Alan Jackson onstage Friday night at Roanoke Civic Center | Photos by Rebecca Barnett, The Roanoke Times

By Tad Dickens | 777-6474

These days, it’s rare for a big time country music show to feature steel guitar, fiddle and mandolin as something more than occasional coloring.

But on Friday night, Alan Jackson was in town. And Jackson brings it old-school — with all the classic country instruments of his band, the Strayhorns, big in the mix behind his mellow, resonant baritone. Together, they slung the hits in a 23-song set that ran an hour and 40 minutes.

[ See the photo gallery here. ]

It had been a while since Jackson was here. Last time, in a concert eight years ago with Martina McBride, the Roanoke Civic Center was sold out. This time around, with “American Idol” finalist Casey James opening the show, the coliseum was far from sold out — 4,290 showed up in a venue configured to hold 7,300.

But those in the room got a significant treat. Jackson, whose multimillion-record selling music makes him a lock for the Country Music Hall of Fame, delivered most of his 30-some No. 1 hits with class and laid-back fun.

Denise Walls (center) of Roanoke enjoys Alan Jackson's show on Friday at Roanoke Civic Center

And he let his players play. After all, long instrumental jams are good spots for impromptu autograph sessions. Take “Who’s Cheatin’ Who,” for instance. On that boot-scooting number about neighborhood scandals, the Strayhorns traded solos while Jackson signed photos, hats, even boots.

He would sign even more boots during the encore as the band — including Staunton native Danny Groah on guitar — soloed through “Mercury Blues.”

The white cowboy hat-wearing Jackson knows how to use his show to bring the audience close. During “Little Bitty,” his ode to the importance of everyday people, he had the house lights up. It was a subtle but effective touch, allowing for focus on a crowd that paid to hear him sing “Might as well share/Might as well smile/Life goes on for a little bitty while.”

He played his biggest crowd-pleasers, including big-beat set-opener “Gone Country,” the post-9/11 tear-jerker “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)” and “Drive (For Daddy Gene) in the first half of the night.

After a rousing “Don’t Rock The Jukebox,” he and band members took to stools to revisit his first hit, “Here In The Real World,” followed by his latest single, “So You Don’t Have to Love Me Anymore.” That song has seemingly stalled outside the country top 20, but his show closer, the boogie/bluegrass “Dixie Highway,” might just get him back to the top of the chart.

Casey James opens for Alan Jackson on Friday at Roanoke Civic Center

If Jackson is one of the few stars still holding the torch for old-school country, his opening act leaned more toward rock and country-soul. James, who finished third in the ninth season of “American Idol,” had a good voice and a solid band. But the material he performed last night didn’t leave the impression that he would be atop the country charts just yet.

“Words and Music by Saint Etienne” (Universal)

Seven years since their last full-length CD, London electro-poppers Saint Etienne return with a love letter to the power of pop. From the glittering “I’ve Got Your Music,” a paean to mixtape magic (“When I’m alone/ in my ‘phones/ I feel love/ in digital stereo”), to the single “Tonight” (on the rush of catching the It band in concert), to “Haunted Jukebox,” an ode to melody-evoked memories, at the heart of these 13 disco-dappled tracks is pop music’s ability to enchant, to open a world beyond one’s childhood bedroom, to inform and transform.

“Over the Border,” chanteuse Sarah Cracknell’s spoken-word opener recounting a 10-year-old’s musical awakening, inquires, “And when I was married, and when I had kids, would Marc Bolan still be so important?” The answer: an emphatic yes.

— Brian Howard, The Philadelphia Inquirer

DEATH GRIPS

“The Money Store” (Epic)

The noise and ire of Death Grips, Sacramento’s very alternative hip-hop act, are delivered via the mind and sticks of Hella drummer/ producer Zach Hill. Hella is way chaotic, and Hill, as one-third of Death Grips, makes sure the same sense of messed-up morass and fractured rhythm stays steadily behind angry vocalist MC Ride (Stefan Burnett) and fellow producer Andy Morin.

Unlike the delirious Hella, Hill’s rap-noise trio seems insistently annoyed in a manner that makes them seem like a doom-metal act. Hill and Morin process percussion sounds, real and imagined, into dizzyingly busy rip-snorting sonic booms on tracks like the Bollywood-ed “Punk Weight” and the synth-heavy “I’ve Seen Footage.” Producers Hill and Morin do open some space for danceable grooves and a dawn-chorus-worth of souped-up voices on “Hustle Bones” and “Hacker.” But a hoarse MC Ride spends most of his time in “The Money Store” screaming and pushing his way through the electrifying muck like a child running from a poltergeist. You might not be able to understand every word out of Ride’s mouth, but it’s he’s absolutely frantic about it.

