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Here's some good advance notice for bands looking to play and eat some chili. Jenny Lee, at Greenvale School, sent me this e-mail to beef up entertainment for the 31st Annual VA State Championship Chili Cook-Off, on May 1. If you want to get on the gig, contact Jenny at 540-342-4716 or jlee@greenvale-school.org. She promises "free admission, bowls of chili, and cold drinks for all band members!"

>LOCAL TALENT NEEDED FOR THE CHILI COOK-OFF!

>The 31st Annual VA State Championship Chili Cook-Off is looking for local musicians who would be willing to donate a one-hour performance at the 2010 Chili Cook-Off on Saturday, May 1, 2010!  In exchange for your generous donation of talent, your band will receive wonderful visibility at one of Roanoke’s largest and most well-loved events!

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I received the following in an e-mail from Roanoke musician Doug Settles. He wrote to share his memories of Wayne "Tuck" Foutz, a beloved figure in the 1970s-1980s Roanoke music scene. I plan to write more soon.

Please share your memories, too ...

>Wayne Foutz, better known as "Tuck" to the Roanoke music community, passed away on November 3, 2009. He was an original member of the band Razzmatazz, which originated in 1973, and stayed a member of that band until 1976 when he started his own band called Dazzle, which stayed together until 1983. During that 10 year span, Tuck was an integral part of two of the most successful bands to come out of Roanoke during that era. Both bands enjoyed tremendous regional success and both opened shows for numerous national acts during their runs and both had several original songs that enjoyed regional airplay.
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Robert Trent, director of guitar studies at Radford University, has a brilliant young charge these days.

One of his students, 16-year-old Max Hiner, of Radford, last weekend won high school category at The Music Academy of North Carolina's national guitar competition. He had finished third last year, competing with young players from across the nation.

Check out some video of the young master.

Jeanna Duerscherl | The Roanoke Times

It was something seeing Old Crow come out for an encore with mostly electric instruments -- save for Gill Landry, who stuck with his dobro.

As I mentioned in the print review, it was rough going sound-wise with all those electric guitars, but after hearing how much better OCMS has gotten as a string band, I figure a rock 'n' roll act will be next for the band. There's no sense bringing Fender and Gibson guitars on the road for just two songs a night!

Overall, a tight show -- which it should be, considering the band plays most of these songs at every gig.

Photo courtesy of studio3z

When the Wading Girl broke up, Sarah Garrison had to figure out what to do next, and whether it would even be a musical thing. Quickly, she got an offer to join The Circus Band, aka Cirque Roanoke, aka The Circus Practice.

She's performing with that act on Sunday, and solo on Thursday as opening act for the latest Emerging Artists Series show at the Roanoke Main Library. On this podcast, we talk about the band's break-up and her latest projects. Plus, we stream her performance of "8th of November," an old Wading Girl tune that she'll perform on Thursday.

Look for a full story in Saturday's Extra section and at roanoke.com/entertainment.

More podcasts

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

Courtesy Jamiel Allen

Jamiel Allen, a member of one of the valleys' best bands, Alliens, is also putting some focus on his own project, Jamiel Allen's Groove Diggers. The band plays Martin's Downtown Bar & Grill on Thursday. Read more, get show details.

We talk with Allen about his new gig, stream some of his new original tunes and get the skinny -- the Floyd resident will soon be moving to Roanoke.

More podcasts

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

Martin's Downtown Bar & Grill proprietor Jason Martin tells me that original Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle will be at his joint on Thursday, joining the Tommy Edwards Band and Grass Monkey for their Tractor Pull Redneck Costume Ball. Get details for that show and many more at Top Tickets.

Houston Scott, originally from Clifton Forge, is back around the area this weekend. On Friday Saturday, he'll team up with fellow Richmond act The Dirty Truth to play Schooner's, in Roanoke. Get details at Top Tickets. Here, we talk about Scott's harp-playing adventures.

More podcasts

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

Will Henson and Friends, Tommy Edwards, and The Jonathon Barker Band will celebrate the life of late, sometimes landlocked, one-time Roanoke Valley seafood purveyor "Capt'N" Paul Corne, who died in August.

Proceeds will go to Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, according to the Martin's Downtown Web site Roanoke Valley Boys & Girls Club, according to show organizer Jeff Maiden.

5 p.m. Sunday. Martin's Downtown Bar & Grill, Roanoke. $10.

Courtesy My Radio

At the old cutnscratch deadwood column today, I write about My Radio's deal with Ocean Park Music Group and the band's deal to get a song on Cleveland Cavalier televised halftime highlight reels. Here's the song the band licensed to Fox Sports Ohio, "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah."

Hear a podcast with the band's J.P. Powell, who talks about the deal and the band's new CD, "Bring Us The Sun." Bonus: Podcast includes a couple of streaming tracks from the record.