Calendar of Events

Open mic event for local spoken word artists, singers, poets, dancers, and more! We are also having our Year-End Bash to celebrate Café Noir on September 27. Host Rhea Carmon promises that this will be the biggest and best ever! Bring your creative self, sign the list! It will be your last opportunity in 2013! Admission is $3.

Carpetbag Theatre at Fourth United Presbyterian Church, 1323 N. Broadway Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-544-0447, www.carpetbagtheatre.org

Chris Hennessee is an East Tennessee native who moved to Nashville in 1998. A singer-songwriter, who’s music can best be described as “Southern Country Blues”, loves the craft of writing songs as well as performing them. Chris has played venues all over the South and as far away as Amsterdam, Holland, but spends most of his time recently in Nashville performing at venues on historic “Lower Broad” as well as songwriter-friendly venues like the Bluebird Cafe and Douglas Corner Cafe. Tickets are $15.

Clayton Center for the Arts: 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804. Info: 865-981-8590, www.ClaytonArtsCenter.com

No admission charge. Sponsored by First Tennessee Foundation, Tennessee Arts Commission, Arts & Culture Alliance of Greater Knoxville, Chambers Audio Video Services, Digital Express Mastering, Pick N Grin, Richardson Memorial Arts Fund, and WDVX. Part of the Blue Ribbon Country Fair weekend and the Townsend Fall Festival.

Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, 3/4 mile east of traffic light at the Highway 321 and 73 intersection towards the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Townsend, TN. Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10AM-5PM. Information: 865-448-0044, www.gsmheritagecenter.org

Sept. 27 "AMSE Homeschool Program "Habitat Hunters" for Grades K-2 for one hour from 10:30 - 11:30 am and for Grades 3-6 for two hours from 12:30 - 2:30 pm. Cost for Grades K-2 is $7.00 non-member and $5.00 AMSE member, while cost for Grades 3 - 6 is $12.00 for non-member and $9.00 AMSE member. Both classes will be held at Freels Bend Cabin in Oak Ridge. Students will learn how to look for small animals, their signs, and their homes. Different habitats (fields, rock piles, trees, the ground, buildings, etc.) will be explored.

Jubilee Community Arts presents Roux du Bayou, Cajun Music concert & dance.

Accordionist Paul Gregoire from the town of Dulac in South Louisiana leads this Nashville based band, always a treat for Cajun dance enthusiasts. On guitar and vocals is South Louisiana native Wade Bernard; Jerry Prevost on drums and rounding out the group on fiddle, lead guitar and trumpet, from Nashville, Jimmy Clark.

Friday, September 27, 8 pm at the Laurel Theater.
Tickets: $12 (discounts apply to advance purchase, JCA members, students & seniors)

1538 Laurel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37916, on the corner of 16th and Laurel Avenue near the University of Tennessee.

Join us for a night of fantastic bluegrass music and three generations of Gulleys on September 27 at Cove Lake State Park. Five-time IBMA Female vocalist of the year Dale Ann Bradley will perform with Steve Gulley (Grasstowne, Mountain Heart), plus the Pinnacle Mountain Boys featuring Steve's father, Don Gulley, and Cumberland River featuring Steve's son, Brad Gulley - a gathering of three Gulley generations! Gates open at 5 p.m. and music begins at 6 p.m. Food and beverages will be available from Rickard’s Ridge BBQ. Tickets for the advance price of $12.50 are available from a variety of retail locations and online at http://louiebluie.org/louie-bluie-friday-concert/

The Last Friday Art Walk, organized by the Maryville Arts Coalition, is an event that celebrates the arts on the last Friday of every month in Historic Downtown Maryville.
For more information please visit http://www.maryvillecollege.edu
or Call the Division of Fine Arts (865) 981-8150

In front of the old Kroger building on Kingston Pike
More than 35 restaurants and beverage distributors are expected to participate in the 5th Annual "Taste of Farragut - Celebrating Farragut Foodies." The purpose of the event is to showcase the "best bites" of restaurants within the Town of Farragut limits. With over 1,500 attendees expected, the event continues to be an excellent way for restaurants – both old favorites and new – to showcase "Best Bite" samples of their cuisine. Also featured will be a wide variety of wines and and themed beverage venues (Fire & Ice, Mini Margaritaville, Wine & Cheese Pairings and Dessert Liqueurs), as well as entertainment. Pellissippi State Culinary Institute will also be on site this year with live demos to provide an educational component. Admission ticket prices are $25 for adults (if purchased in advance through noon the day of the event) or $30 if purchased at the gate. Admission for children under 12 is $10, with children 5 and under free. Tickets can be purchased on the FBA website.

The event is hosted by Farragut Business Alliance, Town of Farragut, and NeighborMaker Events. Presenting sponsor is TDS. Silver sponsors are BB&T and Costco Wholesale. Contributing sponsors are Allied Music Instructors, Campbell Station Wine & Spirits, Corks Wine & Spirits, Dixie Lee Wines, Farragut Wine & Spirits and First Utility District. Community sponsors include Event Rentals by Rothchild, Farragut/West Knox Chamber of Commerce, Michael Broyles Photography, Pellissippi State Culinary Institute and Waste Connections. Media sponsors are farragutpress and i105 WFIV.