—A.D. Amorosi, The Philadelphia Inquirer

CARRIE HASSLER

“The Distance” (Rural Rhythm)

Carrie Hassler burst on the bluegrass scene in 2006 with a hit single called “Seven Miles To Wichita” off her first album, “Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain,” which spent 11 months on the bluegrass charts.

She’s been delivering good, solid bluegrass ever since.

“The Distance” moves a little closer to country music with an electric guitar and a steel guitar on “Catch My Breath,” which sounds like a song you might find on a classic country jukebox from the 1960s. It’s a great falling-in-love song, but not really bluegrass.

The first single off the album, however — Gram Parson’s “Luxury Liner” — becomes a blazing bluegrass tune with Hassler’s handling.

Steve Gulley, who produced the album, joins Hassler for a duet on Carl Jackson’s “Eugene & Diane,” a ballad about a guitar picker and a society woman whose status in life keeps them from ever declaring their love for each other.

The title cut is a ballad about a woman who packs her bags and moves 500 miles, looking for a new life.

“All I Have To Do Is Breathe” is a ballad about taking life more slowly and living day to day.

It’s another strong release for Hassler.

The only problem is it’s not an album. It’s an 8-track EP (extended play). EPs are popping up more and more often these days. Maybe it’s the economy. But fans can only hope for a full album from Hassler before long.

Can’t find it in stores? Try www.carriehassler.com

— K.L.

But that’s nothing new. I spend a good bit of time trying to figure out what’s wrong with this town. Seeing such a light turnout on Thursday for Sister Sparrow changed the way I’m framing those thoughts. Now, it’s not about why Roanoke won’t turn out for a great show. Instead, it’s a question: Just what will Roanoke turn out for, anyway?

Apparently, the larger populace doesn’t care to turn out for a band that is quickly growing into world-class status. After Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds get through with its festival run this summer, I predict people will be categorizing them with the likes of Tedeschi/Trucks Band. Imagine a combination of Big Brother and the Holding Company and Tower of Power, and you’re approaching what this act is doing right now. It never let up through two sets last night, performing as if it were in front of the 400-odd capacity that Growler’s can hold, as opposed to the maybe 70 people who were there.

Back to that question: What will Roanoke *not* attend? Anything soulful and funky with brilliant vocals and instrumental work is not interesting to most folks here. The ones who came out are not enough to keep things rolling for the venue owners who book such bands. Other recent light turnouts include funky soul-jazzers Alan Evans Trio at Martin’s, New Orleans monsters Dumpstaphunk at Growler’s and Evans’ other band, the brilliant Soulive, in that same building (which was Awful’s Towers then). Embarrassing turnouts like these show that Roanoke is not down with the funk.

Oh, and don’t tell me it’s about smoking in the bar. This was a non-smoking show, as were the others I’ve mentioned.

Anyway, I realize that this rant is sort of depressing. Oh well. Two tears in a bucket. Here’s a two-song playlist of the group performing “Lasso” and “Boom Boom.” “Lasso” is from its new CD, “Pound of Dirt.” I suggest you buy this album.

The Pretty Things Peep Show hits Kirk Avenue Music Hall on Friday | prettythingsproductions.com

FRIDAY
Adam Markham 9:30
Penny Deux, at the Patrick Henry. 400-8082, www.firstandsixth.com

3rd Friday Dinner Club Blues:
HOPPIE VAUGHAN&MINISTERS OF SOUL (8.00-11.30 pm)
Pomegranate

Pretty Things Peepshow
Details: 8 p.m. Kirk Avenue Music Hall, Roanoke. $10. 540-589-0546, kirkavenuemusic.com, prettythingsproductions.com

Barefoot West
Live at Brambleton Deli & BBQ
Roanoke, VA
8:30pm-11:30pm
No Cover Charge

SATURDAY
Spoon Fight
Blues BBQ from 10 pm to 1:30 am.  This is a 21 & over show; no cover.
The Blues BBQ Co.
107 Market St SE
Roanoke, VA 24011
(540) 344-5683

William Walter & Co.
Martin’s

Sol Revolt
Brambleton Deli
at 8:30pm
Location: Brambleton Deli & BBQ
facebook.com/events/143062992486375/

WEDNESDAY
Micheal Beller/The As-Is Ensemble
Details: 10 p.m. Martin’s Downtown Bar & Grill, Roanoke. Free. 985-6278, martinsdowntown.com, michaelbellar.com

Dar Williams | Courtesy JP Cutler Media

Vaunted singer/songwriter Dar Williams returns to Southwest Virginia with a new album, “In The Time of Gods,” which uses parables of Greek mythology to examine modern life. And it works.

