Brewgrass Festival
Saturday, Sept. 18, City/County Plaza

Music. Beer. Music. Beer. Music ... and beer! It may not have taken a marketing genius to come up with that trusty combo, but true Music & Beer savants know that the quality of the Music & Beer Experience depends on the quality of two things: the Music and the Beer.

On that scorecard, the folks at Asheville’s Brewgrass Festival have earned high marks for years now, having played host to the likes of Norman Blake and the Bad Livers while serving up scores of the nation’s finest microbrews. This year is no exception: bluegrass legend Jimmy Martin headlines, workhorse J.D. Crowe tops the undercard, and close to 40 brewers will line up to hawk their malty wares. If Martin, Crowe and 40 brewers aren’t enough to wet your whistle, you’ve got problems ... but I ought to mention that the bill is filled out with the none-too-shabby sounds of Valerie Smith, Hit and Run Bluegrass, and County Farm, and there will be vittles on hand as well.

Tickets are $30 and that price includes a souvenir glass and all the “responsible sampling” you can responsibly sample. Designated Drivers and other non-drinkers get in for $12. The Brewgrass folks advise: “this is an event for adults,” and I’d take them at their word. Kids are allowed, but not encouraged. Unless your idea of a family-friendly event is watching Uncle Walt get a few too many responsible samples under his belt and start a slur-tongued rendition of “Rocky Top,” I’d take the tykes elsewhere. The festival runs from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Visit www.brewgrassfestival.com for more info.

Remember: Music & Beer could mean a six of Schlitz and an Air Supply tape. Or it could mean Jimmy Martin and a pint of Gaelic Ale. The choice is yours.

Jon Dee Graham
Wednesday, Sept. 22, Grey Eagle

It took a while, but The Great Battle grew on me. It’s the fourth solo release from Jon Dee Graham, a veteran of the Texas punk and pop scenes and craggy brooder extraordinaire. The Great Battle starts out slow and gruff and stays that way, but I expected as much: Graham has always romanced his darker side, and his own press agent describes The Great Battle as an exploration of “the utter bone-weariness of life in general.” Not being one who puts much truck in utter bone-weariness, I was prepared to dismiss this album, and I almost did, at least until Graham sang this line:

Everyone says put one foot in front of the other/

Of course the irony is that’s the only way feet work/

What luck.

It’s a great line, one made all the better by Graham’s tired and cynical rasp. (In regards to the voice, the same press agent sez we’re not supposed to invoke Tom Waits or train wrecks, but some things you can’t avoid: Graham sounds like Tom Waits in a train wreck.) The snippet comes on the album’s seventh track, “Robot Moving”; after hearing it, I gave the entire album a closer listen. There are several gems on board, including “The Majesty of Love” and “World So Full.” Graham is a gifted writer, and honest. His world is a bleak and dreary one, but it never descends into nihilism and it is graced with a thin lining of hope. (Witness the penultimate line on the album: “I am in love, I’m still in love, with a world so full.”) Bleak and dreary and somehow hopeful: if that sounds like your life, you may have found your muse in Jon Dee Graham.

Jon Dee Graham is traveling with a full band, and the show starts at 8 p.m. Call 232.5800 for ticket prices and more info.

Also Playing in Asheville

• Jerry Jeff Walker, Orange Peel, 9/17

• Jupiter Coyote, Downtown After Five, 9/17

• Sidney Barnes, Grey Eagle, 9/17

• Col. Bruce Hampton and the Codetalkers, Stella Blue, 9/17

• Cigar Store Indians, Westville Pub, 9/18

• RB Morris, Jack of the Wood, 9/18

• Goodies CD Release Party, Stella Blue, 9/18

Three Good Bits of Boogie Woogie Piano

1. “Honky Tonk Train Blues,” Meade Lux Lewis

2. “Mac’s Boogie,” Dr. John, Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack

3. “C.Q. Boogie,” Katie Webster, Two-Fisted Mama

They Said It

“I’m still capable of every bit as much vitriol as I ever was. But it is being balanced. Perhaps it’s the great battle between the fact [that] there’s a lot in my life that I really, really like right now and [there’s] a lot of stuff that’s like having my skin taken off with a teaspoon. If people are worried that I’ve become the Raffi-version of Jon Dee, that’s not really a problem.”

— Jon Dee Graham, as quoted by News 8 Austin