Weekend spotlight: Country music, opera and Metallica

Jim Lauderdale might be the most famous country music performer you’ve never heard of.

As with many exemplary singer/songwriters whose works are oft-recorded by hit artists, but whose own career never seems to catch its own star, the Grammy-winning Lauderdale has given major gifts to a who’s who of people you HAVE heard of. The list includes George Strait (more than a dozen titles and counting), Vince Gill, Elvis Costello, Blake Shelton, Lee Ann Womack and the (formerly Dixie) Chicks.

He made two albums with bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley, and is a frequent collaborator with Americana master musician Buddy Miller. He was also a co-writer with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter.

Lauderdale is one of Nashville’s most highly regarded music-makers, but – again, as so often happens – as a recording artist, he can’t get arrested. He won and lost four separate major-label record deals.

He has been the host of the Americana Music Awards since 2002, and he and his pal Miller host the Sirius XM program The Buddy and Jim Show (it’s on the Outlaw Country channel).

St. Pete has the rare opportunity to see and hear this Americana Renaissance man in performance Saturday at Bayboro Brewing. Tickets for the 7 p.m. show are at this link.

In fact, there’s country music coming and going this weekend. Friday brings million-selling Dierks Bentley to the Mid-Florida Credit Union Amphitheatre, over on the eastern edge of Tampa. With 18 No. 1 singles since 2004 to his credit, he’s an established star with a proven track record, and he doesn’t seem to be slowing down or slacking off: Broken Branches, his 11^th Capitol album, drops June 13. Tickets for ol’ Dierks’ show are at this link.

And Old Dominion, the six-time (and reigning) Academy of Country Music, five-time (and current) Country Music Association Vocal Group, has a Saturday show at the BayCare Sound in Clearwater. The band’s Top Ten hits include “Memory Lane,” “I Was on a Boat That Day,” “One Man Band,” “Written in the Sand,” “No Such Thing as a Broken Heart” and others. Additionally, Old Dominion-written tunes have been covered by the likes of Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban, Sam Hunt and Kenny Chesney. New album Barbara is due out in August. Find tickets for the 6:30 p.m. concert here.

Old Dominion: The reigning Academy of Country music AND Country Music Association Vocal Group of The Year will be at the BayCare Sound Saturday. Publicity photo.

More concerts

Choice seats can still be had for the two Metallica shows, Friday and Sunday, at Raymond James Stadium (the stage is in-the-round, in the center of the field). Limp Bizkit opens Friday, with Pantera doing the honors Sunday. Find tickets here.

Local Honey plays inside the Imagine Museum’s Grand Hall from 5 to 7:30 p.m. With David Muñoz on guitar, Emily Baar on vocals and Haris Sirbubalo on percussion, the Sarasota trio plays old-timey swing jazz, bossa nova/samba and ‘40s-era show tunes. Tickets and more info are here.

Clearwater’s Capitol Theatre welcomes back ‘80s radio rock band Night Ranger Friday. Tickets to hear the “Sister Christian” guys are available at this link.

At the Seminole Hard Rock Event Center (Tampa) Sunday: Veteran comedian George Lopez. Tickets (shows at 6 and 9 p.m.) are at this link.

Shisel Claverie (center) sings the title role in Bizet’s “Carmen” with St. Pete Opera, opening Friday at the Palladium Theater. Photo: Jim Swallow.

What’s opera, Doc

St. Petersburg Opera Company is back with five fully staged and orchestrated productions of Bizet’s Carmen at the Palladium Theater – Friday, Sunday, June 10, 13 and 15. Find tickets for all performances at this link.

Artistic director Mark Sforzini and mezzo-soprano Shisel Claverie – she’s singing the role of Carmen – are the guests on Friday’s edition of our Arts Alive! podcast.

On theater stages

American Stage’s production of James Ijames’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Fat Ham is onstage this weekend; the modern take on Hamlet runs through June 22. Info and tickets here.

Two highly anticipated shows are making their debuts: Stageworks Theatre’s Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, with singular singer and actress Desiree Montes as Billie Holiday (read all about it here); and the Bob Devin-Jones-directed An Evening of Mad Panic at The Studio@620 (read all about it here).

Lady Day: Tickets for tonight through June 29 are here.

Mad Panic: Tickets for tonight through Saturday are here.

Last but not least, a touring production of the hit Broadway musical comedy Shucked is onstage at the Straz Center (Tampa) Morsani Hall through Sunday. Find those tickets here.

Your Weekend Spotlight appears every Thursday in the Catalyst’s CREATE section. 

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