Cover Y'all Productions presents Beyond the Myth: A Film about Pit Bulls and Breed Discrimination

Friday, September 3, 8 p.m.

Knoxville native Libby Sherrill didn’t own pit bulls. She didn’t know much more about them than most people. But when her close friend brought two rescued pit bulls, Angus and Boris, to her house, neighbors called asking fearfully, "Are those pit bulls running around over there?" That was Sherrill’s introduction to the public’s misconception about pit bulls and what prompted the avid animal lover to produce her first documentary, Beyond the Myth. Using education as its foundation, the documentary aims to create perspective about the most misunderstood animal of our time. Beyond the Myth uncovers the stereotypes most people associate with pit bulls, such as being born dangerous and not safe with children or other pets and explains what role the media has played in creating this negative stereotype. No children under the age of 13 are allowed due to some graphic, although minimal, content.

$12 general admission / $55 VIP (includes special seating, goodie bag and access to the VIP After Party at S&W Grand)

50th Anniversary screening of Wild River

Sunday, September 12, 2 p.m.

In the wake of disastrous Depression-era floods, the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) is instituted, and Chuck Glover (Montgomery Clift) flies in from D.C. to tie up one last loose end: get 80-year-old matriarch Ella Garth (Jo Van Fleet) to vacate her island homestead before the dams flood it. But she isn't going, and as they argue, Clift comes to appreciate her deep love for the land, and to find a bond growing with her widowed granddaughter Carol (Lee Remick). Wild River was a project director Elia Kazan nursed for 25 years, after his first visits to the region in the '30s, and the most atmospheric of his works, from its long, slow opening scenes, through Ellsworth Fredericks' crisply autumnal CinemaScope photography, Kenyon Hopkins' haunting score—complemented by overheard snatches of hymns and spirituals. This underrated, deeply resonant masterpiece was filmed in Charleston, near Chattanooga. We'll be screening a restored, 35mm print.

$5 general admission

Billy Bragg

with Darren Hanlon

Thursday, September 16, 8 p.m.

Finding inspiration in the righteous anger of punk rock and the socially conscious folk tradition of Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, Billy Bragg was the leading figure of the anti-folk movement of the ’80s. For most of the decade, Bragg bashed out songs alone on his electric guitar, singing about politics and love. While his lyrics were bitingly intelligent and clever, they were also warm and humane, filled with detail and wit. Even though his lyrics were carefully considered, Bragg never neglected to write melodies for songs that were strong and memorable. Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984), his first full-length album, climbed to No. 16 in the charts. In 1998, he teamed with the American alternative country band Wilco to record Mermaid Avenue, a collection of performances based on unreleased songs originally written by Woody Guthrie. Bragg was described by The Times as a "national treasure," and we’d amend that to "international treasure."

$24, plus applicable service fees

The Dirty Guv'nahs

with The Black Cadillacs

Friday, September 24, 8 p.m.

Simply put, The Dirty Guv'nahs are poised for a huge year. They've been spreading their rock gospel across the nation for four years now, showcasing their sound at festivals like Bonnaroo, Wakarusa, CMJ Music Marathon, Bele Chere, and Sundown in the City. In the past two years they've also opened for Zac Brown Band, Levon Helm Band, Blues Traveler, Robert Earl Keen, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Drive by Truckers, Cross Canadian Ragweed, The Whigs, Sister Hazel and Band of Skulls. Their sound has been best described as "a passionate, jubilant slice of rock-meets-Americana." They?ve been voted Best Band in Knoxville for three years running (2008-2010), and they've graduated from playing packed out bars where latecomers are turned away from the door, to playing theaters where sell out crowds consistently cram in and press against the stage to hear another three hour helping of what Metro Pulse dubbed, "rock the way God intended." Get a copy of their brand-new disc, Youth is in Our Blood, recorded with the Grammy-winning team at the legendary Levon Helm Studios, and snag tickets early for this hometown show before its inevitable sell out!

$13.50 advance / $15.50 doors, plus applicable service fees

Aimee Mann

with Blake Hazard (of The Submarines)

Sunday, September 26, 8 p.m.

From her work in the ’80s with MTV favorite Til Tuesday through her acclaimed solo discs Whatever and I’m With Stupid in the ’90s, Aimee Mann has always been at the forefront of contemporary songwriters. The close of the millennium brought her greatest success, with the simultaneous releases of Bachelor No. 2 and the soundtrack to the film Magnolia, which garnered nominations for an Oscar, a Golden Globe and three Grammys. Her most recent album, @#%&! Smilers released in 2008, has been acclaimed by some critics as the best record in Mann's long career. Mann has always been known for her clever, literate, and dryly witty takes on emotional sabotage and self-destruction. Though she is happily married to Michael Penn (with whom she has toured extensively in a double-billed “Acoustic Vaudeville”), her fascination continues with “the freaks who could never love anyone.” With a songcraft often compared with the Beatles and Badfinger, Mann frequently pairs the bleakest of poetry with soaring, infectious melodies.

$26.50, plus applicable service fees

The Yard Dogs Road Show

Thursday, September 30, 8 p.m.

The Yard Dogs Road Show is a hobo cabaret, a living patchwork of vaudeville and rock and roll. In the enchanting land of stage show entertainment theirs is both pleasant and formidable terrain. They require a sensitivity to the subtle and the absurd. They lead the modern hobohemian on a visual and sonic journey through part of history that may or may not have existed, followed by an ambitious return to the emotional challenges of our punch-drunk contemporary world. It's a true story on stage: sword swallowers, dancing dolls, fire eaters and sunset hobo poetry—all animated by the live sounds of the Yard Dogs cartoon heavy band. Yard Dogs Road Show is pure visual and sonic voodoo.

$21.50, plus applicable service fees