Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 4, 1994 TAG: 9402090197
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
I don't know why I'm so in love with
you.
If there were no music,
I would not get through.
I don't know why I know these things,
But I do."o
- "I Don't Know Why"
Shawn Colvin
When you hear Alison Krauss sing those words, you'll think you're listening to an angel.
A honky-tonk angel at that.
Krauss, the Grammy Award-winning bluegrass artist, has a sweeter-than-honey voice in a class with Emmylou Harris or Dolly Parton.
But don't let the cherubic sound fool you.
Krauss also plays the fiddle like a bat outta hell.
Krauss and her band, Union Station, will perform in concert Saturday night at Pulaski Middle School. This is the band's third encore performance in the New River Valley. As always, it's sponsored by the Appalachian Awareness Committee of New River Community College and the Pulaski County High School Appalkids.
Union Station features Barry Bales on bass, Adam Steffey on mandolin, Tim Stafford on guitar and the great banjoist Ron Block. Block also has written some of the band's best original tunes.
Alison Krauss and Union Station have four hit albums on the Rounder Records label: "Too Late to Cry," "Two Highways," "I've Got That Old Feeling" and "Every Time You Say Goodbye." The music is a mixture of country, bluegrass and gospel influences.
Saturday's concert in Dublin starts at 8 p.m. Admission is $12. Call 674-3607 for ticket information.
COUNTRY CROONER: In 1992, Billy Dean was named "Top New Male Vocalist" by the Academy of Country Music.
Those guys sure know how to pick 'em.
Dean's first two albums earned him six hits in the top five on country music charts. His first was the 1991 love song, "Somewhere in My Broken Heart,"
from the album, "Young Man."
Dean's second album, "Billy Dean," has gone gold, and he recently released his third, "Fire in the Dark."
Dean's attraction to country music started at an early age. He made his first appearance with his father's band, The Country Rock, when he was just 8 years old.
Dean will perform some of his hottest tunes, including "Billy the Kid" and "If There Hadn't Been You," in a concert tonight at Radford University. It starts at 8 in Preston Auditorium.
Tickets for tonight's show are $14. Call 831-5420 for information.
DON'T MISS THIS: Virginia Tech's music department will present a concert by Linda Plaut and Caryl Conger tonight at 8 in Squires Recital Salon. The duo will play works for violin and piano by women composers.
Plaut is a humanities professor at Virginia Tech and concertmaster of the New River Valley Symphony. The violinist has played with the Boston Pops and the Opera Company of Philadelphia.
Caryl Conger, assistant director of the honors program and assistant professor of music at Radford University, has played piano with the Chicago Friends of Music, the University of Kentucky Orchestra and the Blacksburg Master Chorale.
Since 1989, Plaut and Conger have devoted their talents and energies to playing new and innovative works, as well as classics, by women composers. Tonight's recital honors the 50th anniversary of Amy Beach's death. The American composer was a child prodigy who performed as a soloist with the Boston Symphony when she was in her teens. She was a self-taught composer and the first woman to earn a doctorate from the Julliard School. Beach modeled her music after Brahms and Wagner.
Plaut and Conger will perform Beach's ``Sonata in A Minor.''
Other pieces on the program include Clara Schumann's ``Three Romances opus 22,'' Isabella Leonarda's ``Sonata Duodecuma,'' "Country Fiddle" by Roanoke Symphony Orchestra conductor Victoria Bond and ``Partita for violin and piano'' by Grazyna Bacewicz.
Tickets for tonight's recital are $3 and will be available at the door.
JAMAICAN JUBILEE: Yes, mon, that's the deal at the Norwood Center in Radford on Saturday.
The Radford Chamber of Commerce is putting on "Jamaican Jubilee" as this year's annual fund-raiser. The event features an exciting live auction, food and dancing.
Items up for grabs at the auction include round trip tickets for two to anywhere in the United States, original art, trips, jewelry, furniture and more. You can even bid on tickets to see Olympic gold medalist skater Kristi Yamaguchi at the Roanoke Civic Center on March 9.
It all starts at 5:30 p.m. in the Norwood Room, 1126 Norwood St. For more information, call the Radford Chamber of Commerce at 639-2202.
YOUNG VOICES: Virginia Tech will be host for the fifth annual Virginia Intercollegiate Choral Festival on Saturday. It starts at 8 p.m. in Blacksburg Baptist Church.
Guests from Washington and Lee University, Radford University, Longwood College, Lynchburg College and Liberty University will perform, along with Tech's Concert Choir and Meistersingers.
Several of the choirs will perform new works commissioned by composers from their areas. The singers from Virginia Tech will present pieces by professor Kent Holliday.
The evening's finale will be a combined performance of all the schools.
The concert is open to the public and admission is free.
ZYDECO: Terrance Semien says zydeco is "music from the heart, not from the head."
Semien and his band, The Mallet Playboys, will bring their zydeco music straight from the bayou to Blacksburg's South Main Cafe Sunday evening. Expect a good-time "swamp romp" when the dance music starts at 7:30 p.m.
Semien, who plays accordion, recorded the Clifton Chenier song, "You Used to Call Me," with Paul Simon. When he and The Mallet Playboys played their first gig at New York's Lone Star Cafe, they were joined on stage by Keith Richards and Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones. Audience members at that show included Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger.
These musicians are musicians' musicians.
They have recorded two albums, "Zydeco on the Bayou" and "There's Room for Us All," and performed in the film, "The Big Easy."
Advance discount tickets for Sunday's show are on sale at South Main Cafe. They are $7 for students or $9 for the public. Admission at the door Sunday is $12.
SNEAK PREVIEW: Artstravaganza, the annual art auction that raises money for student art scholarships at Virginia Tech, is coming up Feb. 19.
If you want to see the treasures in this year's treasure box, head for the Armory Art Gallery at 201 Draper Road in Blacksburg. A preview exhibition is going on now.
More than 50 artists have contributed works in oil, watercolor, ceramics, jewelry and sculpture for Artstravaganza. They include Barbara Capps, Z.L. Feng, Maryann Harman, Ray Kass, Joni Pienkowski and Cathy Pinkerton. In addition to the artwork, there will be other donations at the auction, including airline tickets, health club memberships and catered dinners.
A reception for the artists who have donated pieces for the show will be held Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. at Armory Art Gallery. The event is open to the public and admission is free.
Regular gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Tickets for the Artstravaganza on Feb. 19 are $50 per person. That includes dinner at the gala. Reservations are due Saturday. Call 231-5547.
by CNB