Williams brings music from that disc and more from her long career to Kirk Avenue Music Hall on Saturday. Get show details at Top Tickets. On this podcast, we discuss the record, her lyrical process, the players on it (including Larry Campbell, Shawn Colvin and Charley Drayton) and more. Streaming music — “I Am The One Who Will Remember Everything,” “You Will Ride With Me Tonight” and “Summer Child.”

More podcasts

• blogs.roanoke.com/cutnscratch/category/podcasts

Photo courtesy Charlie Hamill

Charlie Hamill gets together with his musical buddies Ben Trout and Jason Hill for a Thursday night gig on the Corned Beef & Co. deck. They’ll be celebrating the Charlie Hamill Group’s new CD, “Late Night At Hamill’s,” and playing some songs from the disc. Get show info at Top Tickets.

We talk with Hamill about the record, the players on it (including backing vocals from Roanoke Civic Center general manager Robyn Schon, who has quite a voice) and the themes behind it. Streaming music — “Catcher,” “Chump Love Sucka,” “About My Love” and “She Don’t.”

More podcasts

• blogs.roanoke.com/cutnscratch/category/podcasts

Chuck Brown | File December 2008

A Washington-area TV station is reporting that Chuck Brown, the “Godfather of Go-Go” music, has died at age 75.

Here at The Roanoke Times, we have fond memories of Brown. One of his children, Nekos, played football at Virginia Tech, and Brown performed in Roanoke on occasion. The last time he was here was Dec. 2008 at Jefferson Center. We wrote a story and recorded our interview with him for a podcast.

Brown was as gracious a musical pioneer as you would want to meet. And he could groove that dirty D.C. shuffle.

Read more about Brown in The Washington Post.

UPDATE [6:12 p.m. 5.16.12]: Brown’s city, Washington, D.C., loved him, as our Randy King reported in August 2009: Chuck Brown, long known as the “Godfather of Go-Go” music and the father of defensive end Nekos Brown, will have a street named in his honor Saturday in Washington, D.C. “It’s going to be ‘Chuck Brown Way,’ ” Nekos said. “Man, it’s going to be hard for me to ever match that. I know he’s very honored.”

Another Brown son, Wiley, is on the Virginia Tech football roster.

Critter Fuqua and Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show. Fuqua has returned to the band, which is scheduled to play Salem Civic Center on Aug. 17 | File photo

After a little break that included the loss of one member and the return of another, Old Crow Medicine Show is getting back on the road. Among the stops — Salem Civic Center, on Aug. 17.

The Lumineers will open the for Old Crow.

After Old Crow’s performance at last year’s FloydFest, the band announced it was taking a break. During that time, singer/guitarist Willie Watson left the band. Critter Fuqua, who with Ketch Secor founded the act, returned after a battle with alcoholism. Hear Fuqua talk about it on this podcast, recorded before he and Secor played Floyd Country Store and before the band announced those lineup changes.

The band last played Salem Civic Center in November 2009. Read our review.

Details: 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 17. $35 limited floor, open seating and reserved on sale beginning June 1 at the Salem Civic Center Box Office, www.ticketmaster.com and 800-745-3000.

Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds | Courtesy of All Eyes Media

Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds played its collective backside off last year at Awful Arthur’s Towers, as though it didn’t matter that the crowd was sparse. It was a heck of a show, and the band returns to the venue, now named Growler’s American Grill, for a show on Thursday. If you dig funk, rock and soul with deep grooves, hip horn lines and powerful vocals, you’d be foolish to miss this one. Read more, get show details.

On this podcast, we talk with lead singer Arleigh “Sister Sparrow” Kincheloe about the musical atmosphere in which she and her harmonica-playing brother, Jackson, grew up, and other fun topics. We stream music from the band’s CD, “Pound of Dirt” –”Another Ride,” “Bulldozer,” “Dirt” “Hollow Bones” and “Lasso.” “Dirt,” maybe the funniest track on a seriously funky disc, “conveys the attitude and the grittiness of the live show … it’s a very high-energy situation, and we hope you enjoy it,” she said.

Music that day will feature the Rock the Valley Jam, a Roanoke region all star lineup of musicians playing a 4 p.m. main stage set. And you, the audience, will have a say. The idea, which sprang from the mind of Festival’s jack-of-all-excellence, Skip Brown, is so good that The Roanoke Times is sponsoring it.

Do you have a favorite musician that you want to see and hear on Monday? For free? Click here to vote.