WUTK the Rock Presents The Whigs & Royal Bangs

with Three Man Band

The Whigs have a new album set for a March 2, 2010 release, IN THE DARK - an explosive collection of intense and tuneful songs developed through years of non-stop touring and two critically acclaimed albums, Give 'Em All A Big Fat Lip and Mission Control. Both an accessible album and one that captures the band's on-stage passion (a trait synonymous with their live shows), IN THE DARK reveals another layer in the band's songwriting and highlights what fans and critics have fallen in love with, including Jon Pareles of The New York Times who praised the band for their "two-chord guitar and drums furor worthy of The Who."
Sharing the bill is Knoxville's own Royal Bangs. The core of the Royal Bangs' sound is rooted in the indie rock renaissance, with hook-heavy arrangements coupled with earnest echoes of fervid 70s rock legends like Springsteen and Thin Lizzy. The result is a sound that might be described as both challenging and accessible if not for the phrase "pure ...damn fun." Royal Bangs were also recently featured in Paste Magazine's Best of What's Next. Let It Beep is their most recent album. This one will rock.

Tickets on sale Friday, Dec. 18

Admission: $14.50 advance / $16.50 Doors, plus applicable service fees

Between The Buried and Me

with Cynic, Devin Townsend, Scale the Summit

Friday, February 5, 7:30 p.m.

Inventive North Carolina metallers Between the Buried and Me tell an enigmantic story with their new album entitled The Great Misdirect. Featuring an elaborate cast of characters that are odd, unique, familiar and somewhat comforting, the album confirms that they are not only a group of incredibly skilled musicians and gifted performers, but also fantastic story-tellers that have an endless wealth of imagination and interest in expanding the realms of hard rock and heavy metal. This tour has been selling out most dates so get tickets while you can. Also, our friends at MetalSucks have put together a terrific prize package for the show - check it out here.

Admission: $17.50 advance / $18.00 Day of Show plus applicable service fees

Zunimar Music & WUTK present: "Back from School Break Showcase"

with Angel Zuniga Martinez, Hyfantis & the Bishops Band

Saturday, February 6, 7:00 p.m.

An early evening twin-bill featuring two of Knoxville's great talents: Hyfantis & the Bishops Band bring their smooth, R&B-influenced pop-rock sounds and debut their first full length CD. Kevin Hyfantis' vocals and songwriting has drawn comparisons to influences as diverse as Bruce Springsteen, Ray LaMontagne, and a young Rod Stewart. After the break up of Brit Rock act, Angel & the Love Mongers, following their Bonnaroo 2007 appearance, Angel Zuniga Martinez is supporting his debut solo album release, The Cage. Angel's Tex Mex and R&B roots style makes for a tasty melodic pop rock sandwich. The diversity of the songs on the album, which will be performed LIVE, may suggest the influence of Morrissey and Freddie Mercury one moment and Jim Morrison and Freddie Fender the next.

Admission: $8.00 Advance / $10.00 Day of Show plus applicable service fees

Brandi Carlile

The Give Up The Ghost Traveling Show

with Amy Ray's Rock Show

Wednesday, February 10, 8:00 p.m.

Brandi Carlile's new album, Give Up The Ghost, unveils her talents in their truest form. After two albums and non-stop touring, she offers her most candid recording to date. "To give up the ghost is not just to die since we do it a handful of times throughout our lives. It's a sort of leaving yourself behind," she explains. "Or what you knew yourself to be so that you can grow and transcend love or youth. Sometimes both." Carlile's songs have appeared in commercials and on televisions shows such as Grey's Anatomy. Along the way, she has toured with the likes of Ray LaMontagne, and Sheryl Crow, who raved about Carlile's support performances online: "She has the most amazing voice I may have ever heard. Soulful. Country. Perfect in every way-and propelled by taste." We couldn't agree more.

Admission: $25.00 plus applicable service fees

Steep Canyon Rangers

Friday, February 12, 8:00 p.m.

From Asheville, North Carolina, the Steep Canyon Rangers have built a reputation as one of the best bluegrass units extant. Before being nominated for 2 International Bluegrass Music awards in 2008 (including Album of the Year, "Lovin' Pretty Women), the Rangers were named 'Emerging Artist of the Year' in 2006 at the IBMA awards ceremony in Nashville, TN. They're regularly featured on the Grand Ole Opry, as well as major U.S. Bluegrass and Americana music festivals such as MerleFest, Telluride, Grey Fox, DelFest and RockyGrass. They also recently completed a brief tour with banjoist-comedian Steve Martin. The band continues to bring Bluegrass to music-lovers worldwide at festivals in Sweden, Ireland, Germany and Canada. The group can also be found regularly at Rock & Roll venues on the U.S. jam-band circuit.

