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Well if you live in and around Charlottesville and you’re a fan of world-class guitar players then I’m pretty sure we’ve got just about all your bases covered on what promises to be a weekend filled with hot guitar players and equally hot temperatures here in central Virginia. 

With the thermometer hovering near 100 degrees and scheduled local performances by Nels Cline (left), Bill Kirchen (center), and Corey Harris (right), you might want to stock up now on cold beverages and lots of ice because it’s going to be a scorcher any way you look at it.  For all the details on these performances…

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The Avant Garde

• First up, we’ve got Nels Cline, the string bending guitar wizard that Rolling Stone magazine labeled a “Guitar God”, who brings his instrumental rock/free jazz trio The Nels Cline Trio to the Paramount Theater on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall this Friday, June 6.  Cline, who last performed in Charlottesville in 2006 and 2007 in his role as lead guitarist for the band Wilco, will be joined on stage by drummer Scott Amendola and bassist Devin Hoff for what promises to be an evening of ground-breaking, genre-shattering musical exploration. 

  Called “The World’s Most Dangerous Guitarist” by the Jazz Times, this is a show not to be missed.  Tickets are still availabe for this 8pm show and can be ordered online here at the Paramount’s Online Box Office.  All seats are $25.50.

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Honky Tonk

• But if blazing honky tonk is more your style then Crozet is the place to be as Uncle Charlie’s welcomes “The Titan of the Telecaster” Bill Kirchen and Too Much Fun to the stage on Friday, May 6.  One of the founding members of the seminal band Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, as well as a Grammy nominated singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Kirchen can wail with the best of them. 

  I last saw Bill Kirchen perform at the 2004 Johnstown Folk Festival and I was completely blown away.  His version of “Hot Rod Lincoln” is worth the price of admission alone!  His most recent album Hammer of the Honky Tonk Gods was released in 2006 and you can find my review of that record here.  Ian Gilliam and the Fire Kings open.  8:30pm.  $20 advance and at the door/$30 door.

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The Blues

• Wrapping up our triumvirate of featured weekend guitar performances is Charlottesville’s own Corey Harris, who in 2007 was named a MacArthur Fellow by the John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur Foundation.  The prestigious award recognizes individuals who show creativity, originalty, and a committment to continued innovative work. 

  Harris appeared in the Martin Scorsese-directed PBS mini-series The Blues in 2003 and his work has been featured on a wide-range of albums including a collaboration with Wilco and Billy Bragg on the collection of unfinished Woody Guthrie material released as Mermaid Avenue and Mermaid Avenue II.  His own solo work spans an impressive eight albums to date and highlights his respect and knowledge of the blues tradition stretching from the Mississippi Delta to the genre’s early African roots.  His most recent album, Zion Crossroads, was released in 2007 and finds Harris exploring the sounds of Jamaica and roots reggae.

  Corey Harris & 5×5 perform at the Gravity Lounge on Saturday, May 7 at 8pm.  The Acoustic Groove Trio opens.  $15. 

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For the rest of our Weekend Reminders, check out our Weekend Reminder II:  Cool Picks post. 

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