Bonnaroo College Comedy Tour Presented by U.S. Cellular

Saturday, May 1, 9:30 p.m.

As a natural extension of the creative and clever programming at the annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, festival organizers have created the BONNAROO COLLEGE COMEDY TOUR PRESENTED BY U.S. CELLULAR to deliver the best in up-and-coming comedy talent to the college audience. The tour features a rotating cast of Bonnaroo alumni comedians, and the show in Knoxville will feature Pete Holmes, John Mulaney, Michelle Buteau.
Doors at 8:30 p.m., show begins at 9:30 p.m.

Admission: $5.00 with UT Student ID, $8.00 Advance, and $10.00 Door plus applicable service fees

WIVK presents Dierks Bentley Featuring the Travelin' McCourys

with special guest Hayes Carll

Sunday, May 2, 8:00 p.m.

Bentley's kind of country has never been straight-up-the-middle. Instead, the Arizona-native grew up on a potent hybrid of honky-tonk, bluegrass, singer/songwriters, classic country and modern rock & roll, forging his own sound along the way. His newest release, Feel That Fire, is a 12-song serving of rockers and ballads with a dash of honky tonk and bluegrass. For Bentley, Feel That Fire is about the passion of the moment. "As a songwriter and a human being, I want to experience all that I can in this one life we are given...it's all about moving forward but remembering where you came from...the best music is made in the journey." Catch Dierks Bentley playing your favorite songs plus material from the new CD. Tickets for this one will move fast, so get yours early.

Admission: $31.50, Plus applicable service fees Note: General Admission seating

KSO Chamber Classics

Haydn Farewell Symphony

Sunday, May 9, 2:30 p.m.

Prokofiev: Overture on Hebrew Themes, Ben-Haim: Concerto Grosso, Richman: Salutation No. 7, Tchaikovsky: Meditation, Haydn: Symphony No. 45, "Farewell"

With a little help from Joseph Haydn, we say not only "farewell" to this 29th Chamber Classics Season, but also a heartfelt farewell to the orchestra's longest-serving Concertmaster, Mark Zelmanovich. Mark is also taking this opportunity to say "farewell" to all of us, as he is soloist in Tchaikovsky's Meditation. To mark the occasion further, every work on this program, save Haydn's Farewell Symphony, is a KSO Premiere, including the World Premiere of Maestro Lucas Richman's Seventh Salutation in recognition of someone very special to the KSO, who will be recognized from the Bijou Theatre stage.

Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band

with Joe Pug

Friday, May 14, 8:00 p.m.

As the follow-up to his critically-acclaimed album The Animal Years, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter is his most adventurous, fresh, and freewheeling work to date. The result is an often raucous, occasionally dizzying affair, with pounding keyboards, strings and horns. In fact, give a listen right here, (courtesy NPR's All Songs Considered). Given the new lyrical and musical trails that he is blazing, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter proves that one can still cross any number of genres and still sound cohesive and insightful. A new album, So Runs The World Away, is due out in early May. Catch this innovative artist in one of the best rooms around on May 14.

$16.50 Advance/$18.50 Day of Show, Plus applicable service fees

Carolina Chocolate Drops

A Benefit for Knoxville's Joy of Music School

Sunday, May 16, 7:00 p.m.

"Tradition is a guide, not a jailer. We play in an older tradition but we are modern musicians." So says Justin Roberts, one of the three young musicians who make up the Carolina Chocolate Drops - the newest and youngest players in a long lineage of Black String Bands. The tradition traces its roots to musicians from Africa who came to the Americas in the holds of slave ships. Eventually, perhaps under the influence or orders of masters who wanted Irish jigs played in their parlors, black fiddle-players picked up the European violin, taking that instrument back to their cabins, adding classical-style fiddle to banjo and percussion; so the blurring of boundaries began.
If you ask the band, which also features Rhiannon Giddens and Dom Flemons, that flexibility is what matters most. Yes, banjos and black string musicians first got here on slave ships, but now this is everyone's music. It's okay to mix it up and go where the spirit moves. It is a philosophy that is very fitting for this very special performance, which is a benefit for Knoxville's Joy of Music School and other local charities. The School provides music lessons free of charge to underprivileged children in the community. VIP packages, which include premiere seating and a post-concert party with the band, are available. Knoxville Breakfast Rotary presents the performance with support from Attack Monkey Productions.

