A highly selective preview of cultural events taking place this weekend in the greater Hudson, N.Y., region, including a musical biography of jazz enigma Billy Tipton; an Elvis Presley birthday salute; a free screening of Tony Stone’s critically acclaimed “Peter and the Farm” documentary; and a whole lot more.
Nellie McKay
NELLIE MCKAY BRINGS ECLECTIC CABARET-ROCK to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Cabaret-rock singer-songwriter Nellie McKay brings her uniquely eccentric blend of pop, rock, jazz and hip-hop to Club Helsinki Hudson on Sunday, January 22, at 8pm. This time out, McKay will be featuring songs from her musical biography, “A Girl Named Bill: The Life and Times of Billy Tipton,” a mid-20th century jazz musician and bandleader who lived his adult life as a man, although he was assigned female at birth. “A Girl Named Bill” was named one of the Best Concerts of 2014 by the New York Times.
Peter Dunning (photo courtesy Magnolia Pictures)
TONY STONE’S ‘PETER and the FARM’ GETS FREE SCREENING, TALKBACK, at MILLERTON’S MOVIEHOUSE
(MILLERTON, N.Y.) – “Peter and the Farm,” a full-length documentary by Tony Stone, about the irascible loner, Peter Dunning, will be screened at the Moviehouse on Sunday, January 22, at 11am. The event is free, and the filmmaker will be in attendance to lead a post-screening discussion and Q&A.
Mark Gamsjager and the Lustre Kings
LUSTRE KINGS to LEAD BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE to ‘THE KING’ at HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Club Helsinki Hudson’s annual Elvis Birthday Bash, featuring the Lustre Kings plus other special guests, will take place on Saturday, January 21, at 9pm, just one week after what would have been Elvis Presley’s 82nd birthday. Elvis Presley’s impact on all music that came after him is impossible to tally. Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, U2 – they’re all impossible to imagine without Elvis having paved the way. (For proof look no further than U2’s song, “Elvis Ate America.”) For several decades, the Capital District-based Mark Gamsjager and the Lustre Kings have been keeping the sound of early rockabilly alive, both in the region and across the U.S. and around the world. They bring an immediacy to the joyful music with a dark underbelly that has compelled performers like Wanda Jackson, the Queen of Rockabilly, as well as Bill Kirchen, Eddie Angel and Robert Gordon, to draft them into the service of rock ‘n’ roll revivalism.
photo by William Hellerman
HUDSON ALLEYS & GARAGES FEATURED in PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT at OPERA HOUSE
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – “No Parking: The Alleys and Garages of Hudson,” featuring works by three local photographers who find unconventional beauty beyond Hudson’s more well-trafficked main streets, is on view through February 19 at the Hudson Opera House. Exploring the parallel realities that exist in the city, “No Parking” features photographs dating back nearly two decades from local artists Lisa Durfee (exhibition organizer), William Hellermann, and Peter Spear.
Pussy Bow Blouse by Kate Hamilton
LAST CALL: WOMEN ARTISTS FEATURED in MIXED-MEDIA SHOW at CARRIE HADDAD GALLERY
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Works by six female Hudson Valley artists working in a variety of media are featured in a new winter exhibition featuring a large-scale fabric installation and finely detailed drawings, painting, and collage at Carrie Haddad Gallery. Artists featured include Kate Hamilton, Andrea Moreau, Louise Laplante, Elizabeth Coyne, Laura Von Rosk, Allyson Levy, and Eileen Murphy. Their work offers unique commentary on the political, personal, and environmental observations of what it means to live in a global community today. The work remains on view through Sunday, January 22.