Admission: $16.50 plus applicable service fees

Knoxville Jazz Orchestra

Jazz Is For Lovers starring vocalist Karrin Allyson

Saturday, February 13, 8:00 p.m.

Jazz Is for Lovers is back! The KJO's immensely popular Valentine's Day celebration returns this year with Kansas City vocalist Karrin Allyson, a dynamic singer whose vocal abilities have been compared to the likes of Nancy Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald and Shirley Horn. The three-time Grammy Award nominee and Concord Jazz artist has spent the last fifteen years carving out an impressive career as a singer, songwriter, pianist, composer and bandleader. Sure to be the perfect evening for your special someone.

Admission: $15.00 student, $25.50 adult - plus applicable service fees

Drive-By Truckers

with Sons Of Bill

Sunday, February 14, 8:00 p.m.

Flaunting a mix of Southern pride, erudite lyrics, and a muscled three-guitar attack, Drive-By Truckers became one of the most well-respected alternative country-rock acts of the 2000s. Led by frontman, Patterson Hood, and comprising a rotating cast of Georgia and Alabama natives, the band celebrates the South while refusing to paint over its spotty past. History, Southern folklore, politics, and character studies all share equal space in the Truckers catalog. The band's newest CD is The Fine Print - a collection of oddities and rarities, which features songs written by band members past and present.

Admission: $25.00 plus applicable service fees

Grupo de Rua

Tuesday, February 16, 7:30 p.m.

Artistic director, Bruno Beltrao became an international sensation with choreography fusing hip-hop and contemporary dance. His 10 member Grupo de Rua was founded in 1996. With it he unleashed astonishing duets and ensemble works that incorporate elements of krumping, popping, collisions, and floor-spins, but with a contemporary dance master's conceptual and compositional orientation. Often, the stage is wired to transform the sounds of the dancers' shoes into samples for a pulsing electronic soundtrack. Take a look at this video excerpt and see an example of their work. Grupo de Rua takes the idiosyncratic language of hip-hop and adds to it a richness and density of gesture that transforms street moves into an exhilarating dance experience not soon forgotten.

Admission: $20.00 Child, UT Student w/ ID, Faculty/Staff; $25.00 public plus applicable service fees

Robert Cray

with Moreland & Arbuckle

Tuesday, February 23, 8:00 p.m.

Since the mid 80's Robert Cray has been internationally admired as a stylist whose innovations have brought new life to the blues. His new album, This Time, demonstrates just how diverse his approach to playing is. "Blues is one of the foundations of our music, but it's not all that we play," Cray says. "When I first started playing guitar, I wanted to be George Harrison - until I heard Jimi Hendrix." Listening, you can hear a little rock, soul, jazz, blues (definitely), and gospel. "I always attribute it to the music we grew up listening to...it's pretty wide open."

Admission: $30.00 plus applicable service fees

Tennessee Shines

featuring The Bottlerockets, Sarah Siskind, Ruthie Foster, RB Morris, and Carpetbag Theatre

Wednesday, February 24, 7:00 p.m.

The February installment of Tennessee Shines features THE BOTTLEROCKETS - long regarded and adored as THE workingman's rock band and considered to be the godfathers of the '90s alt-country/roots rock revival along with peers Uncle Tupelo. Nashville singer and songwriter Sarah Siskind is highly respected across acoustic, pop and rock music fields, in Nashville and beyond. Two of Siskind's compositions, "Goodbye Is All We Have' and 'Simple Love", have been hit singles for, the latter even leading to a GRAMMY nomination. Singer/guitarist, Ruthie Foster has Southern blues in her groove, rock in her rhythm, a blend of gospel redemption, country poetry and jazz elegance in her singing. R.B. Morris is a singer-songwriter, poet, and playwright who has spent most of his life in Knoxville and in the mountains of East Tennessee. A well-traveled and highly regarded artist, Morris is a modern day troubadour who digs deep into the wellspring of human experience. Also on the show, The Carpetbag Theatre presents excerpts from "Between a Ballad and a Blues", a stage presentation based on the life of musical raconteur and fiddler, Howard Armstrong.

Admission: $15 advance, $20 day of show, plus applicable service fees