Hotter Than July

photo: roadfood.com

Hot damn hoe here we go again! NYC's got hot chicken y'all:

From Time Out NY:

Nashville hot chicken

Fiery, cayenne-laced fried chicken—usually served with pickles over white bread—is eaten throughout Music City, but its spiritual home is Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack. Lore traces the recipe to current owner Andre Jeffries’s great-uncle Thornton Prince. When a spurned lover fed him extra-spicy chicken out of vengeance, he liked it so much that he began cooking it at his restaurant.
Eat it here: Restaurateur Craig Samuel serves a super-crispy version ($12) at Peaches HotHouse (415 Tompkins Ave at Hancock St, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn; 718-483-9111). In addition to seasoning the free-range poultry with garlic, onion powder and cayenne, Samuel uses a secret spice mix that he says contains the “two hottest peppers in the world.”

SCREEN: Honkytonk Man tonight (7/14)

Tonight at Lincoln Center (as part of their Clint Eastwood retrospective):

In the middle of the Depression, alcoholic country singer Red Stovall (Clint Eastwood) moves in with his sister's family on their western farm. Red's young nephew, Whit (played by Clint's son, Kyle Eastwood), becomes his dissolute uncle's protector, accompanying him to Nashville for a Grand Ole Opry audition. Joining the duo on their trouble-fraught journey are Whit's grandpa (John McIntire) and another aspiring singer, Marlene (Alexa Kenin). (source)

SCREEN: Nashville @ Le Poisson Rouge tonight @ 9PM?

Nashville is Robert Altman's 1975 masterpiece, exploring the lives of over 20 main characters over a couple of very eventful days. On the surface it is a film about the music and politics of Nashville, however it is really a film about the inhabitants who live there. With flawless performances, unbeatable music and wonderful photography, Nashville is not only an amazing film, but one of the greatest ever made. The acting is excellent, Ned Beatty, Lily Tomlin, Karen Black, Geraldine Chaplin, Scott Glenn, Barbara Harris, Gwen Welles and Keith Carradine. (source)

I don't see it on Le Poisson Rouge's site but per Flavorpill, there's a free screening of Nashville there tonight @ 9PM.

SCENE: RE-INSTATE HANK WILLIAMS

This petition calls for the reinstatement of Opry legend, and country music star, Hank Williams. Fifty years have passed since the tragic and untimely death of country music's greatest performer, who made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry on June 11th, 1949. A few years later, in 1952, Hiram Hank Williams was asked to leave the Opry -- with the intention that he would sober up and make a return to the stage that he loved so much. Before he could make that return, he passed on, in the back seat of a car on the way to an Ohio show. It's now 2008, and Hank Williams has yet to be reinstated to the Opry.

Hank Williams has been one of the most influential artists to ever record; changing the face of music, and the way that we view country music. Since his passing in 1953, he has posthumously achieved numerous rewards and achievements. In 1961, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and a few years later, he was added to the Country Music Hall of Fame Walkway of Stars. In 1973, he was the recipient of the Pioneer Award by the Academy of Country Music. He received a Grammy for 'Your Cheatin' Heart' in 1983, and was then inducted into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. That same year he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Life Magazine even ranked Hank Williams #1 on the 'Most Important People in Country Music' list. Within his short years with us on earth, he had 11 #1 singles, including 'Lovesick Blues,' 'Kaw-Liga,' as well as 25 other Top 10 Singles.

We, the undersigned, feel that it is past due for Hank Williams' reinstatement to the Grand Ole Opry. Hank Williams was one of the most influential people to ever record or write music, and his untimely death made it impossible for his to 'redeem' himself in the Opry's eyes, but after 50 years we feel that his legacy has more than made up for any objections that the Opry may have had about his personal life. His lyrics and music helped create everything traditional country music became.

Sincerely, The fans of Hank Williams, Sr.

For more info, visit

BOOK: Knitting & Nana...

I have warm childhood memories of little handknit yummies bestowed upon me by my, now 93 year old, grandmother. She used to knit us scarves and blankets and maybe some gloves but my alltime favorite was a white hat with blue - somewhere between royal and baby…maybe something in the neighborhood of UNC blue – anyway, a white hat with blue letters that spelled out my name – A N N E, and topped off with a magical matching pom pom.

