Dan DeLuca's Mix Picks: Justin Townes Earle, Japanese country music, and more Philly love for Tom Petty
A country music scion and a documentary about C&W in Japan, plus a grunge memoir, a Tom Petty appreciation night, and the return of the Downtown Boys.
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Philly Really Loves Petty. The second Tom Petty tribute benefiting Puerto Rico hurricane relief at this Main Line venue features a new slate of all-Philadelphia acts, including Illinois, Jim Boggia, Madeleine Gauze, Dan Reed, Katie Frank, Joey Sweeney, Kenn Kweder, Jon Houlon, Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and house band the Big Jangle, with Petty-obsessed drummer Patrick Berkery. Sunday at Ardmore Music Hall.
Justin Townes Earle. Eight albums into a decade-long career, Justin Townes Earle is well out of his father's songwriting shadow. In fact, there are few tunesmiths in the world at large who can match the output of the 35-year-old storyteller in the trilogy-of-sorts that he's produced with 2014's Single Mothers, 2015's Absent Fathers, and the strongest of the bunch, this year's Kids in the Street. Tuesday at Arden Gild Hall.
Hit So Hard: A Memoir, by Patty Schemel. A smart, clear-eyed look back at the 1990s alt-rock scene by Schemel, the powerful drummer in Courtney Love's band Hole who was also close friends with Kurt Cobain. She writes with humor and insight about her own addictions and the heady chaos swirling around her as the Seattle rock scene broke open wide. Da Capo, $27.
Far Western. James Payne's documentary focuses on Japanese devotees of American country music who caught the Hank Williams and Bill Monroe bug by listening to broadcasts on the Far Eastern radio network intended for occupying Americans in the aftermath of World War II. Screened as part of the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival. Thursday at the Fleisher Art Memorial.
Downtown Boys. When last seen in Philadelphia, Downtown Boys singer Victoria Ruiz was wearing a Colin Kaepernick jersey on stage at the Made in America festival on the Ben Franklin Parkway. (Hmm, wonder where Jay-Z got the idea to don one for his Saturday Night Live performance later that month?) The politically engaged Providence, R.I., punks return to town behind their galvanic The Cost of Living. Thursday at Underground Arts.