Info: 865.307.2486, http://www.farragutbusiness.com/

Blount Mansion will host an exhibit opening from 5:30-7:30pm entitled Furniture on the Frontier, a showing of the Blount Mansion’s finest collection pieces on display at the Blount Mansion Visitors Center. Admission is free with light appetizers and a special gift for our members. Blount Mansion is currently closed to the public for a historic restoration and preservation project; the Visitors Center remains open Tuesday-Saturday 9:30-5 with the exception of Game Days in Volunteer country. This exhibit, Furniture on the Frontier, will be on display for the duration of the closure and is always free to the public, with a suggested donation! Come and see some of William Blount’s most valuable possessions and a wonderful example of the splendor of the Blount’s during the founding of Knoxville. Blount Mansion is the home of William Blount, Tennessee’s only signer of the United States Constitution, as well as where the Tennessee State Constitution was drafted and signed. It will be an opportunity for all Knoxville citizens to learn about their vital historical importance in the founding of our government. Blount Mansion is Knoxville's only National Historic Landmark given by the National Park Service and is the oldest house museum in Knox County. It is owned and operated by the Blount Mansion Association, Inc., a nonprofit, educational organization.

Blount Mansion, 200 W. Hill Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-525-2375, www.blountmansion.org

The preliminary rounds for the 2014 International Blues Challenge (IBC) will be held at the Whammy Bar Cafe, 8426 Kingston Pike, in Knoxville at 8:00 p.m. on September 24, 2013 and September 26, 2013. The finals will follow at the Whammy Bar on Saturday, September 28th at 3:00 p.m.

The Whammy Bar Cafe is non-smoking and family friendly. The cafe offers a full menu of coffee & latte drinks, along with a light food menu. Beer will be available during the IBC Competition dates. Youth are encouraged to enter this year.

The cover charge for competition nights will be $5.00, $3.00 for Blues Society members. Monies collected will go into a fund to help the winning band travel to the IBC in Memphis. The IBC is the world's largest gathering of Blues acts ready to take their act to the international stage.

The entry fee for bands, duos, and solos is $25. All entry fee money will go into the fund to help the winning band travel to Memphis. Applications will be available at the Smoky Mountain Website.

To enter the competition, one member of the entering act must be a member of the Smoky Mountain Blues Society. Basic backline will be provided, (two guitar amps, a drum set, and a bass amp). P.A. system and sound engineer will also be provided, all courtesy of Riks Music & Sound.

If you wish to enter, wish to judge, or simply want more information, please contact Steve Krempasky at (717) 448-9532 or Robert Higginbotham at (865) 300-3648. The Whammy Bar and Riks Music and Sound can be contacted at (865) 691-9590.

Further information available at www.smokymountainblues.org

Weave your way to the Bagwell Center for Media and Art at Pellissippi State Community College and gain a new appreciation of an Appalachian heritage craft, basket weaving. “A Celebration of Baskets” by the Foothills Craft Guild Basket Weavers is on display at the Bagwell Gallery with an opening reception 3-5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24. The event is free, and the community is invited. “The Foothills Craft Guild exhibit will present original work created by guild members, along with examples of work done by a special guest,” said Jennifer Brickey, an art instructor at Pellissippi State. “A Celebration of Baskets” features the work of Pam Parham, a Shaker-basket weaver from Sevierville. According to Virgil Davis, a Pellissippi State adjunct faculty member and also a guild member, the basket exhibit pays homage to a timeless Appalachian craft, as well as introduces traditional and modern weaving techniques. Like Parham, Davis creates Shaker baskets. Whether baskets, furniture or architecture, Shaker style is intended for longevity and usefulness. The display includes not only Shaker pieces but also nesting baskets, Nantuckets with solid wood bases and lids, and Appalachian berry baskets, which were traditionally made quickly, on site, from carved poplar bark. Heritage basketry is joined in the exhibit by more modern creations. The display is meant to encourage visitors to be conscious of space and enclosures and to find beauty in everyday items.

“A Celebration of Baskets” is one of the events that make up Pellissippi State’s arts series, “The Arts at Pellissippi State.” The series brings to the community cultural activities ranging from music and theatre to international celebrations, lectures, and the fine arts. Pellissippi State: 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37932. For more information about The Arts at Pellissippi State, contact Pellissippi State at (865) 694-6400 or visit www.pstcc.edu/arts.

The musical play is based on the 1998 film Mulan by Walt Disney Pictures. Mulan is set in China during the Han Dynasty. The film's title character, Fa Mulan, is the only daughter of aged warrior Fa Zhou. She impersonates a man and takes her father's place during a general conscription to counter a fictitious Hun invasion led by Shan Yu. Along with her guardian dragon Mushu, her captain, Li Shang, a lucky cricket, "Cri-kee," and her companions, Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po, she battles the invading Hun army.

COMPLETE PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
Friday 9/20 at 7 PM, Saturday 9/21 at 1 PM & 5 PM, Sunday 9/22 at 3 PM
Thursday 9/26 at 7 PM, Friday 9/27 at 7 PM, Saturday 9/28 at 1 PM & 5 PM, Sunday 9/29 at 3 PM
Thursday 10/3 at 7 PM, Friday 10/4 at 7 PM, Saturday 10/5 at 1 PM & 5 PM

TICKET PRICES: $12. SPECIAL RATE: Any adult & Child entering together = $10 each

Knoxville Children's Theatre, 109 E. Churchwell Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-599-5284, www.childrenstheatreknoxville.com. Reservations: tickets@childrenstheatreknoxville.com