented ghost – one with a flair for both frank, incisive poetry as plainspoken as a grocery list, and inexplicably emotional fretwork that’ll send chills down your spine – then your job is to show up and watch him do his thing. Sat., 8 pm, The Sentient Bean.