Admission: $35.00 & $100 (VIP) Reserved or general admission seating - VIP seats up front.

Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses

with The Black Lillies

Tuesday, May 18, 8:00 p.m.

"Long before he was an Oscar nominee, Ryan Bingham was a real-life cowboy, a handsome roughneck living out his own version of a Cormac McCarthy novel." - Rolling Stone.
Ryan Bingham is the remarkable singer-songwriter who recently picked up an Oscar for the song "The Weary Kind" (Theme from Crazy Heart) which he co-wrote with T-Bone Burnett. The accolades and praise for his work intensified with the release of his album, Mescalito, with one reveiwer noting, "Bingham forces you to hang on his every word." In 2009, Ryan appeared on the acclaimed PBS series Austin City Limits with a 30-minute set that featured the first television performances of "Snake Eyes" and "Tell My Mother I Miss Her So" from Roadhouse Sun. Bingham and his band, The Dead Horses (Matthew Smith/drums, Corby Schaub/guitar, and Elijah Ford/bass) have appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, AUSTIN CITY LIMITS, and The Late Show with David Letterman.

Admission: $16.50, Plus applicable service fees

Goldie & Da Bearz

Friday, May 21, 8:00 p.m.

Imagine "West Side Story" crossed with Goldielocks and the Three Bears...'cept the Bears in question are the Chicago Bears and the Jets are the New York Jets. Now imagine it on the big screen performed by kids aged 8 to 17!
"Goldie & Da Bearz," was conceived as a stage play by the "Word Up!" creative writing and drama class at the Community School of the Arts.
Now, CSA alumnus and filmmaker Jamison Stalsworth brings "Goldie" to the big screen. Stalsworth started filming with cast and crew in February 2010, bringing to the project not only his sizable talent behind the camera but also his quirky sense of humor. The result is a full-length film experience unlike any other!
So come join us on the red carpet to celebrate this remarkable (and hilarious) achievement by a extraordinary group of talented youngsters with "can-do" spirit!

Everyone is welcome and admission is free, but donations are encouraged.

Club Vibes presents Down Home Country Music Night Out

Russ and Becky Jeffers w/ the Smoky Mountain Sunshine Band and Phil Campbell

Saturday, May 22, 7:30 p.m.

Russ and Becky Jeffers introduced "Bluegrass Music" to people from all over the world as they performed over 15,000 shows at Opryland USA. The talented husband and wife duo contune to travel and bring their unique style of harmony, comedy and "down home" music to fans in every nation. We are lucky to have them for one night in Knoxville at the Bijou Theatre in support of Club VIBES.
Phil Campbell, son of Archie Campbell of HEE-HAW, was regularly Archie's "straight man" on the Grand Ole Opry. He has a love for comedy, and the ability to make people laugh wherever he goes.
Club VIBES is made up of volunteers who care about visually impaired young adults as they make the transition from high school into adult life.

Tennessee Shines

featuring Various Artists

Wednesday, May 26, 7:00 p.m.

Our May 26 show features:
• Hot bluegrass band Cherryholmes hitting the stage with hard-driving instrumental virtuosity and explosive vocal harmonies and featuring various styles or original songs written by members of the band. Check out this performance.
• Darrell Scott, stellar songwriter, sensitive vocalist and versatile instrumentalist will be bringing his "diverse musical happenings" to Bijou.
• The audience will get a full set from our host Jim Lauderdale and his Band. Plus, enjoy twin-sister duo The Bowmans' shattering acoustic harmony-rich ballads and heartening rock songs infused with early classical to blues influences. Check out a video of the sisters. We'll also get great tunes from the Red Kap Band, directed by Dave Nichols.

Admission: $20 advance, $25 day of show, plus applicable service fees