A few years back, while traveling thru Appalachian Kentucky (Hatfield & McCoy country) I ran across a sweet little lady knitting wool caps in a store affiliated with the acclaimed documentary house Appalshop. The hipster knitting craze had taken over NYC at the time and both experiences melded into the bright idea of me asking my nana to teach me. However, I couldn’t seem to abide by the Mason-Dixon Knitting Rule Number 1: “Knitting is spoze to be fun.”

So, I gave up.

Luckily, for those who stuck with it, the bi-regional (NYC/Nashville) Mason Dixon knitting crew is back with their second book: Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines. Even if knitting’s not your thing, their story alone is pretty cool: KAY GARDINER and ANN SHAYNE met on an online knitting message board years ago, and their correspondence has grown into a community of more than 150,000 knitters, and 2 published books!

Their book tour comes to the NYC area this week:
NEW YORK, NY, Thursday, October 16
6:00pm, beloved Knitty City

NEW YORK, NY, Friday, October 17
TBA, sleek and fabulous Purl Soho

RHINEBECK, NY, Sunday, October 19
10:00am-4:00pm, the surreal experience that is the NY Sheep & Wool Festival

NEW YORK, NY, Tuesday, October 21
6:30pm, the beautifully bookish Brooklyn Public Library

SOUNDS: LIVE IN NYC OCT 8 -11

OCTOBER 8 @ 7:30PM - Lambchop: Kurt Wagner solo @ Joe's Pub

Kurt Wagner performs in support of Lambchop's new album OH (ohio), released October 7, 2008 on Merge Records. OH (ohio) was recorded in Lambchop's hometown of Nashville and produced by Mark Nevers and Roger Moutenot. 11 new songs: "Slipped Dissolved and Loosed," "National Talk Like a Pirate Day," and "Popeye." Hear some of OH (ohio) here and here.

OCTOBER 8 @ 9:30PM - Legendary Shack*Shakers & Pine Hill Haints @ Mercury Lounge

Since starting their hell-for-leather, Penta-caustic roadshow Th' Legendary Shack*Shakers have earned quite a name for themselves with their unique brand of American Gothic that is all-at-once irreverent, revisionist, dangerous, and fun. Led by their wildly charismatic rail thin frontman, the blues-harpist J.D. Wilkes, th’ Shack*Shakers are a four-man wrecking crew from the South whose explosive interpretations of the blues, punk, rock and country have made fans, critics and legions of potential converts into true believers. Wilkes' film "Seven Signs" accompanies the tour.

OCTOBER 9 @ 8PM - Dead Confederate @ Mercury Lounge with Catfish Haven

Rolling Stone says: Georgia rockers Dead Confederate made their debut album, Wrecking Ball, in a tiny, dingy Austin studio — the same place where the sound effects for the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre were recorded. "It was a shit-shack," says bassist and songwriter Brantley Senn, 28. "We called it 'the dump.' It was spooky." The eeriness seeped deeply into the quintet's music — a raw, howling take on Southern rock that recalls the darkest moments of Nineties grunge; not surprising, since they are the first band on the new label from Gary Gersh, the A&R exec who signed Nirvana and Sonic Youth. Lead singer Hardy Morris' raspy vocals are a ringer for Kurt Cobain's, while lead guitarist Walker Howle kicks out Dinosaur Jr.-like spiraling riffs. "Our music has always been dark," says Senn. "I don't think I've ever written a song when I wasn't angry or hurt by something." But the band's growing popularity is making it harder for Senn to get into the proper songwriting mind-set. "I'm at the point where I am about to take a minimum-wage job just so I can be unhappy about something so I can write a good song." (also at Union Hall in BK on Oct. 10)

OCTOBER 11 @ 8:30PM - ELEPHANT 6 @ Knitting Factory

Flavorpill says: Mentioning the Elephant 6 collective to music geeks is like bringing up Godard with cinephiles: there's a pretty good chance they're obsessed. The gang of Atlanta psych-folkies spawned distinctive acts like the Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power, Neutral Milk Hotel, and many more. While the group is less active these days, Music Tapes frontman Julian Koster brings together members of the aforementioned bands for a grand old celebration of all things E6. There's been no mention of the elusive Neutral Milk Hotel mastermind Jeff Mangum showing up, but the holidays are all about miracles, right?